Rodrigo Martinez Receives Official Stay of Deportation from Immigration Judge

We learned today that the Immigration Court in Baltimore has granted Rodrigo Martinez's request for an official stay of his deportation. (The decision, shown here, was signed by the Immigration Judge on March 7 but was not posted by the Immigration Court until March 10.) Readers of this site will recall that Rodrigo Martinez was scheduled to surrender to the custody of the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) in Baltimore on March 9. When he surrendered on that day he was taken into custody, but several hours later he was granted a discretionary release under an Order of Supervision. ICE was willing to give him time to pursue all legal options including a Motion for Emergency Stay of his Removal (deportation) with the Immigration Judge, a Motion to Re-Open his Proceedings and an opportunity for him and his husband, Edwin, to fight for approval of their marriage-based immigration petition.  Rodrigo and Edwin expressed relief today that the Immigration Court had issued this official order, and are hopeful that proceedings will be re-opened. They are grateful to everyone who called and wrote to elected officials in the last two weeks to help keep Rodrigo from being deported.