A Mexican man who entered the United States illegally almost 20 years ago is set to be deported on Friday, amid an uptick in detentions by immigration agents emboldened by President Donald Trump — whom the man’s own wife voted for.
Roberto Beristain, 43, has been in the custody of US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officers since he was detained on Feb. 6 in Indianapolis, department spokeswoman Leticia Zamarripa told BuzzFeed News.
The Mexican national, who owns a steak restaurant in the Indiana town of Granger, arrived in the country in 1998 before being detained two years later and ordered to leave.
During a trip to Niagara Falls in 2000 with his wife, Helen, and stepson, Phil Kolliopoulos, Beristain was arrested when the family inadvertently took a wrong turn and arrived at the Canadian border, Kolliopoulos
wrote online.
After hiring a lawyer and posting $1,500 in bail, Beristain was released on a voluntary self-deportation order, giving him 60 days to leave the country.
“With Roberto expecting his first child soon, this was not an option for him to leave,” Kolliopoulos wrote. “He believed to be the supportive and loving husband and father he was made to be.”
When the 60 days was up, the voluntary departure order reverted to a final order of removal, said Zamarripa, the ICE spokeswoman. But for many years, no action was taken.
Instead, Beristain was able to obtain a driver’s license, social security card, and work permit, according to Kolliopoulos. Beristain also checked in each year with ICE agents as part of his work permit, the
South Bend Tribune reported.
It was during his annual check-in with agents in Indianapolis in February that he was suddenly arrested, becoming one of
hundreds of undocumented immigrantsdetained since President Trump took office.
“They came outside, knocked on the window,” Helen Beristain told
Indiana Public Media earlier this month. “They said, ‘Are you Roberto’s wife?’ And, I said ‘Yes.’ And, they said, ‘Well, your husband is being detained because of a deportation [order] 16 and a half years ago.’ And, I said, ‘That’s a joke.’ And, they said, ‘No, it’s true.’”
