Chef held in area jail after ICE takes him
Boss says he’s in U.S. legally; 2011 DWI case might be factor
KINGSTON, N.Y. » Juan Carlos Alonzo Vasquez’s past might have come back to haunt him on Wednesday.
Vasquez had agreed to work an early shift at The Anchor restaurant and bar on Broadway in Midtown but he never made it to work, his boss said Thursday morning.
Brandy Walters said Vasquez, 29, a 10-year Kings- ton resident from Oaxaca, Mexico, who has worked at The Anchor as head grill chef for the past two years, was picked up by officers from Immigration and Customs En-
forcement (ICE) sometime around 8:30 a.m. Wednesday.
Walters said Vasquez was allowed to call her about 11:45 a.m. “to let us know he would not be in to work and he didn’t know when he would be back.”
Vasquez, who Walters described as “absolutely the sweetest, nicest guy you’ve ever met,” sounded nervous and scared, she said.
“His English is usually pretty good, and he was having a hard time [speaking clearly],” Walters said. “ICE had him. He didn’t know why, and he didn’t know where he was.”
A search of the Freeman’s online archives might explain Vasquez’s detention.
On Jan. 18, 2011, Vasquez was arrested by Rosendale police and charged with the misdemeanors of drunken driving and aggravated drunken driving after a property-damage accident on Lucas Turnpike in the town. On Thursday, the Rosendale Town Court clerk said Vasquez accepted a plea deal and pleaded guilty on March 29, 2011, to the misdemeanor of driving with a blood-alcohol level exceeding the legal limit of 0.08 percent.
Since Donald Trump became president in January 2017, his administration has been enforcing existing laws that allow for the deportation of legal immigrants convicted of misdemeanors.
Calls to ICE at the number on its website would not go through Thursday morning, and a reporter’s email to ICE was not returned. According to the ICE locator site for detainees, Vasquez is being held in the Orange County Jail.
Walters said she faxed Vasquez’s paperwork — copies of a green card indicating permanent residency status and a Social Security card — to local jails and ICE in hopes of proving he is in the United States legally.
“While he’s worked for me, he’s been paying taxes,” she said.
Walters said she was unaware of Vasquez’s DWI conviction.
“If he has anything, it has to be minor,” she said Thursday. “... Nothing to harm anyone . ... You and I can make a mistake and it goes away eventually. We don’t have to pay for it forever.”
Another Anchor employee, bartender Christopher Livecchi of Kingston, said he’s worked with Vasquez since 2015 and called him “the backbone of our kitchen operation.”
“I’m struck speechless by the fact that this happened at all,” Livecchi said. “... He doesn’t deserve this. We want to bring him back. He’s one of us. He’s part of our family.”
He said Walters is organizing a letter-writing campaign among employees and friends of Vasquez and is seeking legal representation for him.
Walters said she has asked for help from the office of U.S. Rep. John Faso, R-Kinderhook, and has “every reason to believe they’re going to expedite it.”
•••
Vasquez is not the first Ulster County resident to face deportation this year based on a past criminal history.
In January, Leo Santos, former co-owner of the now-shuttered Just For You restaurant at 375 Broadway, left the United States and returned to his home country of Mexico voluntarily after being ordered to leave by June 20.
At the time, co-owner Ines Santos said Leo Santos had a U.S. work permit, which he renewed each year, and a Social Security number.
According to published reports, Leo Santos entered the United States illegally in 1999 and later married an American woman, then ran into trouble when he was told two drunken-driving convictions meant he couldn’t get a green card.
He left his 13-year-old son behind.
In May, Joel Guerrero of New Paltz was released from 10 weeks in ICE custody. Guerrero, who came to the United States legally 20 years ago, was detained by ICE until a federal judge issued a stay in his case, clearing the way for Immigration and Customs Enforcement to release him while his case continues to wind its way through courts.
Guerrro’s difficulties began in 2004 when he was arrested in North Carolina for possession of marijuana. According to North Carolina court officials, he was charged for felony possession of marijuana with intent to sell and misdemeanor possession of drug paraphernalia. The felony charge ultimately was reduced to a misdemeanor, and Guerrero pleaded guilty to both misdemeanor charges.
As a result of that conviction, Guerrero was ordered to appear in immigration court on Jan. 6, 2011, but he was a nowshow because he was in a rehab facility. After he failed to appear, his green card was revoked and a deportation order was issued.
Still, he was allowed to stay in the country, checking in with immigration officers every six months until he was locked up without warning in late February.
Guerrero’s detention sparked an outcry in the community, and a number of groups, including the New Paltz Town Board, called for his release.
His case remains open.