Mexican father of five he was deported in 2020 “by mistake” He will be able to legally remain in the United States with his family in Colorado after obtaining permanent residence after 16 years of effort, the state’s American Friends Service Committee (AFSC) said Thursday.

“I am very grateful to our community for their support and to my family, especially my wife, who worked so hard and never gave up. Today I celebrate a new future. I’m at home to stay with my family where I belong. In my case, we achieved the final victory,” said Jorge Rafael Saldívar.

Zaldivar, 47, with five American children and no criminal recordHe came to the USA in 1997.

In 2019, Zaldivars had the opportunity to seek asylum at a local church instead of showing up for a meeting with Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) in November of that year. Mexican; nevertheless, he kept the meeting, where he was arrested and transferred to an immigration detention center ICE in Aurora, east of Denver.

Two months later he was deported.. During this time, Zaldivar lost 9 kilograms, suffered from depression and his diabetes worsened, then his wife Christina, a US citizen, explained.

They both got married in 2005. and she immediately brought immigration proceedings in favor of her husband, but the immigration authorities denied the application. Despite this, Zaldivar decided to stay in the United States.

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Then in 2008 Mexican got into a car accident this offended them when a new petition was made to stay in Colorado.

In 2017, ICE confirmed that his case was “wrong”, so the case was reopened and Zaldivar began attending scheduled appointments with immigration agents.. Contrary to expectations, the Mexican was detained and deported.

his luck changed in October 2022, when he was allowed to return to the country and then, last December, he had a hearing before an immigration judge in which a new defense attorney presented “evidence that had not been heard before.”

The strategy worked, and now Zaldivar can finally be with his children “without insecurities”.

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However, fluctuations their immigration status is worth tens of thousands of dollars and many sleepless nights for a “broken family” who otherwise “could live in peace,” he recalled.

For her part, Gabriela Flora, director of programs for AFSC in Colorado, said that The Zaldivars found themselves “trapped in a Byzantine and inhumane immigration system”. that it should be replaced by a new system that “recognizes the human dignity of our loved ones and neighbors with clear paths to citizenship”. (EFE)