Florida resident detained by immigration at marriage interview

Maria Eugenia Hernandez and her husband, a native of Nicaragua, Oscar Hernandez, went to the US Citizenship and Immigration Services office in Miami for an interview about their marriage, which they had been waiting for three years. The service holds such meetings to confirm the legality of marriages and make sure that partners such as Oscar have the right to attempt to legalize immigration status in the United States.

Фото: Depositphotos

Hernandez brought a small album with wedding and family photos, a marriage certificate and a statement from the joint bank account. Miami Herald. They were together for four years, three of which were officially married. Oscar is the main breadwinner for the family. Maria, a US citizen, expected everything to be fine. But the unexpected happened.

During the interview, Maria was asked to leave the office. After 20 minutes, she was told that her husband, who at that time had a long-term deportation order, was arrested. 42-year-old Oscar crossed the Mexican border in 2004 without documents. Now he is being held in Broward County Immigration Center, and can be deported at any time.

“I went to the immigration meeting full of confidence because it was just an interview. I never thought that they would take and arrest my husband,” Maria said at the meeting on Tuesday. “We tried to do the right thing.”

Photos: frame El Nuevo Herald

Arresting immigrants during marriage interviews with USCIS officers is becoming more frequent in South Florida, lawyers for an agency offering legal support to immigrants say.

Immigrants with old deportation orders follow a process to obtain legal status known as the Application for Alien Relative, but "some of them find that ICE agents are waiting to arrest them," says attorney Alexandra De Leon.

In response to a question about the Hernandez case, an ICE spokeswoman in Miami responded that any undocumented immigrant who has a deportation order can be detained by the agency at any time.

“Anyone who violates immigration laws may be subject to detention, arrest, and upon final determination of the warrant, removal from the United States,” said service spokesman Nestor Iglesias.

Photos: frame El Nuevo Herald

The local WSVN-Channel television station, 7, recently reported on a similar case to a young Nicaraguan immigrant who was arrested at the USCIS office when he and his wife came to interview him about marriage. A man came to the US in 12 years and received a warrant for deportation in 2005. The couple have a little son and wife is pregnant. Her husband was detained for two weeks in the center of Broadard, but was released immediately after a television station contacted ICE in this case.

Before 2013, the US government forced immigrants, who were presented with deportation orders, to return to their countries for at least 10 years before they could try to obtain legal status in the United States. But this year, USCIS created an exception that allows these immigrants to stay here during the status decision process. This change was aimed at avoiding the long separation of families that could have a negative impact on spouses or children who are US citizens and therefore eligible to remain in the States.

51-year-old Maria Hernandez said that the possible deportation of her husband Oscar puts her in an impossible position. She is disabled and, together with her son, suffers from multiple sclerosis, a degenerative disease of the nervous system. Seven Oscar feeds.

“He is my biggest supporter. “He has been with me through good times and bad,” Maria said. “If they deport him, I will go to Nicaragua for him.” But how will I cope with my illness there? How will we pay for the medicine?

Photos: frame El Nuevo Herald

When Oscar entered the United States in 2004, he was detained, processed and released by border patrol. He was sent a letter asking to appear before a judge, but he never received it because he moved to Florida. When he did not appear on the day of the trial, an order was issued for his deportation.

A few months ago, the couple filed an application to refuse a deportation order based on the result of a marriage with a US citizen. Three weeks ago, they received a notice for an interview, during which Oscar was arrested.

Similar cases have been reported in other states. The American Civil Liberties Union in Massachusetts filed a lawsuit against USCIS, claiming the interviews were a “trap” for illegal immigrants.

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