US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents arrested a man in Texas while he was on his way to deliver milk to his 12-day-old daughter, who was receiving treatment in an isolation chamber at a neonatal intensive care unit, according to a report.
Juan Chavez Velasco, 35, is a married father of three with degrees in biology and clinical laboratory science. He works as a medical laboratory scientist and served on the front lines of an emergency room during the Covid-19 pandemic, MS NOW reports. He was detained in Weslaco on February 18 and is now facing deportation to Colombia without having held his infant daughter, Elianna, who was born premature and is now five weeks old.
A GoFundMe appeal set up by his wife, Stephanie Villareal, reveals that Elianna struggles to produce red blood cells and requires 24-hour blood transfusions. Villareal notes that her husband has the right blood type to be a potential donor match for their child, adding: “More importantly, she needs her father here during this critical time in her life.”
Chavez Velasco told MS NOW he informed agents he was a recipient of Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) protections, to which they allegedly replied: “That doesn’t matter.” He was brought to the US from South America by his parents in 1999 when he was eight. The family overstayed their tourist visa and applied for asylum, which was rejected in 2004, resulting in a final removal order that was never enforced. His parents later secured legal residence through his US citizen sister, but Chavez Velasco’s DACA renewal application from November last year went unanswered, and his status expired on March 10 while he was in custody.
“He has no criminal history,” Villareal told MS NOW. “He did everything right.” Chavez Velasco said: “I feel betrayed. I love this country. I’m not asking for a free ride.” A Department of Homeland Security spokesperson called him “an illegal alien” and said DACA does not confer legal status, adding that recipients may be subject to arrest and deportation for various reasons. The spokesperson urged DACA recipients to self-deport, offering “$2,600 and a free flight.”
Chavez Velasco’s attorney, Jodi Goodwin, said the best outcome would be for US Citizenship and Immigration Services to renew his DACA status and for ICE to release him.
