This post was updated to clarify that Adonis Flores is a recipient of Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, not Deferred Action for Parents of Americans as originally stated. DAPA is currently being litigated in the Supreme Court and is not available as an avenue to legal residency.

ANN ARBOR, MI -- As a couple dozen people marched down Main Street Thursday, banging on buckets, carrying signs and yelling "Si se puede" through megaphones, the man of the hour, Alex Ramirez-Arano, hung toward the back of the group.

He shied away from the spotlight throughout the rally in Liberty Plaza, the march through downtown and the fundraiser at Aut Bar organized for his benefit by the Washtenaw Interfaith Coalition for Immigrant Rights. But he's quick to say how grateful he is for WICIR and others who have supported him, knowing he wouldn't have been able to attend the sunny Cindo de Mayo event if it weren't for their efforts.

About two weeks ago, Ramirez-Arano paid the $12,000 bond he needed to be released from the immigration detention center where he'd been held since February. WICIR helped raise that money.

"It means a lot because there's a lot of people that have no support at all," he said, with Adonis Flores translating. "It really was a miracle. Without any direct family here in the country, how was I going to be able to pay for that bond?"

He's now back at his home in Ann Arbor, where he's lived for nearly 12 years since illegally crossing the border from Mexico.

"He was in disbelief of what was happening because they didn't give a reason why they stopped him. They didn't tell him anything he did wrong," Flores said on Ramirez'Arano's behalf of when he was taken into custody in February.

Laura Sanders, co-founder of WICIR, thinks Ramirez-Arano's bond was set so high because he is a gay man. Immigration and Customs Enforcement did not recognize his ties to the community the same as if he had biological children who lived in Ann Arbor, she said.

"There's people who don't necessarily have biological U.S. citizen children who are part of the fabric of our community," Sanders said.

Now Ramirez-Arano is preparing for a hearing in July, with Thursday's event raising money for his legal fees. His attorneys will either request the case be administratively closed because Ramirez-Arano is a low priority for deportation or they will seek asylum for him, explained immigration attorney Brad Thomson.

The extreme harassment of gay men in Mexico could be grounds for asylum, Thomson added. That was part of the reason Ramirez-Arano came to the U.S. in the first place.

"There is no culture of respect in Mexico for the gay community," Flores translated for Ramirez-Arano. "There was a lot of machismo and a lot of gay bashing and beatings. There was immunity, there was no consequences [for the violence]. He was a victim of that."

Flores, a Detroit immigration organizer for Michigan United, spoke during the rally and then led the march through downtown Ann Arbor, pausing outside Gov. Rick Snyder's residence as the group chanted, "Snyder, escucha: Estamos en la lucha!" -- Snyder, listen: We are in the fight!

Flores said he identifies with Ramirez-Arano's struggle, noting the parallels of how both immigrants and the gay community have been oppressed, raided and the targets of hate crimes and other forms of discrimination.

"Today I am not just speaking as an undocumented immigrant and a DACA [Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals] recipient. But I am also speaking as a gay man, who has suffered the oppression of our society for being undocumented and for being gay," Flores said during the rally. "These are the same injustices that we all face and the reasons why we need to stand together and speak up against hate and hateful policies and hateful practices from our current systems. So today, I really encourage everybody to continue to fight and not give up."

Once people enter the U.S. illegally, there are limited options for establishing themselves as permanent residents or becoming U.S. citizens, explained Marva Dearmas, an attorney who also is working on Ramirez-Arano's case.

Immigrants can file affirmatively for asylum within one year of entering the country, and there are certain criteria that must be met to be granted asylum. After one year, the person must file defensively for asylum in an attempt to avoid deportation, Thomson added.

Marrying a U.S. citizen allows an illegal immigrant to remain in the country, and being the victim of certain types of crime can be grounds to stay legally. Other options include applying for deferred action under the Deferred Action for Parents of Americans or Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals provisions. Those designations come with restrictions though, Dearmas noted, and DAPA is currently being contested before the Supreme Court.

"It's nice that they have the status. My personal opinion is that it should be extended," she said. "The government recognizes that you're here and they should give you a path to residency so that you can do the duties of residents and eventually maybe even citizenship."