A Haitian pastor who was detained by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement and on the verge of being deported was given a last-minute reprieve. Pastor Molis Augustave, a married father of two, had lived in Pennsylvania for the past six years before the Department of Homeland Security removed Temporary Protected Status for Haitian migrants this summer. ICE detained him on Sept.
5 after being pulled over by West York Borough Police for a broken headlight and was scheduled to be deported on Thursday. But in response to public outcry, immigration officials granted him a reprieve shortly before he was slated to be deported so that his green card application could be considered. Augustave, who serves at Iglesia de Dios Voz de Alerta, remains at an ICE facility in Louisiana, the advocacy group We Are CASA reports.
He remains separated from his wife and two young children after having been moved between three different ICE facilities in Pennsylvania and Louisiana over the last two weeks. “Molis told his wife last night [Thursday] that he was so scared as he was being loaded onto the plane. Then he was indeed taken off the plane at the last minute. This is a win.
This is time; this is hope,” We Are CASA’s Chief of Services and Legal Advocacy Ama Frimpong said in a statement. "With the additional time that we secured, we were also able to file an emergency motion to reopen his removal proceedings and request an emergency stay of removal from the Board of Immigration Appeals. Both remain pending." Augustave also has an I-485 application pending with U.S.
Citizenship and Immigration Services to apply for a green card while inside the United States, Frimpong said.