A San Diego immigration attorney whose client was arrested during his green card interview Wednesday said it was “shocking and disturbing,” in part because Immigration and Customs Enforcement has generally not taken people into custody in that setting before.
“This was honestly one of the more devastating interactions that I’ve had with immigration officials,” said Tessa Cabrera, adding that neither she nor her client expected his arrest.
“He looked right at me and was like, ‘My world was just torn apart,’” she said.
Multiple immigration attorneys said ICE has detained at least a handful of people during their interviews for legal status at U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services in San Diego and placed those individuals into deportation proceedings. USCIS is the agency responsible for processing visa and green card applications, overseeing the legal pathways to permanent residency and citizenship – largely separate from ICE’s enforcement arm.
“It’s really unprecedented what is happening, and we’re a little bit confused as to why these arrests are occurring or what the criteria is for these arrests,” attorney Noemy Cruz said. “We don’t expect that there is a risk for them to be detained because we don’t have any reason to believe they would be.”
Cabrera said her client has been in the U.S. since 2002, has no criminal history and is a father of two U.S. citizen children. His 21-year-old daughter sponsored his green card application, Cabrera said, and he’s the primary caregiver for his 17-year-old son with severe autism.
Cabrera said on Wednesday morning that they were at his final green card interview – which she said are often largely a formality, the final step in the process – and when he finished answering the standard questions, the immigration officer stepped out and two ICE agents came in.
“It was very abrupt. No reason,” Cabrera said. “They came in. They directly asked him his name. He said his name, and they said, ‘Stand up.’ And they took him to the side of the office. They put his hands behind his back, put him in handcuffs.”
“It took us both by surprise,” she continued. “He had parked his car at a trolley station and took the trolley into downtown. I had his keys. I had to, like, get a hold of his daughter to try and explain where his car was parked so someone could go get the car.”
Cabrera said he was taken to the Otay Mesa Detention Center, with a bond hearing scheduled for next week. But she added that he’s still eligible for that green card, and she still doesn’t understand exactly why he was arrested.
“That’s basically the question that I’ve been asking myself for the past couple days,” Cabrera said. “This is not something that I’ve ever seen happen to anyone at USCIS.”
“People are excited to be getting their green cards and citizenship,” she continued. “To walk into an office expecting to leave with at least somewhat of good news and then to be taken out in handcuffs and now detained and separated from your family – it was really horrifying to watch.”
ICE has not responded to multiple requests for comment on this tactic, or specific arrests like this, or that of an 18-year-old detained the same day in a similar manner.
A USCIS spokesman said in a statement Thursday that the agency “is responsible for administering America’s lawful immigration system and ensuring the integrity of the immigration process.”
“The agency protects the public safety and national security interests of the American people by screening and vetting aliens coming to this great nation,” the statement continued. “Aliens in our country must respect our laws or face the consequences.”
From the White House Friday morning, President Donald Trump’s Border Czar Tom Homan addressed criticism of heightened enforcement.
“One of the reasons no one talks about, why we have the most secure border in the history of this nation is because exactly what ICE is doing,” Homan said. “ICE has sent a message to the whole world, don’t give your life savings to come to the country because you’re not going to be released
Cabrera said the arrest of her client felt like a violation of what she called a “peaceful” legal pathway.
“Really it just feels like a show of force by the administration to, you know, meet their numbers in detaining people, and especially in this situation, felt extremely unnecessary,” she said.
She and others said the increased arrests have created a great deal of fear for anyone in the process.
“If they don’t show up to their interview, that’s a denial of their case, right? If they don’t show up to their court case, that’s a removal order,” Cruz said. “There’s very serious consequences for not coming to their appointment. And, you know, we can’t blame them for being afraid to do them because they’re trying to do things the right way and are being punished for it.”
Cruz was among several attorneys and advocates who held a vigil outside USCIS Friday.
“I’m disgusted with the way we’re treating our immigrants,” David Patterson said.
When Patterson and Verna Silvia heard about the arrests at USCIS, they came down from Ramona to attend the vigil and show how they feel.
“Here these people are trying to do it the legal way,” Silvia said. “Why are we arresting them or taking them away?”