A judge said it was unsafe for a KY teen to return to Guatemala. ICE detained him anyway

• Ernesto Manuel-Andres, a Guatemalan immigrant with special juvenile immigrant status, was released on bond after 20 days in ICE custody.
• Manuel-Andres, 18, was detained despite having SIJ status and a deferred action grant, which previously protected him from deportation while awaiting a visa.
• The Bowling Green, Kentucky community rallied behind Manuel-Andres, raising funds and holding protests for his release.

A Kentucky teen has returned home after more than 20 days in federal custody, despite his status as a special juvenile immigrant awaiting a visa.

Ernesto Manuel-Andres, 18, was detained by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents in a June 4 raid alongside his father at their apartment complex in Bowling Green, according to a local advocate familiar with his case.

In the weeks that followed, a stunned community of teachers, friends and supporters held protests, prayers and vigils, calling for Manuel-Andres’s return. They raised over $30,000 for his bond and legal fees through a GoFundMe, and nonprofit organizers drove 11 hours to Louisiana to visit him while he was detained.

On June 23, a Louisiana judge set Manuel-Andres’ bond at $1,500, the lowest legal limit. A day later, he was released.

In a press release from Fugees Family, an Ohio-based nonprofit that partners with school districts to improve education for immigrants, Manuel-Andres said he was “very happy” to be released and thanked those who supported him.

“I’d like to say ‘Thank you for all of it, for prayers, for support, for everything,’” Manuel-Andres wrote.

But despite community support and a previous Kentucky court order advocates say should protect him from deportation, Manuel-Andres’ future is uncertain.

Gabriel Spellberg, one of Manuel-Andres’ lawyers, said the U.S. Department of Homeland Security has the option to appeal the bond order within 30 days, and Manuel-Andres could be re-detained if the Board of Immigration Appeals repeals the Louisiana judge’s bond determination.

Here’s what to know about Manuel-Andres’ case so far.

A Catch-22

Advocates for Manuel-Andres said the Guatemalan native has both special immigrant juvenile (SIJ) status and a grant for deferred action by DHS, which should protect him from removal orders while he awaits a visa. SIJ status is only given to those under 18 who have a valid court order proving abuse, abandonment, neglect or another reason it is not in a minor’s best interests to return to their country of nationality or be reunified with one or both parents.

Manuel-Andres was granted SIJ status by a court in Kentucky but was stuck on an ever-growing waiting list for an available visa, which would allow him to apply for his green card. Manuel-Andres was allowed to stay in the country while awaiting the visa due to a deferred action order, which protected him from deportation and removal proceedings.

As of June 6, the DHS rescinded its policy of granting deferred action to those with SIJ status when a visa is not immediately available.

Spellberg said the teen, like others in the SIJ program who are waiting for visas, are in a Catch-22. If they leave the U.S., they’ll automatically lose SIJ status. But without deferred action or a visa, they’re liable to be arrested on immigration charges.

“Now that there’s no safety during your waiting period, it’s almost like what’s the point of the visa?” Spellberg said. “You’re not protecting these vulnerable populations. A state court has to find that it is not in the young person’s, the juvenile’s, best interest to return to their home country. The suggestion that SIJ grantees should have to return home is preposterous.”

Luma Mufleh, CEO of Fugees Family, said Manuel-Andres began the legal process to receive citizenship over a year and a half ago.

“People say, ‘Well, do it the legal way,’” Mufleh said. “He did. He did do it the legal way, and he doesn’t have a criminal record, he doesn’t even have traffic violations, and he’s 18. He’s a kid.”

Spellberg was “thrilled” Manuel-Andres was released but said waiting for an immigration hearing date could take years. In the meantime, Spellberg said the focus on the case will now be finding other forms of relief that Manuel-Andres could be eligible for in order to further prove his case to remain in the U.S.

‘You could feel the love, the concern’

Weeks earlier, Manuel-Andres had walked the stage at graduation. But on June 4, he sat inside a jail cell in Grayson County.

He had been picked up by ICE officers in a raid meant to arrest another man, who advocates for Manuel-Andres said doesn’t reside at the complex. Instead, Manuel-Andres and his father were arrested and moved from one detention facility to another in an effort to “forum shop,” or move them into a district with a judge more favorable to ICE’s cause, Spellberg said.

Back in Bowling Green, those who knew Manuel-Andres were shocked that the kind, respectful student they knew had been taken by ICE. Leslie Perkins, who taught Manuel-Andres and had attended his graduation, said she cried upon hearing the news.

“Anytime we would get a new student in, Ernesto was one of those students I automatically tried to connect that new student with because I knew that Ernesto would be an exemplary student,” Perkins said. “So they would have a great role model, and he would be just kind to them. That’s the kind of student that Ernesto is.”

Perkins said people from across the political spectrum in Bowling Green are coming together to support Manuel-Andres. A welcome home party was held June 25 as Manuel-Andres arrived back in Bowling Green.

“If there’s one bright spot in this whole scenario, it would be that Bowling Green has definitely come out to support Ernesto,” Perkins said. “I’ve attended two protests. I’ve attended a prayer vigil, and all three of those events, you could feel the love, the concern and the support. People really want to get involved and take action to help Ernesto, and not just Ernesto, but to put a spotlight on so many other kids who’re in the same situation that are being illegally detained.”

Reach reporter Keely Doll at kdoll@courierjournal.com.