What to Know
- Activists rallied on Monday for a Queens man who fears he'll be deported to China after being detained while going to a green card interview
- The man, 39-year-old Queens resident Xiu Qing You, was arrested last month, leaving a 4-year-old son and a 6-year-old daughter
- His attorney called the detainment "not humane"
Dozens of demonstrators filled New York City's Foley Square Monday to protest the possible deportation of a man who was detained by Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers after trying to attend a green card interview.
Attorney Yee Ling Poon said the detainment of his client, 39-year-old Queens resident Xiu Qing You, was "not humane." It came as activists and local politicians rallied outside the federal building in Lower Manhattan in support of the man who came to the U.S. in 2000 in hopes of gaining asylum.
You -- who said he feared being persecuted for his Catholic faith if he ever returned to China -- was denied and issued a deportation order in 2002. He never complied with the order.
The stay-at-home dad to two children and helps run a nail salon in Connecticut with his wife and had applied for permanent residency in 2015. But he was arrested after attending an interview on May 23 and is currently being held at a federal lockup in New Jersey awaiting deportation.
Poon said Monday has asked for a stay of deportation, while also seeking to reopen his asylum claim.
"I've been practicing for 27 years and this is the first time this has happened to my client so you can see the big change in policy," he said.
Local
You's case comes amid rising profile for such cases both in New York City and across the country. A pizza shop employee from Ecuador was arrested two weeks ago while making a delivery to an Army garrison in Brooklyn, but was able to get a stay on a deportation order.
And on Monday, scrutiny over the Trump administration's "zero tolerance" policy for families crossing the U.S.-Mexico border continued to grow, with the federal Customs and Border Protection agency releasing photos of children inside chain-link cages at a McAllen, Texas, facility.
