LAFAYETTE, La. — Jose Francisco Garcia Rodriguez, 73, has been released from ICE custody after being detained by immigration agents on April 1. He was held for a week at an ICE detention center and is now back home with his family.
"He has been a kind man, a good man. To know him is to love him," said his stepdaughter, Christian Cooper Riggs, who advocated on social media for his release.
"For the last 43 years, Jose has lived a good life. He has raised a family with a wife, worked labor jobs 40-60 hours a week. He has paid his taxes and Social Security," Riggs added.
Rodriguez, a Cuban native, boarded a boat sent by the United States for refugees back in the 1980s. He fled his country in search of a better life, according to his family.
They also said Rodriguez made poor choices early in his time in America, but he faced the consequences of his actions and served time.
"Like many refugees at that time, he came here with the clothes on his back. He did not speak English, had no education and struggled," said Riggs.
When an undocumented immigrant with a past or current criminal record is taken into custody, an immigration hold or detainer may be issued, which can lead to them being removed or deported.
"However, in this specific case, that did not happen because the individual was from Cuba," says Tala Voosoghi, an immigration attorney in Lafayette who is familiar with the incident.
Voosoghi explained that Rodriguez’s status as a refugee may have altered the circumstances.
"For refugees and asylees that are in this country that have been granted asylum or has come here as refugees, they can not be deported back to their country of origin, so they are kind of stuck in this limbo. A lot of times when their sentence is served like in this case, they are released and have an order of supervision, which means they have to report to ICE every so often and check in and as long as they keep reporting it to ICE, they typically stay here indefinitely," Voosoghi said.
As for other undocumented arrests, there has been a surge.
"We get about 20 to 30 calls a day with very similar scenarios to what occurred to Mr. Jose. Unfortunately, there's an uptick in ICE arrests of people going about their days who don't necessarily even have a criminal record," she added.
Riggs expressed gratitude to her stepfather's release in a statement to KATC:
"We are so thankful for the role our local community has played in expressing their concerns for his release and for his well-being. The road that lies ahead of our country in the matter of immigration is delicate. I believe that we can protect our borders while looking at individual cases. It is not a matter of politics, rather a matter of humanity."
The future for Rodriguez is uncertain, but his family is thankful to have him back in their arms.
