The Register Citizen (Torrington, CT)
Man set to be deported gets 30-day reprieve
Barrios had been asking DHS to allow him to a one-year temporary stay of removal in the U.S. since 2011.
DERBY » Luis Barrios approached the media scrum gathered outside his house on Wednesday and paused.
Barrios looked down while biting his lips, gathering his thoughts. He has time to do that now — and at least 30 more days to consider his next move after he was informed Wednesday he had been granted a 30-day reprieve a day before he was scheduled to leave the country. Barrios, an undocumented immigrant, made the announcement alongside his family, supporters and his attorney, Erin O’Neil-Baker.
“I would like to say thank you,” Barrios said. “Thank you everybody for supporting me.”
O’Neil-Baker said the offices of U.S. Sens. Richard Blumenthal and Chris Murphy, both DConn., had notified them Wednesday evening that Barrios was being given a 30-day stay. The temporary stay was granted by Immigration and Customs Enforcement, which operates under the Department of Homeland Security.
Within the last week, local activists and members of Connecticut’s congressional delegation worked to call attention to Barrios, who came to the United States from Guatemala in 1992. A father of four, Barrios has a legal work permit but had a removal order first issued in 1998. He has no criminal record.
Barrios had been asking the DHS to allow him to a one-year temporary stay of removal in the U.S. since 2011. He fears he would be targeted and his life would be endangered if he returned to Guatemala. Every year since 2011, the request was granted, but after President Donald Trump signed an executive order addressing immigration, his stay of removal was denied in Hartford.
“The only word I can tell everyone is God bless you, everyone, because I know you believe in Jesus and I know that’s why people come to help us,” Barrios said. “We try to demonstrate we are a good family.”
Barrios said he only recently told his two youngest children he was scheduled to leave permanently. His two other U.S. citizen children include Jessica, a student at the University of Bridgeport, and Lester, a 16-year-old student at Platt Technical High School.
Lester Barrios thanked the community and others who supported his father.
“I don’t know how to say thank you,” Lester Barrios said.
“I’m just very grateful and appreciative that everybody has been here for us,” Lester Barrios said. “This means for us, for our family.”
Murphy and Blumenthal pushed ICE to reconsider its decision to deport Barrios. Blumenthal said in a phone interview Wednesday following the announcement that the larger lesson in Barrios’ case is that it demonstrates the need for comprehensive immigration reform. Blumenthal previously said during a rally he would work to help Barrios.
Cases like Barrios’ shouldn’t come down to the last minute, Blumenthal said.
“We are not doing any victory laps because we have 30 days to continue the fight.” Blumenthal said. “It’s a credit to him that there was this kind of outpouring of support and it’s (a dramatic) condemnation of our broken immigration system.”
U.S. Rep. Rosa DeLauro, D-3, personally penned a letter to DHS in support of Barrios. Following the press release, she called and spoke to Barrios over speakerphone. She also released a statement lauding the decision.
“Tonight the Barrios Family has the assurance that their father will not be sent back to Guatemala for the next 30 days,” DeLauro said in the release. “While this is great news, Luis deserves to remain in this country with his family and I strongly believe that this action should be made permanent.
Also speaking Wednesday during the press conference was Natalie Alexander, of the New Havenbased immigrant advocacy organization Unidad Latina en Accion. Alexander was one of several protesters arrested after they sat outside federal court in Hartford Tuesday in support of Barrios.
“We are going to keep ICE accountable through these next 30 days,” Alexander said. “As the communities rallies around Luis, as the community rallies around the Barrios family, we want ICE to know that we’re keeping our eyes on them.”
The next step will be to await a pending motion to reopen Barrios’ removal order. If it were reopened, it would give Barrios the opportunity to present his case for asylum.
“We hope that we can work with immigration, Department of Homeland Security and ICE to find a resolution here,” O’NeilBaker said.
Barrios has already set his sights on his final goal.
“Hopefully we stay the rest of our life here,” Barrios said.