CORAL SPRINGS, Fla. — A federal immigration judge denied the request of a father who has three U.S.-born children with special needs waiting for him in Coral Springs, an immigration attorney said on Thursday.
Dante Lopez’s case is part of a statistic that immigration advocates have warned about: Asylum denial rates have surged this year as the United States adopts more restrictive policies.
After learning about the judge’s ruling, Lopez’s neighbors asked for reflection, for others to put themselves in the shoes of the desperate migrants who have crossed the U.S. border with nothing but good intentions.
“What would you do if you were in that situation? I would come here illegally. I would sell my soul to make sure that my kids are safe,” one neighbor said. “This is not the America that I know.”
Local 10 News covered Lopez’s unexpected detention in early February, his loved one’s race to get him legal representation in early March, and how the stress of being away from his family for months at different facilities started to affect his health by mid-July.
Lopez’s case is among the many that have changed in South Florida since President Donald Trump was elected for a second term and ordered his administration to prioritize mass deportations.
Following Lopez’s treatment has been difficult for his heartbroken relatives, friends, co-workers, and neighbors. Many of them still don’t understand why immigration authorities are not allowing Lopez to come back to his home -- where a U.S. flag is on display.
Lopez had been a homeowner for over 15 years. He had been meeting with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement regularly since he applied for asylum. His case was pending when federal agents -- wearing bullet vests and armed to the teeth -- frightened his wife and children, and outraged his neighbors, who knew Lopez as a father who didn’t even have a speeding ticket in his record.
Before Lopez became a father, he was among the migrants who had found refuge in the U.S. when Peru bore the brunt of the leftist guerrilla Shining Path’s violence in the 1990s.
Lopez was deported back to Peru after he learned that the U.S. Visa that his parents had used to get him to safety had expired, and he faced threats again in Peru when he decided to cross the U.S. border without authorization.
Aside from the immigration violations related to his need for asylum, Lopez didn’t have a criminal record in the U.S.
Before Lopez’s detention, Trump challenged asylum requests, which have been part of the federal legal system in the U.S. since 1980. In July, a federal judge sided with immigrant rights advocacy groups who filed a lawsuit against Homeland Security and ruled that the feds can no longer deny asylum seekers entry to the U.S.
The fights over immigration law continued in federal court, as Lopez’s pleas for compassion went unheard. During his immigration court hearing on Wednesday, a federal judge squashed the Lopez family’s dream of a reunion in Coral Springs. Lopez’s asylum case came to an end with the judge’s denial.
Lopez, who remained in detention, awaits his deportation to a country he hasn’t considered home in decades. His U.S.-born children and his wife faced the bittersweet reality of a family reunion away from home in Coral Springs.
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Local 10 News Digital Journalist Andrea Torres contributed to this report.
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