Mexican immigrant receives green card after detention in Washington

Juan Gerardo Alatorre Martínez, a 46 year old Mexican immigrant, received a green card and was released from a detention center in Tacoma, Washington, on November 5.

He had been held by the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) for 98 days after his arrest in July at a gas station in Conway, a small community of fewer than 100 people.

Martínez's legal team stated that an immigration judge ordered his release and approved his residency on October 8, but he remained in custody for nearly two weeks afterward. Martínez told reporters that the delay occurred because the judge could not find his fingerprints in the file. The office of Representative Rick Larsen intervened to resolve the biometric verification issue.

The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) stated that Martínez had prior convictions for driving with a suspended license and providing alcohol to minors. His lawyer, Lisa Seifert, suggested that agents might have been searching for a different person. Martínez had been in the United States since age 19, when his brother, a citizen, filed a family petition that placed him in a lower priority category with a long waiting list.