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- An immigration judge granted bond for Jair Celis, the immigrant detained earlier this month while trying to normalize his migratory status, allowing for his release.
- Celis' case was the focus of intense public wrangling last week between U.S. officials and his lawyer over a juvenile court case.
- Celis overstayed the 2007 visa letting him enter the United States.
SALT LAKE CITY — The Mexican immigrant at the center of public wrangling last week between the U.S. Department of Homeland Security and the man's Utah lawyer should soon be freed from the immigration detention facility where he's being held.
Adam Crayk, the attorney representing Jair Celis, says an immigration judge heard the case Monday, allowing the transplant to Utah to post bond so he can be released pending resolution of the matter. Celis, now living in Utah and married to an American woman, faces deportation but also has a pending application for U.S. residency.
"The immigration judge found that he was not a danger to the community or a flight risk and granted his bond request," Crayk said. Bond was set at $5,000.
Speaking Tuesday morning on the KSL NewsRadio program "Inside Sources," Crayk said the bond funds should be transferred soon to the Department of Homeland Security, allowing for Celis' release Tuesday or Wednesday from the San Luis Regional Detention Center in San Luis, Arizona.
Celis was detained in early December by Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials at the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services offices in Salt Lake City when he showed up for an appointment as part of his efforts to secure legal permanent residency. His detention figured in a demonstration outside the Citizenship and Immigration Services building on Dec. 8 by immigrant advocates worried about an uptick in enforcement action targeting immigrants trying to follow proper procedure in normalizing their migratory status.
Immigration and Customs Enforcement said in a statement the same day as the demonstration that Celis had been arrested because he overstayed the original visa that let him enter the United States in 2007. The next day, the situation flared after the Department of Homeland Security called Celis a "sodomite and child abuser" in a social media post, referencing a 2014 juvenile court case involving the man.
Turns out, Celis, 17 when the incident at the center of the juvenile case occurred, was adjudicated for lewdness involving a child under 14, and Crayk said he was considering suing federal officials. Juvenile adjudications aren't considered criminal matters, and Crayk said the juvenile case wasn't germane to the immigration case.
Crayk said Tuesday that federal officials brought up the juvenile matter again during Monday's hearing before an immigration judge. "The judge starts out and asks the government its position and the government says, 'Well, judge, we are asking that you not grant bond because there's a criminal charge and he was alleged to have sexually abused a child,'" Crayk said.
Crayk countered, saying there was nothing in Celis' record supporting the government claim. The judge affirmed that, the lawyer said, noting that the documentation provided by immigration officials didn't indicate Celis had a criminal history. Crayk further noted the 100 or so letters of support Celis received, argued that case law is on Celis' side, "and the judge said, 'You're right, I'm granting bond. I cannot find in any way, shape or form that he is a danger to the community or a flight risk.'"
Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials didn't immediately respond to a query Tuesday seeking comment.
Going forward, Crayk said he'd file a motion to end Celis's immigration proceedings on the grounds that Celis is eligible under immigration law to adjust his immigration status. The process to get another interview as part of his efforts to secure legal permanent residency, conferred in a U.S. government identity document known as a green card, could take two to four months.
Crayk is eager to return to the Citizenship and Immigration Services office in Salt Lake City with Celis "and sit down for our green card interview at the very place that they engaged in this horrendous waste of time and horrendous waste of monetary resources," he said. "It's going to be fantastic."
Contributing: Shelby Lofton
