Deportation delayed for ill Honduran

HARTFORD, Conn. — Federal immigration officials granted a six-month reprieve on Thursday to a Connecticut immigrant facing deportation, a move his supporters say won’t be long enough to allow him to undergo a scheduled kidney transplant.

Dozens of people, including Democratic Gov. Dannel P. Malloy, rallied in front of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement offices in Hartford in support of Nelson Rosales Santos, 49, who was scheduled to be deported to Honduras on Monday, despite suffering from advanced renal failure.

“This case should be treated differently,” said Malloy. “After all, we were told by our president and attorney general that they were only going to go after the bad hombres. Well, he’s not a bad hombre.”

His family and supporters say Santos entered the country illegally but has lived in Stamford for 30 years, is married to a U.S. citizen and has three children, ages 19, 14 and 11, who all were born in the U.S.

He also has diabetes, high blood pressure and kidney failure, requiring dialysis every two days.

If Santos is forced to fly to Honduras, a country he has not seen in three decades, he would not have immediate access to dialysis and likely would be dead within a week, said his attorney, Glenn Formica.

Santos works as a chef and has routinely received waivers allowing him to stay in the U.S., his supporters said.

His wife has successfully petitioned immigration officials to allow her husband to be considered for permanent resident status. But because of his 30-year-old deportation order, he was told he must leave the country during that process, said Catalina Horak, who is working on Santos’ behalf with the immigration support group, Building One Community.