Albuquerque, NM (KRQE): A resident of Albuquerque de Albuquerque Mexicano Profan by Krqe News 13 is breathing a sigh of relief after learning that he will be allowed to remain in the United States while processed his application T-Visa.
The story continues below
Antonio Chairz Ríos requested a special T-Visa reserved for survivors of trafficking in persons. In June, while he waited for his application to advance, he received a worrying call for the US immigration control and customs control. (ICE), shortly after President Donald Trump asked for a national increase in deportations.
The call marked the beginning of an uncertain summer for Ríos, who feared deportation to a country in which he had not lived for almost two decades.
“I am afraid of how I do not know the crime there, but there were a lot that there is a lot of crime“Rios said.
(Translation of AI: “I was afraid to go to Mexico because I don’t know the situation of crime there, but people talk a lot about how dangerous it is”).
As the date of his ice check-in, Ríos said that his fear and anxiety only strengthened.
“There are times that you cannot sleep that the more the time was approaching to the date I had … the more the date was approaching the more I worried me and there is no time that I did not sleep for thinking ‘What will happen?“Rios said.
(Translation of AI: “There were times when I couldn’t sleep. The more I approached the appointment … the more worried I was worried. Sometimes I couldn’t sleep: ‘What will happen?'”)
Ríos looked for the T-Visa after he said he was exploited for years by Casa Construction LLC, a construction company based in New Mexico. He suffered an almost fatal fall at work due to unsafe working conditions and continues to require continuous medical care.
His immigration lawyer, Rebecca Kitson, explained that T-Vis processing usually has been due to a massive case portfolio. Historically, applicants have been allowed to remain in the United States while waiting for a preliminary review called a good faith determination.
“It is a systemic problem, these incredible attacks and really long processing times. And as we saw in the case of Antonio: delayed justice is denied justice,” Kitson said.
But at a break of past practice, ICE informed Ríos earlier this year that he was moving to deport it before his request had reached that review of the first stage.
According to his legal team, deportation at that stage would have invalidated his application completely, from it permanently re -apply, turning the case into a fight both for due process and for the rights of survivors of human trafficking.
In his June check-in, Ice told Ríos that if his request had not reached the state of good faith in his next programmed check-in, only three months away, he would be arrested and deported.
It was also placed on an ankle monitor.
“Wherever I was going, because this one feels like weird, as if you were paying a crime that you made that the only crime is to be here working in the United States“Rios said.
(Translation of AI: “Wherever it was, I felt a bit strange, as if I was paying for some crime I had committed, when the only crime was really being working here in the United States”).
In response, Rivers’s lawyers, Kitson and Co-Abogado Alejandro Macias, filed a lawsuit against the federal government, presenting an order of Mandamus, a legal action that essentially requires that a government agency take measures.
The presentation led an American lawyer to intervene and urge immigration officials to review the case of Ríos a few days before his next check-in, keeping Ríos and his family on the limit until the last moment.
Kitson said that in direct cases like this, the United States prosecutor often has the discretion of resolving the matter without being tried. “The work of the United States prosecutor is in this type of federal demand is to negotiate on behalf of his client, who is the federal government of the United States. Then they connect the points. They call the federal government and say: ‘Hey, what is happening with this case?'” Kitson said. ” “Literally causes them to take him out of the shelf and take a look.”
The United States citizenship and immigration services (USCIS) finally determined that the case of Ríos had merit and granted a suspension of deportation and a four -year work permit. The ankle monitor was also eliminated and the demand was eliminated.
For Ríos, the suspension of deportation means everything, not only for itself, but for their children and grandchildren.
“That separation as it would be very tragic for me, for them too because we have been together all the time“Rios said.
(Translation of AI: “That type of separation would be very tragic to me. For them too, because we have always been together”).
Since he received the news last week, Ríos says that he has spent time with his family and that he has stayed occupied with the work.
“I am calmer, the desperate tranquility of many despair came“Rios said.
(Translation of AI: “Now I feel calmer. Peace has finally arrived after a lot of despair”).
He accredits his lawyers and community members who protested in his name, and says he is grateful to God. Even so, he cares about others in similar situations that may not have access to legal support.
“It is difficult for those who work, who live day by day, like agricultural workers. They live the check check for the check. I cannot imagine what will happen to them when it is their turn,” Ríos said.
Kitson said he will probably take three to four years for Ríos request to be completely processed. Demand results do not mean accelerating.
His next ice check-in is scheduled for about a year from now on.
Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material cannot be published, transmitted, rewritten or redistributed.
For the latest news, weather, sports and transmission videos, go to Krqe News 13 – Breaking News, Albuquerque News, New Mexico News, Weather and Videos.
(Tagstotranslate) Antonio Chairez Rios (T) Rebecca Kitson (T) Deportations
Source link