In New York, an immigrant was arrested during an interview on a green card

A Chinese citizen who is married to a US citizen and has two small children, was faced with deportation to his home country after being arrested by ICE agents during an interview on a green card.

Photo: personal archive, Law Office of Yee Ling Poon, LLC

39-year-old Xu Ying Yu came in for an interview at the end of last month with the confidence that he will finally receive a permanent residence permit, which he is entitled to after marriage with an American. Instead, ICE agents arrived and sent him to a detention center in New Jersey, where he remains to this day, according to his family and court documents.

“It’s like the sky falling on you,” said his distraught wife, Yu Mei Chen.

The couple brings up a 6-year-old daughter and a 4-year-old son. Both children were born in the USA.

“I don't know what to do now. And the children come to their father, asking where dad is, every day,” says Chen.

Photo: personal archive, Law Office of Yee Ling Poon, LLC

Yu, who had been in the country for 18 years, received a final deportation order in 2002 after his asylum claim was rejected. But he remained in the country, and the feds never applied the deportation order until now.

He applied for permanent residency in 2015. Together with his wife, they came to an interview on 23 in May to answer questions and confirm that their marriage was legal. Chen was then asked to leave, so that Yu finished answering on his own. She no longer saw her husband.

Photo: personal archive, Law Office of Yee Ling Poon, LLC

“When we went there, we were very happy. I never thought this would happen,” Chen said.

She described her husband as a “very good person” without a criminal record, and never thought that the government would find a reason to deport him from the country.

“Everything is in chaos,” she said. “I can’t sleep at night at all.” I'm on the verge of a mental breakdown."

Yu's lawyer, Yi Ling Poon, asked the court to suspend the deportation, appealed against the refusal in his permanent place of residence and is trying to renew his asylum application on the grounds that he fears persecution because of the Catholic faith if he returns to China.

A marriage with a US citizen was a sure way to get a green card, but after Trump's inauguration, an increasing number of immigrants with an old deportation decision are facing arrest when they come in for an interview.

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