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By Mandy Taheri
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Silviano Mora Vera, a U visa holder whose green card application is pending, was detained in late September by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officers near his 17-year-old son’s bus stop, his family told VPN News.
Newsweek has reached out to ICE for comment via email on Friday.
Why It Matters
Mora Vera’s detention comes amid an immigration crackdown. President Donald Trump has pledged to launch the largest mass deportation operation in U.S. history, and immigrants residing in the country illegally and legally, with valid documentation, including green cards and visas, have been detained.
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Some people awaiting green cards have reported being apprehended at required immigration interviews. The administration has repeatedly asked that people without proper documentation self-deport. The White House has announced that certain speech might cause green card applicants to face extra scrutiny.
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What To Know
On September 24, 53-year-old Mora Vera had walked his son to the nearby bus stop and then went down the road to help a neighbor, VPM news reported. Shortly after, several SUVs appeared and officers got out and detained Mora Vera.
Lilliana, Mora Vera’s wife, told VPM News in Spanish “When they all got up, I saw my husband kneeling and they had already handcuffed him.” Their son, Guillermo, didn’t get on the bus and ran back to his family, VPM reported, telling the agents that his father has valid immigration documents. He later brought in the documents, but they did not secure his father’s release, the family said.
His family says he is legally in the U.S. with a U nonimmigrant status visa, which U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) classifies as for “victims of certain crimes who have suffered mental or physical abuse and are helpful to law enforcement or government officials in the investigation or prosecution of criminal activity.” The visa class was created in October 2000, and have annual cap of 10,000.
U visa holders may be eligible for a green card under some conditions, including that you have been in the U.S. continuously for three years with the U visa status and you have not “unreasonably refused to provide assistance to law enforcement” since obtaining the visa.
Mora Vera’s family also notes that he is in the process of adjusting his legal status by applying for a green card. They also told VPM that he had a misdemeanor driving conviction from 2019. The administration has said they are targeting individuals with criminal histories and invalid immigration documents.
Mora Vera was initially held at Riverside Regional Jail (RRJ) in Prince George County and then was transferred to Farmville Detention Center.
What People Are Saying
Tricia McLaughlin, a spokesperson for the Department of Homeland Security, said in a previous statement shared with Newsweek: "Under Secretary [Kristi] Noem, we are delivering on President Trump's and the American people's mandate to arrest and deport criminal illegal aliens to make America safe. Secretary Noem unleashed ICE to target the worst of the worst and carry out the largest deportation operation of criminal aliens in American history."
Eunice Cho, senior counsel at the ACLU’s National Prison Project, s**aid in an October 1 press release: "**The Trump administration is hastily opening new ICE detention facilities in an effort to deport as many people as possible, no matter the costs to our communities. The public has a right to know how its taxpayer dollars are being used to expand the abusive ICE detention machine.”
Lilliana told VPM News about her husband: "He is a hard-working man and we have been here for 25 years. We have always been involved in the community and supporting people and also my children. He is a good person, and I know that he did not deserve that."
Richmond Public Schools said in a September presentation, according to VPM News: "Countless personal notes from students, families, and community members to teachers, family liaisons, school counselors, and administrators expressed fear based on the current impact of the presence of Immigration Customs Enforcement in Richmond and the surrounding areas."
What Happens Next
The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), along with its Virginia chapter, filed a lawsuit against ICE on October 1, alleging that the agency has plans "to obtain records regarding the agency’s potential plans to expand immigration detention across Virginia."
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