Nearly a week ago, Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents arrested Lukasz Niec, a Michigan physician and legal permanent resident, after four decades in the U.S. The reason? Two misdemeanor convictions from over 25 years ago. Now Dr. Niec faces deportation to his native Poland, where he no longer has any family members, or even speaks the language:
According to his “notice to appear” from the Department of Homeland Security, Niec’s detention stems from two misdemeanor convictions from 26 years ago. In January 1992, Niec was convicted of malicious destruction of property under $100. In April of that year, he was convicted of receiving and concealing stolen property over $100 and a financial transaction device.
Because Niec was convicted of two crimes involving “moral turpitude,” stemming from two separate incidents, he is subject to removal, immigration authorities wrote in the notice to appear, citing the Immigration and Nationality Act.
Both of the offenses took place when he was a teenager. He associated himself “with some bad people” his sister said. The first of the incidents involved an altercation with a driver after a car crash, Niec’s sister said. He was one of multiple teenagers in the car at the time.
“The second of those convictions was eventually expunged from his criminal record, his sister said, as part of a guilty plea through Michigan’s Holmes Youthful Trainee Act, a program intended to help young offenders avoid the stigma of a criminal conviction. But even though the crime was scrubbed off his public record, it can still be used against him for removal from the country, his sister said.” Which ICE is now attempting to do. Are you feeling safer yet, America?
Dr. Niec became a lawful permanent resident in 1989 and “never fathomed that his legal status in the United States would become an issue. “ But like undocumented dad Jorge Garcia, Dr. Niec has become yet another immigrant swept up by mass deportation agents, despite deep roots and decades in the U.S.
Lucasz Niec has been a doctor for more than a decade. He treats patients at three different Bronson hospitals, and is responsible for scheduling all physicians in his group, covering about five hospitals in the area, his wife said. He was picked up by immigration officials on his first day off after working a week straight, including several double shifts.
His wife was working her shift as a charge nurse at a Bronson hospital Tuesday morning when she received the phone call from her husband, saying he had been arrested by immigration officers. She was so taken aback that she thought he was pulling a prank on her, she said.
According to The Washington Post, Dr. Niec has yet to see a judge, and “ICE has not responded to requests for information from The Washington Post” about why they are targeting a man over decades-old offenses, one of which has already been expunged from his record. What ICE also hasn’t answered is if they are using two other incidents as justification to tear him from his family and home of four decades:
According to Kalamazoo County court records cited by MLive, Niec also pleaded guilty in 2008 to operating impaired by liquor. After he completed probation, the conviction was set aside, the plea withdrawn and the case dismissed. He was also charged with domestic violence in 2013 and a jury found him not guilty after a trial, MLive reported.
“But his wife insists that he is not a risk to the public,” noted The Washington Post. “When he renewed his permanent green card a few years ago, he was given a ‘false sense of security,’ that it would be enough, she said.” And, Dr. Niec’s numerous colleagues have written letters to an immigration judge in support of him:
“The consensus about his character is overwhelming with no single complaint I have ever heard from anyone over 10 years,” Kwsai Al-Rahhal, M.D. wrote, according to MLive. “He is loving, caring and respectful.”
Another colleague, Jose Angelo L. De Leon, M.D., wrote about how Niec often stepped up to take on extra hours due to staff shortages.
“I cannot say enough about his work ethic and his service to our community,” De Leon wrote.
And what it also says is the frightening and cruel steps Trump’s agents are taking to advance his mass deportation agenda. If a doctor—a permanent resident here for decades—is at risk for deportation, what does it say for the immigrants who have far fewer resources and no legal status at all?