A Mexican immigrant faces deportation proceedings because immigration authorities revoked his temporary status following a domestic incident for which he was arrested and charged with assault, after his mother called 911 for help.
The nightmare of this North Carolina family began on January 13, when Alejandro Puentes, 23, the father of three children, suffered an emotional crisis at his mother's house in Raleigh.
"He was as aggressive because of the depression he has," said Rosario Salazar, Puentes' mother. "He brought a lot of depression and many burdens: change of job, with his pregnant wife, his newborn baby ...".
The mother of Puentes decided to call the 911 emergency center in search of help to control her son and prevent him from going out into the street in that emotional state, without imagining what his call would cause.
"The police arrived immediately, at five minutes," he said. "I even assured them that he was sick, that he needed help, but they immediately arrested him."
Puentes says he had never had a violent reaction and he does not even remember what happened that day.
"In that reaction, I do not know what happened to me, I do not know what happened," said Puentes. "I just remember that I was already behind in a police car."
Puentes was charged with two counts: assault against a woman and simple assault, since the police reported that he allegedly beat his mother and stepfather.
The young man was taken to the Wake County jail where, due to the collaboration program with the immigration authorities 287 (g), he was handed over to the Immigration and Control and Customs Service (ICE) and after ten days he was transferred to a immigration jail in Georgia.
"(I feel) very disappointed," said Puentes' mother. "Very sad because everything was so fast and we did not expect this. You call 911 to ask for help for any situation you are experiencing, but at that time it was not like that. "
To further aggravate the situation, while in detention, Puentes was notified by immigration authorities that his temporary status through the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program had been revoked as a result of charges in his case. against.
"I thought they were going to deport me because of what happened," said Puentes, recalling his arrest and his transfer to the Stewart detention center in Georgia.
A month later, however, Puentes managed to recover his bail, something that his lawyer considered almost a miracle.
"We knew that although he has a good case, today many very good and decent people, without any crime, are detaining them and often deport them," said Lourdes Arenas, Puentes immigration lawyer.
Free but still in process of deportation
Although Puentes is free and could meet with his family, he still has to fight his case in the courts, first at the local level in the criminal court, where he has a good chance that the charges will be dropped, and then in a federal immigration court.
"As it was something between family and he has no criminal record, it is very possible that the prosecutor's office offers him something to do some classes or something and that the case can be withdrawn," said Emily Gibson, lawyer who takes the case criminal of Bridges.
Because he no longer has the protection of DACA, even if he gets the criminal charges removed, Puentes will have to fight against his deportation in an immigration court.
"Technically he is in the process of deportation because to all those who, like him, had DACA, if they accuse him of something, they put him in the process of deportation," Arenas said. "He does not have that DACA protection anymore, it's almost as if he never had it."
A light of hope
The good news for Puentes is that it could recover its temporary status thanks to a court ruling issued on February 27 by a federal judge in California, in response to a class action lawsuit filed against the government that they accuse of arbitrarily repealing DACA.
The case, presented by the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) on behalf of three immigrant DACA beneficiaries, was greeted by a judge who ruled that the government can not revoke the temporary permit without prior notice and without giving the beneficiaries the opportunity to respond.
Arenas said he is evaluating this ruling to try to get Puentes to recover his temporary DACA status to work and support his family, while looking for some other more permanent immigration solution since he is the father of citizen children, has lived 21 years in the country and has relatives who are permanent residents.
"It will help many, not only the case of Alejandro to know that they can not do that, that they can not give you a right in this country and automatically take it away without giving you the opportunity to defend yourself," said the lawyer.
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