Posted on 03/23/2017 3:47:20 PM PDT by 2ndDivisionVet
A Mexican man who entered the United States illegally almost 20 years ago is set to be deported on Friday, amid an uptick in detentions by immigration agents emboldened by President Donald Trump — whom the man’s own wife voted for.
Roberto Beristain, 43, has been in the custody of US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officers since he was detained on Feb. 6 in Indianapolis, department spokeswoman Leticia Zamarripa told BuzzFeed News.
The Mexican national, who owns a steak restaurant in the Indiana town of Granger, arrived in the country in 1998 before being detained two years later and ordered to leave.
It was during a trip to Niagara Falls in 2000, with his wife, Helen, and stepson, Phil Kolliopoulos, Beristain was arrested when the family inadvertently took a wrong turn and arrived at the Canadian border, Kolliopoulos wrote online.
After hiring a lawyer and posting $1,500 in bail, Beristain was released on a voluntary self-deportation order, giving him 60 days to leave the country.
“With Roberto expecting his first child soon, this was not an option for him to leave,” Kolliopoulos wrote. “He believed to be the supportive and loving husband and father he was made to be.”
When the 60 days was up, the voluntary departure order reverted to a final order of removal, said Zamarripa, the ICE spokeswoman. But for many years no action was taken.
Instead, Beristain was able to obtain a driver’s license, social security card, and work permit, according to Kolliopoulos. Beristain also checked in each year with ICE agents as part of his work permit, the South Bend Tribune reported.
It was during his annual check in with agents in Indianapolis in February that he was suddenly arrested, becoming one of hundreds of undocumented immigrants detained since President Trump took office.
“They came outside, knocked on the window,” Helen Beristain told Indiana Public Media earlier this month. “They said, ‘Are you Roberto’s wife?’ And, I said ‘Yes.’ And, they said, ‘Well, your husband is being detained because of a deportation [order]16 and a half years ago.’ And, I said, ‘That’s a joke.’ And, they said, ‘No, it’s true.’”
Zamarripa said Beristain remains in ICE custody pending his removal to Mexico. “For operational security reasons, ICE does not release information regarding upcoming removals,” she said.
But Adam Ansari, a Chicago lawyer representing the family, said Beristain was set to leave the country on Friday.
“Right now, he’s set to be deported tomorrow,” Ansari said.
Helen Beristain told Indiana Public Media she voted for President Trump believing that only “killers” and cartel members would be deported.
“We don’t want to have cartels here, you don’t want to have drugs in your high schools, you don’t want killers next to you,” she said. “You want to feel safe when you leave your house. I truly believe that. And, this is why I voted for Mr. Trump.”
Pete Buttigieg, the Democratic mayor of South Bend, wrote in the Huffington Post that “the favorite themes of conservatism” were at stake in Beristain’s case.
“Hard work, small business ownership, suspicion of overbearing government, and support for family. Each one of those themes is at stake here—and each is insulted by the prospect of a person like Roberto being ripped away from his business, friends, wife, and children, by a federal agency,” he wrote.
Under Obama-era directives, ICE focused mainly on criminals and those who posed a threat to public safety. But since Trump signed an executive order in January on immigration, ICE agents have been detaining hundreds of undocumented immigrants, including those not charged with any crimes.
“This executive order is ripping families apart,” said Ansari, the attorney.
Ansari said that if Beristain is deported tomorrow the family will petition for him to get on a waiver program so he can return to the US legally. A 2007 green card application, based on his marriage to Helen (a US citizen), is still pending, Ansari added.
“They’re distraught,” he said of the family, adding they did not wish to speak to media on Thursday. “They have lost a husband, a father, a main breadwinner.”
Helen Beristain indicated to Indiana Public Media she felt misled by the president’s plans.
“[Trump] did say the good people would not be deported, the good people would be checked,” Helen Beristain said.
But now she can get an even GREATER husband after this old illegal gets deported back to his third world country.
Don’t do the crime
If you can’t do the time
(don’t do it!)
Well well WELL!!!
I’d like to see proof that she voted for Trump. I smell BS.
Self-inflicted BURN!
Sorry, but you don’t get break U.S. laws without consequence just because you voted right.
Illegal alien ignores court orders and does as he wants. Tough toenails and good riddance
That's why she voted for Trump. To get the pendejo deported.
So he has had nearly 20 years to get right with immigration yet didn’t? No sympathy here.
Maybe she wanted him gone.
ALL illegal aliens are subject to removal.
We should not have to wait until they harm or kill Americans before they are removed.
EXACTLY!
“Beristain’s wife, Helen, says that she voted for Trump in November because she supported his policies on deporting undocumented immigrants. However, she never expected her own husband to be caught up in a deportation wave.
““[Trump] did say the good people would not be deported, the good people would be checked,” she explained.”
I don’t see the problem. He broke the law. He had 20+ years to attempt to correct his legal problem. Yet he did nothing. Seize his assets and deport him. His “family” can go with him top his crappy home country.
Maybe she didn’t like him.
The problem is we have not had a President willing to enforce the laws for 16 years.
Bill Clinton did a better job of it than either Bush.
They have a pending green card application from 2007.
Really? Plenty of criminals weren't deported in the Obama years because of local sanctuary policies, and plenty of non-criminal illegals were.
It's quite unfortunate, and I'm sure it can be positively resolved at some point in the near future, but this person, a mature, rational adult, knew the risks, so now he must face the consequences of his lawbreaking.
I'm sure he'll be back in America soon. Indeed, I hope he is able to come back and resume a life which seems to have otherwise law-abiding and productive.
In any event, President Trump certainly bears no responsibility for this person's negative legal experience...
Has she been taking Spanish lessons?
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