US federal agencies, including the ICE, are detaining individuals during Green Card interviews at USCIS offices in San Diego. Attorneys said individuals, including spouses of US citizens, with visa overstays but no criminal history, are being taken into custody.
US federal agencies are detaining people, including spouses of American citizens, during routine Green Card interviews at the US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) offices in San Diego, according to media reports in the US. An attorney claimed that his client was detained and handcuffed when he appeared for the Green Card interview.
Immigration attorney Saman Nasseri said the federal agencies have begun arresting visa overstays during their interviews. Some couples and their lawyers told The New York Times they had followed the required steps to secure permanent residency.
“ICE and USCIS have started implementing a policy where ICE is now making arrests at USCIS offices during the green card interviews on anyone who is a visa overstay, so if they’re out of status, ICE is making that arrest at the interviews,” Saman Nasseri was quoted as saying by CBS8.
Nasseri stated that five of his clients were taken into custody during Green Card interviews just last week. He said that his clients have no criminal history or arrests.
“None of my clients have any arrests or criminal history that are in this situation. These are just cases where they entered legally, they overstayed their visa. All of my cases right now are people that have been married to US citizens, so these are spouses of US citizens that are going through the normal process, the normal channels, and they’re being taken into custody,” Nasseri added.
Another attorney, Habib Hasbini, also confirmed similar experiences with his clients.
“The first one was November 12, the eve of the memo that came down from ICE. After that, I had four to follow through, but I’ve been getting a lot of phone calls from people who were arrested from the same facility,” Hasbini told CBS8.
Attorney Habib Hasbini observed that, so far, these detentions seem to be confined to the USCIS office in San Diego.
Hasbini recommended that those with scheduled GreenCard interviews should still attend, while remaining cautious and prepared for potential detentions.
He suggests making family and work arrangements in case of detention, noting that not attending an interview can result in case denial for abandonment. Additionally, because individuals are out of status, they may still face arrest by ICE regardless, CBS8 reported.
MEXICAN NATIONAL DETAINED, HANDCUFFED DURING GREEN CARD INTERVIEW: US ATTORNEY
Immigration attorney Tessa Cabrera told ABC 10 that her client, a Mexican national residing in the US since 2002, was handcuffed and taken into custody during his GreenCard interview.
The man’s US citizen daughter had applied for him to get permanent residency, according to the ABC10 report.
“The officer said, I’ll be right back and stepped out. And then, two ICE officers walked in. They asked him what his name was and then put him in handcuffs,” Cabrera said.
The client was taken to the basement of the federal building and was detained at the Otay Mesa Detention Center, according to Cabrera.
She said that ICE officers gave her a “Warrant for Arrest” issued by the Department of Homeland Security.
The warrant states they have probable cause based on statements made to the immigration officer or evidence that the person lacks immigration status or is removable under immigration law, according to the report.
