A Dallas community leader who was taken into immigration custody last September will learn this week whether he'll be allowed to stay in the country.
For five months, Southern Methodist University graduate and Hunt Scholar Omar Salazar has been waiting for his release from the Bluebonnet Detention Facility in Anson, 200 miles west of Dallas.
During a news conference Tuesday morning news conference, Salazar’s family members, attorney, friends and lawmakers called for his release ahead of a final immigration hearing on Friday.
Salazar was brought to the U.S. from Mexico when he was 11 years old. He has no criminal history.
"He has made the best of his life behind bars by volunteering, and helping other inmates, but it's been hard on him, and it's very hard on Ella, all because of a routine traffic stop,” said his attorney Jacob Monty, referring to Salazar’s wife, who is a U.S. citizen. Omar Salazar was taken into ICE custody after a traffic stop while visiting her in Lubbock. The two married in November.
Monty said he expects the judge to rule at Friday’s hearing that deporting Omar to Mexico would cause undue hardship to Ella, a law student.
"Imagine what Ella would have to face if she were to have to leave and go with her husband to Mexico. It would devastate her career,” Jacob said. “We believe that's why the judge will find that Omar deserves to stay in the U.S. as a permanent resident, and that's what we're anticipating, but certainly it's within the power of the judge to rule that way.”
Ella Salazar said she dreams of having the Catholic wedding in a church they had originally planned before they had to get married at the detention center.
“Our hope is that Omar wins his case, and we can start the process at the church I grew up at this summer with plans to get married in the church the summer of next year,” she said.
“If we have to move to Mexico, it'll be a lot more difficult. The United States is the only home that we've ever known. ...I ask our lawmakers, please let Omar stay."
Lawmakers at the virtual press conference said they support Salazar and other Dreamers —people brought to the U.S. as children who have spent the majority of their lives in the U.S.
The term Dreamers comes from the Dream Act, which would give recipients a pathway to legal status. The Dream Act has been debated for over two decades at the federal level but has not become law.
Democratic U.S. Rep. Julie Johnson, who represents northeast Dallas County and parts of Collin and Denton counties, said she supports a pathway to citizenship for Dreamers.
Taking meaningful action on immigration reform is critical to this process, she said.
“I think hopefully with this upcoming budget discussion over funding of DHS, we can leverage some Democratic priorities such as the Dream Act and the Dignity Act,” Johnson said.
At the state level, the decades-old Texas Dream Act, which gave Dreamers in-state tuition at colleges and universities, was repealed last year.
Democratic state Rep. Rafael Anchia of Dallas said the community and country benefit from leaders like Salazar.
“With all the challenges that Omar has faced in this country,” Anchia said to the panel in Spanish, "he has not only faced them, but he has overcome them."
Priscilla Rice is KERA’s communities reporter. Got a tip? Email her at price@kera.org.
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