Remember this: when Donald Trump and Department of Homeland Security Sec. John Kelly tell you that they are only targeting dangerous criminals and “bad hombres” for arrest and deportation, they are lying to you. USA Today shares one of the most egregious examples yet, that of an undocumented dad with no criminal record in Cincinnati, Ohio.
Despite living in the U.S. without permission, Felix Yulian "Julian" Motino tried to follow the rules by paying his taxes, working hard as a house painter, and taking care of his two U.S. citizen children. Motion and Alexis, his U.S. citizen wife of two years, had begun the process of trying to gain legal status for him during the Obama administration, but because of his undocumented status and a prior deportation order, were warned by friends the effort could be dangerous under Donald Trump.
Still, Julian was determined “to try to come out of the shadows” and the couple voluntarily scheduled an in-person appointment with U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. It was there that their “worst nightmare came true”:
For 45 minutes, the couple provided documents that included their marriage certificate from May 15, 2015, utility bills bearing both of their names, her U.S. birth certificate and his Honduran passport. They thumbed through their wedding album and showed the agent photographs of themselves from the early years of their relationship.
The USCIS agent, named Carlos, said toward the end of the meeting that he had to make copies of their ID cards. The agent came back to his office and asked the couple to have a seat in the lobby, where his supervisor, Julie, would speak to them.
"Julie said, 'Felix, we need you to come outside into the hallway,' " said Alexis Motino, a 26-year-old Cincinnati native.
There, two officers from U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement met him and said, "We need you to come with us."
The couple’s attorney, Matthew Benson, had gone with them to the USCIS appointment and immediately tried to intervene, arguing the Julian has been here for over a decade and has no criminal record. “Their marriage petition had just been approved minutes earlier.” But federal immigration officials refused to budge, and the father was in detention later that day.
"Our worst nightmare came true," said his wife Alexis. "After the interview went so well, we were elated. Then we got crushed."
As USA Today notes, undocumented immigrants like Motino and Maribel Trujillo were not deportation priorities under the Obama administration, which instead attempted to focus on “removing violent criminals and people who were a threat to national security. But anyone with a final deportation order”—like Julian Motino and Maribel Trujillo—“is a deportation priority under Trump,” even if they have clean records and ties to the U.S. Trujillo, a mom of four U.S. citizens, was tragically torn from her family and deported in April after living in the U.S. for nearly 15 years.
Motino had received his order in absentia from an immigration judge in Philadelphia in 2009. Motino had moved but not filed required change-of-address forms with the court, Benson said. Motino was detained at the U.S. border with Mexico upon entry in 2005, processed and allowed to continue to his U.S. destination, Cincinnati — where a family member lived — on his own recognizance.
Benson filed a motion Friday with the immigration court in Philadelphia to reopen Motino's case. Benson said the court received the motion Saturday and that it should serve as a temporary stay of deportation.
Still, the next few days are perilous for Motino. He’s currently in detention in an Ohio facility, which is just one stop before transfer to a detention facility in Louisiana, commonly the last stop before deportation from the U.S.
Benson said if the Philadelphia immigration court agrees to reopen the case that he will seek bond. He said Motino would wear an ankle monitor and agree to regular check-ins with immigration officials. Approval of the couple's marriage petition should help the case moving forward, Benson said.
"I miss him already," said Motino’s son Bryan after making the three-hour drive with his family to go see his dad in Ohio. "I miss playing soccer with him and just being with him. He can kick the ball from one goal to the other."