DETROIT – People are protesting U.S. Immigration and the Customs Enforcement and U.S. Customs and Border Protection in an effort to stop a deportation.
UPDATE: ICE to allow Nigerian immigrant more time in Detroit
This case is different than most, because it involves someone whose disability is the main argument for letting him stay.
Francis Anwana, 48, lives in an adult foster care home in Detroit. He's deaf and disabled, and he's been living in the U.S. for decades.
Supporters said Anwana is being deported to his native Nigeria due to unfair Trump administration policies.
"We've asked him in the past if he wants to go back and he wants to stay. For him, this is home," said Tania Morris Diaz, an attorney with the Michigan Immigrant Rights Center who is working with Anwana.
ICE said that's not the case and that Anwana was admitted to the U.S. as a nonimmigrant student in 1983. When he was no longer enrolled at the school, he violated his student visa terms -- which made him subject to removal.
An immigration judge ordered Anwana to be deported back in 2008, but ICE put a delay on his case, waiting on travel documents from his home country, and has asked Anwana to leave voluntarily.
What is the message to others who are here illegally, for years, and who find themselves in the same position?
"I would recommend to anyone who is in such a situation to call the Michigan Immigrant Rights Center and we can do anything we can to advise them and hopefully put them on the right path," Diaz said.
Anwana has a hearing Friday.
Diaz said they're working on a path toward a green card and he's not expected to be deported.