AURORA, Colo. — Alexandria Dowell met Ariel Cruz Penton while on vacation in Miami. The moment they met, Dowell said it felt like they had known each other for years.
Suddenly, it was more than a vacation. Dowell began wondering if she had found her person.
By the end of 2022, Dowell and Penton were married. Soon, they shared a home in Aurora with their 2-year-old daughter.
"He's my world," Dowell told Scripps News Denver Monday. "He's just so thoughtful. He's a hardworking man and we're a team... He really pushes me to follow my dreams and anything that I want to accomplish, so I couldn't ask for anything else."Now, Dowell fears her family will be torn apart after Penton, who is from Cuba, was arrested by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) on June 10.Dowell said on that day, Penton was heading off to work. He dropped off their daughter with the babysitter before he was detained, according to Dowell."I found out probably an hour later. I finally was able to get a message from him saying that he had been detained by ICE and I was freaking out because I was at work and I didn't know what to do," Dowell recalled."We had our immigration check-in three weeks prior, so I had every indication to think that we were going to be fine... An immigration check-in is something that you do yearly, and they just make sure that you're still in good standing, no recent criminal activity. All of your information is up to date in the system, and then once you get the green light, then they'll give you another date for a future time to come back in and do another check-in."
According to ICE, Penton was arrested due to a final order of removal that was issued by an immigration judge in 2019. A spokesperson with ICE told Scripps News Denver that Penton entered the country illegally near El Paso, Texas, on May 30, 2019.
"He holds a valid work permit. He does have an order for deportation because when he entered the US, he did come in at the border, presented himself, pleaded political asylum," Dowell explained. "They granted his credible fear interview to him. So, they gave him the political asylum, and then ICE forced him to sign papers, he had no idea what he was signing, and gave up his right for parole as well as political asylum, and then was given an order for deportation."
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"The Trump administration specifically said that they're going after criminals, and my husband's not a criminal. He doesn't even have a speeding ticket to his name," Dowell said. "We own a home. We are a family. I'm US-born. My daughter's US-born. We pay our taxes. We do everything by the book... Every single day, I'm scared for his life. I'm scared for what that means for my family, and I don't know what the next steps are going to be."
Married to a US citizen.
Has a child by his US citizen wife.
Not a criminal.
Has a valid work permit.
Has a job.
Takes care of his family.
Cuban refugee seeking political asylum.
Applied for asylum.
Attended his immigration check-ins.
WHY ARE WE DETAINING AND DEPORTING THIS MAN?
2 comments:
Every individual who illegally entered our nation has a "story". That would be twenty million of them. If tomorrow, 100 million Chinese enter - they will also have a "story". You support them. Do not ask me to support them.
You have a very good point. And, I am not saying I am against Trump's policy. I am questioning whether this is Trump's policy. If it is, it sure isn't going after criminal illegals first, which is what had been suggested. Also, it is possible that this guy does have a criminal record here in the US. Just because multiple articles claim he doesn't., does not mean it's true. We all know the media lies. I am also aware that there are, likely, tens of millions of illegal immigrants in this country. Therefore, any policy attempting to deal with such a huge number of people is going to end up negatively impacting a good deal of people in ways which will seem unfair.
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