DonRocks Posted January 15, 2014 Share Posted January 15, 2014 (edited) JP is a beloved industry member who has been detained at a U.S. Immigration Detention Center in Farmville, VA since December 19th. He is President of the DC Chapter of the United States Bartenders Guild and a Facebook friend of mine. Please click here and read the details, and consider opening up your wallets. --- To those involved with the project: the best thing you could do for JP is to get him a lawyer who is sympathetic with his case, and will work at a greatly discounted rate. Can you assure potential donors that this is happening? People would feel much more comfortable knowing this. My attitude when I read about JP's predicament was: "open my wallet first; ask questions later." I opened my wallet, and now I'm asking the obvious question. There may well be attorneys in this town who would help JP at something approaching pro bono - please keep donors informed as to how this is being handled. There are hundreds of attorneys here on donrockwell.com (Marshall? Marni?), and I suspect some would gladly step in and help. We *all* want this to have a happy ending! Juan Dominguez, if you see this, could you write me at donrockwell@dcdining.com? I'll try to hook you up if you need help. Reaching the $7,500 goal will be achieved, I can already tell; spending that money wisely now needs to become a high priority. I wonder if the USBG has some connections in immigration law. --- ETA - As of 6 AM this morning, this effort has raised $9,000. It's unclear what will be done with any extra money - I'm waiting on an announcement, and will share it with everyone when I find out something. Edited January 15, 2014 by DonRocks Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
B.A.R. Posted January 15, 2014 Share Posted January 15, 2014 This is awesome. His picture I so familiar, but I cannot place him. Can anyone tell me where he's worked? I've been in hundreds of bars/restaurants in DC but frequent none. I am sure I've bumped into him (maybe at mutiple places) and if anyone knows where he worked, hopefully it will jar my (and others) memory.Brian Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DonRocks Posted January 16, 2014 Author Share Posted January 16, 2014 This is awesome. His picture I so familiar, but I cannot place him. Can anyone tell me where he's worked? I've been in hundreds of bars/restaurants in DC but frequent none. I am sure I've bumped into him (maybe at mutiple places) and if anyone knows where he worked, hopefully it will jar my (and others) memory. Brian Brian, in terms of restaurants, I think JP has done only consulting work of late. He did the cocktails at Del Campo and MXDC, and I know he was working some shifts at BourbonSteak as well (he's friends with Victor Albisu). He's the Pisco Portí³n Ambassador, and also the President of the DC chapter of the United States Bartenders' Guild (USBG). Source: PoPville Image: PoPville PoPville reports that beloved DC mixologist JP Caceres is currently being held in a United States Immigration detention center in Farmville, VA and has been there since December, 19th. He is set to be deported within the next 3 to 6 weeks. Caceres was born in Bolivia and immigrated to the United States in 2001, originally on a work visa. However, the visa expired, and Caceres has been unable to obtain US citizenship. A fund has been set up for his defense, called Operation Free JP. Contributions to the fund have already far exceeded the original goal of $7500. The news was originally broken yesterday by Don Rockwell, who notes "My attitude when I read about JP's predicament was: "˜open my wallet first; ask questions later.'" Rockwell is also soliciting names of attorneys who would like to volunteer in Caceres' defense. Read full article >> Get all the news at DCDiningGuide.com >> Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DonRocks Posted January 16, 2014 Author Share Posted January 16, 2014 Since I posted this two nights ago, PoPVille, Washington City Paper, Washingtonian, Washington Post, and Eater DC picked up on the story. There's no need for me to keep this in a separate forum at this point, so I'll move this thread into the News and Media forum sometime today. Remember: If someone genuinely needs help, for a variety of reasons, you can always count on donrockwell.com to be out on the front lines, leading by example - you know where to find me. Cheers, Rocks Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DonRocks Posted January 17, 2014 Author Share Posted January 17, 2014 An update: JP Caceres has been freed for now. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DonRocks Posted January 17, 2014 Author Share Posted January 17, 2014 "Mixologist J.P. Caceres On Possible Deportation: "˜I'm Going To Fight'" by Jessica Sidman on washingtoncitypaper.com Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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