A federal judge has halted the imminent deportation of Lilian Calderon, a Rhode Island mom who was swept up by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) last month. Calderon and her husband, a U.S. citizen, had gone to what they thought was a routine meeting with immigration officials in their ongoing attempt to adjust her status.
But even with photographs and documents testifying to the authenticity of their relationship in hand, federal immigration officials took her into custody, where she’s been since. Now, the American Civil Liberties Union of Massachusetts is fighting to get the mom of two U.S. citizen children released from detention so she can try to continue the legal process:
ACLU Attorney Adriana Lafaille said Calderon was following the process the government has provided to become a lawful, permanent resident, and there is no justification for her continued detention because she’s not a flight risk and poses no danger to the community. She called Calderon’s detention arbitrary, unlawful and inhumane.
Spokesmen for the Department of Homeland Security and ICE said they don’t comment on pending litigation.
Calderon’s husband, Luis Gordillo, a U.S. citizen, said in a news conference that his wife’s detention is hurting him and disrupting the lives of their 4-year-old daughter and 22-month-old son. He spoke at the ACLU of Rhode Island.
“My daughter, a few days after this happened, she asked me why mommy left. How come her friends have a mom and she doesn’t,” her husband told the Associated Press. “And that’s very hurtful because that’s not the facts. She never left us. She was taken from us.” She should never have been detained, but under the Trump administration, just about anyone here without permission is vulnerable—especially if they’re brown.
As previously noted, this isn’t the first time agents have targeted immigrants just trying to follow the rules by going to immigration appointments. Last year, agents arrested numerous immigrants at a U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services office in Massachusetts, with at least four there for appointments to seek legal status, according to the Washington Post:
Leandro Arriaga has been in the United States illegally since 2001.
He stayed despite a deportation order and over the past 16 years has made a living fixing and remodeling homes. He also started a family. But the father of four had grown tired of “living in the shadows,” his attorney said.
So last week, he went to a U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) office for his marriage petition interview — the first step to legalize his presence in the United States through his wife, a naturalized citizen. The process, called an I-130 visa petition, is a common way for foreigners to gain legal residency through their relatives or spouses.
But Arriaga was arrested that day, along with four others who also showed up at the USCIS office in Lawrence, Mass. [...]
“Lilian Calderon came out of the shadows and tried to apply for her lawful status by following the process that the government created for people in her situation,” said the ACLU’s Adriana Lafaille. “Her sudden detention and separation from her husband and young children was arbitrary, unlawful, and inhumane. We will continue to stand up to protect freedom and basic fairness.”
“Our immigration system is broken,” said Gabriela Domenzain, director of the Latino Policy Institute, “and it’s victims are Rhode Island families just like Lilian and Luis’s … there are steps we can take at the state and policy level that we will be exploring, but the priority today is to get Lilian out of prison, and we’re praying that what the ACLU did today, will produce that result.”