Deportations affecting everyone
Six years ago, Steve Stegall decided to open the very first hockey-featured sports bar of Kansas City, Mo.
Located in the River Market neighborhood, The Blue Line Hockey Bar opened in March 2012. The venue quickly came to be considered Kansas City’s No. 1 sports bar.
It is earned its reputation through a great atmosphere and wide selection of domestic and foreign beers, as well as a menu full of mouthwatering dishes.
Besides the typical plates of meat, burgers and fries, the bar also gave customers the opportunity to sample chips and queso, flautas, pico de gallo, guacamole, burritos, chimichangas, tamales and enchiladas. But the specialty of the house, according to the owner, was the chicken and vegetable soup prepared by the business’ backbone, Leticia Tadeo Guzman, who became Mrs. Leticia Stegall five years ago.
On March 2, Mrs. Stegall was taken into custody outside her home by Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents. She was one of 19 undocumented immigrants arrested during a four-day operation held in the Kansas City metropolitan area.
Steve Stegall told a local FOX News station his wife entered the country inappropriately about two decades ago. A short time before Stegall had opened his business, Leticia had been arrested for driving under the influence and served a 30-day sentence in jail. As if that punishment weren’t enough, it also put her on the path to deportation.
Since their marriage, the couple has attempted to obtain legal status for Leticia, and they were awaiting a ruling on their latest appeal to the 18th Judicial District Court.
Right after Leticia’s arrest, the couple’s lawyer got a writ of habeas corpus signed by a judge that allowed her to remain in custody at Platte County Jail at least until March 12. However, though her lawyer delivered the document, Leticia was deported anyway. According to the story, ICE simply ignored the judge’s order.
As a result of this, Leticia potentially can be banned from returning to the United States for at least a decade and even for life.
On Monday, a rally was held at the Blue Line in order to bring together patrons, friends and family members, and show support to the struggling family.
“I just want to say thank you so much for the support that everyone is giving Letty and our family,” said Stegall on the bar’s Facebook page. “There are gonna be haters who have no idea what’s going on. If they had a family member torn away from them, they would understand.”
Current federal immigration policies have impacted immigrant families and communities in almost every corner of the nation. One might think this a burden for those who have violated immigration laws, especially those with brown skin. But as this case shows, the effect is also reaching the hearts and souls of white Americans.
And as Mr. Stegall said in social media, “I wouldn’t wish it upon anybody to go through a situation like that.”