NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WTVF) — Attorneys in Nashville say people are being arrested at the US Citizenship and Immigration Services office after their interviews, a practice that appears to be increasing under new immigration enforcement policies.
"How are you supposed to get your papers if you get detained during the interview?" said Marlen Santana, an attorney with Santana Law Firm.
Santana says this situation has become a nightmare for her and her clients. On Thursday, she reports that Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) detained her client, who had arrived in the US as a minor from El Salvador seeking safety.
"She married a legal permanent resident, and they filed her petition as a spouse to get her immigration status in the United States," Santana said.
The client was attending her first I-130 interview at the USCIS office, a step toward U.S. residency or citizenship—a process that typically takes over seven years.
"Then after it was approved, ICE was there waiting for her," Santana said.
The woman didn't have a criminal record, not even a traffic violation, according to Santana. However, she did have a prior removal order from 2019. Santana notes that similar cases have been approved in the past without issue.
"Which is frustrating, because there were these provisions in the immigration law that will forgive this removal order if we are allowed to file the waiver after this interview," Santana said. "I have lots of cases similar to hers that I've been able to get them a green card, but that was before this administration."
Her client was one of several people taken into custody at the Nashville office last week, according to Santana.
"People often talk about why they didn't do it the right way, but then they do it the right way. This is the right way for her to get her legal permanent residency, and then she gets detained," Santana said.
As President Trump's deputy chief of staff, Stephen Miller seeks to make a minimum of 3,000 arrests a day. News reports indicate similar incidents are happening nationwide.
"What we're doing is like we're creating many more undocumented people in the country by not allowing them to go through their normal process of getting a green card," Santana said.
Her client is now separated from her family, including her two U.S. citizen children, ages 4 and 5. Santana fears the woman could be held in Knoxville for months before deportation.
"This family will be separated for who knows how long, how many years, and it's very difficult," Santana said.
Santana's advice for anyone navigating this process is to hire an attorney.
Do you have more information about this story? You can email me at Patsy.Montesinos@Newschannel5.com
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