Today could be pivotal for the Harrisonburg man awaiting deportation to Mexico. An attorney for Cesar Lara Rios has filed a motion to reopen the case with the Board of Immigration Appeals. WMRA’s Christopher Clymer Kurtz has this update.*
Attorney Zarana Robinson said that after filing that motion first thing today [Tuesday, May 30], she can request an emergency stay motion -- and once the BIA makes a decision on that, it would contact ICE directly to stop Lara Rios’s deportation.
Approval of an emergency stay would allow Robinson “breathing room” to supplement Lara Rios’s asylum case and further document his fears of returning to Mexico.
It could also buy time for him and his mother, a legal resident with medical concerns who relies on his support. They have been awaiting approval of a petition she filed on his behalf over a year ago that would make him eligible for an unlawful presence waiver from U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. Robinson thinks that very well could be granted -- if Lara Rios is not deported first.
Virginia Organizing says that in the past Senator Mark Warner has written in support of Lara Rios, and last Friday Harrisonburg community members rallied to call on Senators Tim Kaine and Warner to come to his aid.
Robinson said that Wednesdays seem to be the favored day for deportations to Mexico; until the BIA acts, Lara Rios remains under ICE jurisdiction.
*UPDATE: Cesar Lara Rios will get more time to challenge his deportation. The Board of Immigration Appeals at the Justice Department on Tuesday, May 30 granted a stay of removal for Lara Rios. His lawyer says as a result of the stay, ICE must halt any enforcement action against him in compliance with the Board of Immigration's order.
