Dad granted last-minute deportation reprieve after daughter filmed his arrest

The 49-year-old father whose arrest appeared in teary cell phone footage captured by his young daughter in late February will not be deported yet, federal immigration authorities announced Monday.

Romulo Avelica-Gonzalez, who has lived in the U.S. for more than 25 years, was granted a last minute stay Monday afternoon from the Board of Immigration Appeals — the nation’s highest immigration authority — after a federal appeals court had cleared him for deportation as early as Monday morning. The Board of Immigration Appeals will now review his case.

“This is my country; I have roots and family here. And today I am grateful beyond words that the court has prevented ICE from deporting me,” said Avelica, speaking from a detention center in San Bernardino County where he has spent the last five months.

Federal immigration authorities arrested Avelica on the morning of February 28 right after he dropped one of his daughters, 12, off at school. His other daughter, 14, filmed the arrest from the back seat of the car.

In June, using a new California law that allows people to re-negotiate plea deals for convictions that have immigration consequences, Avelica’s lawyers resolved two of his decades-old misdemeanors — one DUI and one receiving stolen property — that spurred his arrest in the first place.

With the changes to Avelica’s record, his lawyers hope ICE will let him go.

“We are now asking the BIA to reconsider its prior decision and recognize that Mr. Avelica should have a right to stay in the United States,” his attorney, Alan Diamante, said. “ICE should release Romulo immediately.”