PHILADELPHIA (KYW Newsradio) — A Point Breeze man detained by ICE two weeks ago at the airport on his way to watch the Eagles play the Chiefs in Kansas City is now trying to put his life back together from El Salvador, a country he fled as a teenager.
Jason Javie may be reunited with his husband, Henry Diaz, in El Salvador, but he’ll never forget the nightmare week that followed Henry’s detention at Philadelphia International Airport.
“I don’t think Henry was in one place more than 48 hours; it was always less than 48 hours,” Javie said.
After his arrest at the airport, he was in Moshannon Valley. From there, he was taken to the Alexandria Detention Center in Louisiana, but that wasn’t the only caveat.
“After he left Moshannon Valley, they stopped updating the ICE locator,” Javie said.
He was flown out of the country a little more than a day later, after a judge denied reconsidering his final deportation order, which he received in absentia after missing a court date not long after he crossed the border as a 17-year-old more than 20 years ago.
Despite being out of the country and slapped with a 10-year ban, Javie isn’t giving up.
“I do think there are waivers that we can potentially apply for, which I intend to do… I will continue to try and use all legal angles,” he said.
He has a message for the policymakers, ICE agents and those who contribute to the current immigration system: “I hope, I wish, that you never have to deal with this. Whether it’s with you, with anybody in your family, because it’s just awful. It’s absolutely awful.”