Biography
Pancho Ramos Stierle, a Mexican-born nonviolence organizer affiliated with Casa de Paz / the Canticle Farm community in Oakland, was detained by ICE on November 14, 2011 while peacefully meditating at a candlelight vigil at the Occupy Oakland encampment in Frank Ogawa Plaza. He was the only protester among hundreds at the eviction-eve vigil that night singled out for ICE pickup, on the basis of an immigration violation tied to a long-expired student visa from his physics doctorate at UC Berkeley. He was held first at the Alameda County Jail, then transferred to ICE detention in Texas (LaSalle / Pearsall area). Following a sustained Oakland-wide campaign — open letters from faith leaders, the SEIU, the United Farm Workers, and prominent figures including Coleman Barks and Father Greg Boyle — Stierle was released on bond in January 2012. After years of advocacy he was granted relief from removal in 2013. Stierle's case became a defining moment for the intersection of the immigrant-rights movement and Occupy Oakland.
