ICE detains man during green card interview with American husband (via NBC NEWS)
Paul Frames (left) with his husband Jose Ivan Nunez (right).
Paul Frames / Courtesy of Paul Frames
Vanessa Guillen Matheus
Jose Ivan Nuñez and his husband, Paul Frames, walked into the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) office in Philadelphia on Jan. 31 expecting the visit to be a routine stop in obtaining Nuñez’s I-130 form, a first step toward the green card process.
Their excitement about starting a new chapter of their lives together, however, soon turned to shock when Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officials unexpectedly entered the room and took Nuñez into custody.
“The day of the hearing, I had no suspicions at all," Frames told NBC News. "I was very confident that the hearing would be fine, and we would be out in less than a half hour. After the fact, looking back, we were sitting ducks."
Nikkie Lopez, the director of GALAEI, a Philadelphia-based Latino LGBTQ social justice organization, told NBC News she was stunned by the situation.
“Everything was going great. They were told it would only take a couple of minutes,” she said. “But at one point, the interviewer paused in the middle of the interview, and, after a few minutes, ICE officials entered the office and arrested him.”
"REASONABLE FEAR"
The couple, who married in April 2016 after dating for two years, remain in fear, according to Audrey Allen, one of the lawyers working on the case. Allen also said Nuñez’s sexual identity could put him in danger if he is forcefully sent back to Mexico, where he was born and maintains citizenship.
For that reason, Nuñez has been given a “Reasonable Fear Interview” by a USCIS asylum officer. The process is used to determine whether an individual is “more likely than not” to be persecuted or tortured if they return to the country they left behind. The outcome of Nuñez's interview is currently unclear.
A #FreeIvan petition started by GALAEI and Latino immigrant advocacy group Juntos pleads with the USCIS to free Nuñez so he can be reunited with his husband and avoid potential danger.
"By detaining Ivan and potentially deporting him, Ivan’s wellbeing and safety will be jeopardized. Ivan fled his hometown in Mexico due to fear of being harmed," the petition states. "Ivan’s sister, who is also gay, is currently in hiding due to the same fears and he has close friends who have been assaulted for being gay."
EXPEDITED ORDER OF REMOVAL
Nuñez has called the U.S. home since 2001, when he entered without inspection. In 2010, he traveled back to Mexico after finding out his mother had fallen ill. When he returned to the U.S. in August, he received an expedited order of removal at the border and was sent back to Mexico. A few months later, he re-entered the U.S. without inspection. Because of this, ICE has reinstated his prior order of expedited removal.
“When an individual has been ordered removed and is encountered by ICE, ICE reactivates the prior order,” Allen explained. “As such, he does not have the right to a removal hearing before the [Executive Office for Immigration Review]."
TO READ THE ENTIRE ARTICLE, PLEASE VISIT NBCNEWS.COM: