ICE set to deport Bronx man despite Joe order

A Bronx man who’s spent more than a year in federal custody is scheduled to be deported to Honduras early Monday, his lawyers said — a move they maintain is in conflict with President Biden’s executive order that put a 100-day moratorium on most deportations.

Javier Castillo Maradiaga, 27 (inset), was arrested by the NYPD in 2019 for what his lawyer said was a pedestrian violation that was later dismissed.

Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials took Maradiaga into custody following his arrest, according to his attorney Rebecca Press, who works with UnLocal, a nonprofit that offers free legal representation to immigrants.

Maradiaga — who came to New York from Honduras when he was 7 to join his parents in the U.S. — was in a federal detention center in Louisiana on Sunday and was scheduled to be put on a plane at 2 a.m. on Monday, his lawyers said.

Press said officials from New York’s ICE field office told her on Sunday Maradiaga should not be sent to Honduras because Biden signed an order Wednesday placing a 100-day moratorium on most deportations. But in Louisiana, Press said, ICE officials told her they were going to expel Maradiaga anyway.

“What’s very concerning here is that this seems to be in violation, or at least directly contradicting what the moratorium says and certainly the spirit of it,” said Press. “We’re getting conflicting information. Why does New York believe one thing and why does Louisiana believe another?”

ICE officials in an emailed statement declined to comment on Maradiaga’s case. But the agency said it has hit pause on “certain removals” as of Friday pursuant to Biden’s executive memo. “The pause on removals applies to those present in the U.S. with a final order of removal, with certain exceptions as described in the memo. The pause on removals does not apply to individuals who entered the United States on or after Nov. 1, 2020,” ICE said.

The breakdown in communication comes as the Biden administration awaits Senate confirmation of Alejandro Mayorkas as homeland security secretary, a cabinet post that oversees ICE. Biden’s executive order required the deportation moratorium to be implemented by Friday, and for the Homeland Security Department to publish formal written guidance no later than Feb. 1.

Press said that she’s hopeful federal officials will reverse ICE’s plans to deport Maradiaga, and that elected officials, including, Rep. Ritchie Torres (D-Bronx), are working on the case.

UnLocal held a rally at Foley Square in lower Manhattan on Sunday to call for Maradiaga to be allowed to remain in the U.S. His mother, Alma Maradiaga, said her son had done nothing to deserve such treatment. “The only crime that he had committed was the crime to live a dignified life,” the distraught mom said. “The 14 months that he’s been detained, I’ve been an essential worker in the hospitals cleaning, doing everything I can do for my child.”