ICE agents arrested a father of three while he was on his way to deliver milk to his newborn daughter in the NICU.
Juan Chavez Velasco, 35, was stopped by immigration officials in Weslaco, Texas, on Feb. 18 while on his way to visit his infant daughter in the neonatal intensive care unit, MS NOW reported on Wednesday.
Despite telling the officers he was a DACA recipient and had a wife and children in the U.S., he was taken into custody and brought to the Webb County Detention Center in Laredo, Texas.
Chavez Velasco enrolled in DACA in 2012 and is married to a U.S. citizen, Stephanie Villarreal, 32. The couple shares three children, the youngest of whom was born prematurely and was in the neonatal intensive care unit the day Chavez Velasco was detained.
He and his parents came to America on a tourist visa from Colombia in 1999, when he was 8 years old, the outlet reported.
In 2016, his parents became legal residents through their U.S. citizen daughter, but Chavez Velasco had to wait. While parents of U.S. citizens can adjust their legal status within 12-18 months of their citizenship, siblings must wait for 15-20 years.
Chavez Velasco filed a DACA renewal application in November, but the government did not respond. MS NOW reported that his DACA status expired on March 10, weeks after he had been brought into custody.
He told the outlet in a phone interview from the Webb County Detention Center that he feels “betrayed” by the federal government.
“I feel very sad and heartbroken because I would have thought that the Trump administration would be more compassionate towards people like me who contribute to the country and have basically lived here all our lives,” he said. “I love this country. I love what I’ve been able to accomplish here.”
Chavez Velasco earned two bachelor’s degrees in biology and clinical laboratory science and works as a medical laboratory scientist, including in an emergency room during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Chavez Velasco’s attorney, Jodi Goodwin, told the Daily Beast that his case relies on whether U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services can grant an extension for his DACA application and if ICE grants him a Stay of Removal.
“We are currently pursuing congressional assistance through various Congress members, as well as considering any other legal strategy to keep him here with his family,” Goodwin told the Daily Beast.
“When ICE nabbed him a few blocks from his home, they knew he had DACA, which is designed to protect holders from being subject to further enforcement actions,” she added. “The Trump Administration has changed the core meaning of what deferred action is by taking him into custody.
“DACA holders beware! Trump is coming for you, too,” she concluded.
Villarreal told MS NOW that her husband “did everything right.”
“He has no criminal history,” she told the outlet. “Never has had any type of criminal history.”
Reached for comment, a DHS spokesperson told the Daily Beast in a statement that Chavez Velasco “was issued a final order of removal in 2005.”
“Illegal aliens who claim to be recipients of Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) are not automatically protected from deportations,” the spokesperson said. “DACA does NOT confer any form of legal status in this country. Any illegal alien who is a DACA recipient may be subject to arrest and deportation for a number of reasons, including if they’ve committed a crime.”
Chavez Velasco and Villarreal’s daughter, Elianna, was born prematurely on Feb. 6, MS NOW reported.
“I never got to hold her,” before he was detained, he told the outlet.
The Daily Beast reached out to Villarreal for comment.
