Lawyers warn clients of increased arrest risk at immigration check-ins

When Jessica Rodriguez Aguilar and her husband Josue Aguilar showed up at a routine appointment with U.S. immigration services in Miami earlier this month, they hoped things would go smoothly. It was a long awaited immigration interview which they expected would get them closer to fixing his immigration status and put an end to years of living in fear: Josue is without legal status.

“I thought we were one step closer to him becoming a resident of the United States,” says Rodriguez Aguilar. But the appointment ended with her husband being detained.

Under the Biden administration immigrants like Josue, without a criminal record, used to be a low priority for arrest and deportation. But lawyers say they are seeing more on the spot arrests at immigration hearings. Immigration attorneys are now warning clients that they could be detained or deported when they show up for routine court hearings or appointments.

Jessica Rodriguez Aguilar, a U.S. citizen, has been married to Josue for three years. He came to the U.S. when he was 14, requesting asylum from gang violence in Honduras.

That request was denied, and in 2018 he was given a deportation order, which was never enforced.

In the years that passed, the couple got married and had a boy who is now 2 years old. She got a job as a receptionist at a law office; he manages a restaurant. They scraped together enough money to start a children’s party rental business on the side.

Her husband’s lack of legal status weighed on them, so Rodriguez Aguilar filed an I-130 form or what is called a “Petition for Alien Relative” to help her 26-year-old husband gain lawful residence in the country. It’s the first step in obtaining a green card. A requirement of the petition is to show evidence of a marital relationship.

The couple scheduled an appointment and waited. A few weeks ago, they met with an immigration officer in Miami. And Jessica Rodriguez Aguilar said it seemed to be going well. “The officer was very nice. He played with our son. He only asked us two questions because he had seen our paperwork,” she recalled.

“He asked us where and how we had met, and when and how my husband had proposed to me. He just gave me the paperwork and he said ‘your case has been approved, here are the copies,'” Rodriquez Aguilar said. “It was like a weight off my shoulders.” The officer then told her to wait outside with her son.

A few minutes later, she was informed her husband was being detained: his deportation order from 2018 was being enforced. She says she felt blindsided.

“I didn’t even know how to react,” she says. “It was horrible,” her voice breaking. “I had my baby with me so I had to try to keep it together for him.”

The data is scarce on how many people have been detained in similar situations. But multiple immigration lawyers told NPR they’re seeing more cases like Josue Aguilar’s : clients showing up to what they believe are routine immigration appointments, and getting detained.

A little over a week ago Mohsen Mahdawi, a Columbia University student who is lawfully in the U.S. with a visa, showed up for an immigration appointment in Vermont – what he thought was his naturalization interview, a final step in becoming an American citizen. Instead, Mahdawi was arrested at the courthouse and detained. He had his first deportation hearing on Wednesday.

Valerie Crespo, the attorney for the Aguilar family, says these arrests are not uncommon. In the last month she has had four clients detained at their appointments.

Historically, Crespo says, there’s always been a possibility that an immigrant without legal status will get arrested at an appointment, but it didn’t happen often. Priority for detention and deportation was given to criminals and people deemed dangerous to their communities.

The Trump administration is now making deportations a priority, vowing to end what they call “catch and release.” These days, detention has become the default.

In recent weeks, Crespo says, more clients are skipping immigration appointments and court dates. “Most of them have been here in the United States for so many years, they have their family,” says attorney Crespo. “They need to decide whether to try to stay together, or comply with the law.”

At a recent hearing where another one of her clients failed to appear, the immigration judge told her this was the 15th no-show of the day.

Meanwhile Josue Aguilar has been transferred to a detention facility in Texas. Crespo has requested a halt to deportation proceedings. She says if he gets deported, it could take him years for him to get back to his family.

“This is a person that has no criminal charges,” she says. “This is a person married to a U.S. citizen, with a U.S. citizen son. His situation should provide him some hope.”

These days, Crespo is advising her clients who have deportation orders, to show up for their immigration appointments, which is the law. But she’s also warning them: if you go, you may very well get detained.