Facing deportation, Youngstown businessman told he can stay in U.S.
Man was prepared to fly out Sunday for Jordan.
What was YOUNGSTOWN — going to be a tearful farewell party for a Youngstown businessman scheduled to be deported Sunday will be a celebration now that immigration officials decided Thursday afternoon to let him stay.
Amer Othman Adi said he received a call from the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement official who said, “You’re not going anywhere Sunday.”
“I thought it was someone playing with me,” said the 57-year-old owner of the Downtown Circle Convenience store in Youngstown. “I could not believe it. I am so happy.”
Adi has already sold his house and asked his sister-inlaw to run his businesses as he and his wife, Fidaa, prepared to leave the country on Sunday to move to Amman, Jordan. They had planned a farewell party for Saturday night at the Youngstown Arab Community Center, which he said will now be a massive celebration.
Niles-area Democratic U.S. Rep. Tim Ryan, who successfully blocked Adi’s deportation in 2013 and tried again this year, was among the first to call to congratulate Adi.
“I am pleased to announce that our friend Amer’s deportation has been postponed,” Ryan said in a statement. “We will continue to fight for Amer to stay in Youngstown — his home. Today is a big day.”
Adi’s attorney, David Leopold, said the “stay” issued by ICE does not mean that the fight is over, but is a definite step in the right direction.
“I’m gratified they are taking a close look at the case,” he said. “The guy is an asset to the community. There was a tremendous outpouring of support from all over, including the Youngstown mayor and a congressman. This speaks volumes.”
Leopold said he is happy that the deportation was at least temporarily halted, something that has rarely occurred since Donald Trump was elected president and a crackdown on undocumented immigrants began.
Adi has operated numerous businesses in downtown Youngstown for more than 30 years, employing hundreds of people. Youngstown Mayor Tito Brown called Adi’s opening the Downtown Circle Convenience store “the catalyst” that sparked a renaissance in the blighted downtown 10 years ago.
ICE told Adi in September that he had three months to get his affairs in order and buy a one-way ticket back to the Middle East.
According to an ICE official, Adi’s case had “undergone exhaustive judicial review at multiple levels of the nation’s courts, including before the immigration courts, federal appeals courts and U.S.district court. In each review the courts have uniformly held that (Adi) does not have a legal basis to remain in the U.S.”
ICE declined to comment on today’s news beyond stating, the deportation was “temporarily postponed while ICE finalizes removal arrangements.”
Adi came to the United States in 1979 on a visa and later married an American citizen. Based on that marriage, he was given a “green card,” which allowed him to stay in the United States. They were divorced less than a year later.
After the divorce he moved to Youngstown where he started several businesses, including two gas stations. He and his second wife, Fidaa Musleh, moved to Brazil for three years and when they returned to the United States, his green card was taken from him because he had been out of the country for too long.
Musleh tried to sponsor her husband for a new “green card,” but was denied because immigration officials said his first marriage was “a sham.” His first wife initially signed an affidavit to that effect, but then later signed a second affidavit confirming that the marriage was legitimate and said she was pressured by agents to say it was a sham.
Leopold contends his first marriage was valid and noted that Adi never had a chance in court to prove it.
“The decision that the marriage was a sham was made by a low-level ICE functionary,” Leopold said. “Adi never had the chance to fight it.”
ICE ordered Adi deported in 2007, but suspended the order while Adi fought the decision. In 2013, Ryan stopped the deportation by drafting a “private bill” in the U.S. House of Representatives.
“The private bill is a longstanding agreement that says a deportation can be stayed until it can be fully resolved, if a member of the house asks for it,” Ryan said previously. “We filed the bill every year since because Adi’s contribution to Youngstown has been amazing. He never committed a crime, ran businesses, paid taxes, sent children to Catholic schools and was a big part of the downtown renaissance. And this is the thanks he gets.”
Ryan said this year the Department of Homeland Security and ICE have declared that they will no longer honor the “private bill.”
Adi estimates that he has employed hundreds of people in his businesses, which includes two gas stations, an IGA market, a car dealership and others. He said he currently employs about 60 people.