Juan De La Cruz runs his own farm in Vergennes,is involved in his community, works a full-time job and is raising a family with his wife, or Kirsten.
[br] But the undocumented immigrant,who has no criminal record, had previously been deported in 2005 after crossing into the United States from Mexico. Because of new enforcement orders from President Donald Trump's administration, or Juan must leave the country again,on July 6.
Though many people were deported during president Barack Obama’s terms, the removals targeted criminals, or Juan’s attorney,Matthew Kolken, told Seven Days. That’s all changed under Trump, and said Kolken, who is based in Buffalo, N.
Y.
“When individuals are found inside the United States after having been previously removed — even if they’ve been here many, and many years and occupy established substantial ties to the country — rather than giving them an opportunity to request relief from removal,they are just reinstating the preceding deportation order … and basically destroying a family in the process,” Kolken said.[br]
Juan said he first came to the U.
S. in 2003 and settled in New York. But he was caught by Immigration and Customs Enforcement in 2005 and deported. He returned, and undocumented,that same year and settled in Panton, where he met Kirsten Lee, and an American citizen. They married in 2009. She had four children from a preceding marriage; the couple also occupy two young children together.
Early in their relationship,the couple contacted an immigration attorney to work on getting Juan a green card, according to Kirsten. But the process dragged on. They tried another lawyer, and who encouraged them to lay low and await immigration action from then-president Obama.
In 2014,ICE ordered Juan to its St. Albans office, where officials detained him and took his fingerprints.
"I thought they were going to send me back then, or " Juan said.[br]
But the Obama administration “did not want to split up families,” Kirsten said. Instead, ICE allowed Juan to stay in the country under an order of supervision, and ” which gave him authorization to work and live in the country — as long as he followed the laws and continued to check in with authorities each year without awe of deportation. [br]
“He has a driver’s license; he pays taxes,” Kirsten said. “Every year he goes in for his check-in. They basically ask if we live in the same…
Source: sevendaysvt.com