And 31 -year -old Argentinewith legal residence in the United States, was arrested by the immigration and customs control service (ICEfor its acronym in English) After he returned to that country from a trip abroad. At Los Angeles airport they detected that he had legal history and began a process that resulted in the possibility of being deported from the country where he has lived for 18 years.
As published The Atlanta Journal ConstitutionThis is Agustín Gentile, an Argentine immigrant who has two American children, six and eight years old, and who lives in Raleigh, in the state of North Carolina. Lanacion He was able to confirm from sources linked to the case that the Argentine consulate in Atlanta is aware of the situation since April 21 and that the family has received assistance and monitoring since then.
Now, It is expected that Gentile is taken to a judicial hearing To evaluate your situation, although it is not expected to be before May 12. His family awaits that, in the worst case, he can move to Argentina, although he spent most of his life in the US.
last February, Gentile returned from a trip abroad and landed in the Los Angeles International Airportwhere, when Migrationsofficials of the National Security Department They confiscated his residence card (green card) and his passport Argentine, according to the American newspaper, the most important in Georgia.
From the airport, Gentile was referred to a customs and border protection office in Raleight, North Carolina. On April 14 they arrested him and sent him to a local prison. Two days later, he was transferred to Stewart detention Centerin Georgia.
The fact that the Argentine immigrant has a Green Card does not exempt him from an eventual deportation from the United States. He Citizenship and Immigration Service (USCIS) highlighted weeks ago that legal residents can also be expelled.
Last March, David Leopold, immigration lawyer, warned in CNN what The detention and deportation of residents is not unusual. “It’s quite routine, nobody is safe.”
Débora Rey And her husband, Martín Verdiidentified by The Atlanta Journal-Constitution Like Gentile’s parents, they are in Georgia waiting for news, while the young man struggles to stay in the United States with his family.
Both king and Verdi said they agreed with Donald Trump’s proposal from “Hard hand with illegal immigrants” And that, last November, they voted convinced. When the Republican won the elections, celebration. But the situation changed. “We feel betrayed”they said.
-
According to Gentile’s parents, his son was arrested following a minor conviction by Injuries in California, in 2020. In that case, the man received five years of probation, then reduced to three, and The cause was closed in 2023.
The woman and her husband They managed for nine hoursfrom home in North Carolina to Georgia, To be able to see it. “This is crazy. My son tells me that, where he is now, He is the only person who has papers. All others are undocumented“King said.
The couple acknowledged having supported Trump’s policies with the expectation that he would focus on criminals without documents. “But he didn’t say he was going to do this, that he was going to chase people who have been here for a long time.”the woman complained, who marked that Trump had said that she would first focus her actions on “The criminals who came illegally.”
While your child is detained, the couple Try to protect your grandchildrenboth American citizens, of their father’s situation. “We told them that he went on a trip. They ask, ‘Where is my dad?’ And we can’t tell them ‘Dad is in jail’ ”Verdi said.
Las Stawart detention conditions are hard. Gentile told them that there are overcrowding, people who sleep on the ground and lights on all night. He also told them that he had difficulty accessing hygiene products and that he feeds mainly with instant soups. “Sometimes he calls me and he doesn’t even know what day or what time is”Said Rey.
King and Verdi are repentant having supported Trump. “We would not have voted for him if we had known this”they said. They fail to understand how their child, legal resident, is detained and under the same conditions as other undocumented migrants. “It was a massive deception what he did” Donald Trump, they said.
Now, Gentile’s parents expect the precise date of the judicial hearing in the case of their child, but they know that the process can be long. Given that possibility, both They considered that it would be better for their son to be sent to Argentinaa country that he hardly knows and in which he has no memories. “Freedom, especially”they said.
