Reporter Manuel Duran wins stay of deportation
Memphis Spanish-language reporter Manuel Duran has won a stay of deportation, but still faces months more in immigration detention while his appeal is pending, one of his lawyers said.
Federal authorities were planning to deport Duran to El Salvador on Wednesday, and had even moved him to the Alexandria Staging Facility in Louisiana, an airport holding center for deportation flights, said the lawyer, Jeremy Jong.
But the Board of Immigration Appeals in Falls Church, Virginia, ordered a stay of deportation on Tuesday, keeping Duran’s case alive for now, said the attorney.
Jong said he spoke with Duran about the ruling by phone after Duran called from detention.
“He’s excited,” Jong said. “I mean, he’s happy. It’s the first good news that we’ve gotten in his case.”
Duran now waiting for case to be reopened
Duran, 42, has been moved back to the LaSalle ICE Processing Center in Jena, Louisiana. He will likely remain in immigration detention for a couple more months while his appeal is pending, Jong said.
Bryan D. Cox, a spokesman with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, confirmed the appeals board had issued a stay of deportation, but emphasized that it doesn’t address the underlying immigration case.
“Legally, there has been no change,” Cox said.
The Board of Immigration Appeals will now consider lawyers’ motion to reopen an old immigration case, Jong said.
“What we’re asking them to do is find that the immigration judge made an error and that they should reopen the case,” Jong said. “And so once his case is reopened, he’ll be eligible to apply for a bond, and he’ll be able to fight his asylum case in the United States.”
No immigration court hearings will be set until the appeals board rules, the lawyer said.
Duran’s legal team has said he came to the United States after receiving death threats related to his reporting on corruption in El Salvador.
Jong has said that Duran was arrested by the Border Patrol in June 2006 on a street in Laredo, Texas, shortly after entering the country without permission.
According to Jong, officials fingerprinted him, recorded the address he was traveling to and let him go.
In 2007, Duran missed an immigration court date in Atlanta and was ordered deported in his absence. His lawyers have argued he didn’t get the notice to come to court that day.
In the intervening years, Duran became a well-known broadcast personality on Spanish-language radio stations in Memphis. More recently, he had been running his own online news outlet, Memphis Noticias. He’d interviewed notable Memphians, including Memphis Mayor Jim Strickland.
He was doing an internet broadcast of an immigration-related protest outside the criminal justice center at 201 Poplar on April 3 when Memphis police began making arrests.
Duran was charged with disorderly conduct and obstruction of a highway or passageway. Prosecutors soon dropped the charges against Duran, but ICE agents quickly picked him up.
Groups including the National Association of Hispanic Journalists and Reporters Without Borders have criticized the arrest and ongoing detention.
Role as reporter puts Duran’s life at risk if deported, say supporters
Supporters have argued his role as a reporter could put his life at risk if he returns to the troubled central American country.
Supporters also argue that authorities retaliated against Duran due to his coverage of issues such as alleged collaboration between local police and immigration officials. A complaint related to those allegations is pending in federal court in Louisiana.
Police Director Michael Rallings says the retaliation claim isn’t true, and that the arrest came after police gave lawful orders to clear the street.
“They certainly did not target Mr. Duran or anyone else,” he said.
ICE pointed to a previous statement that said Duran had his day in immigration court, missed it, and had been living as an immigration fugitive.
Organizations including Latino Memphis and the Southern Poverty Law Center are running his legal defense. Jong, the lawyer, works for the Southern Poverty Law Center.
As of Wednesday, Duran had been detained 58 days.
Reach reporter Daniel Connolly at 529-5296, daniel.connolly@commercialappeal.com, or on Twitter at @danielconnolly.