Atcharee Buntowa 42 -year -old Thai woman who has spent almost all her life in the United States, faces the possibility of being deported after being stopped by the Customs Immigration and Control Service (ICE) At the beginning of August in Alaska. His family ensures that the arrest occurred despite the fact that he was in process of obtaining permanent residence.
Buntow arrived in the United States when he was 11 years old And first he lived in Alabama before moving with his mother to Fairbanks, Alaska, where the family opened a restaurant that continues to work. Although her mother managed to obtain the residence, she was out of the process.
Over time, formed a family in the UShe had five children with his first husband, American citizenand later a sixth with his current partner. His children and his daily life are deeply rooted in the Fairbanks community.
The arrest and transfer
On August 7, a few days after the death of her first husband, Buntow was arrested by ICE agents while doing a message for his mother. According to his family, Officers took her out of her vehicle without explanation and they made fun of her before handcuffing her.
It was first transferred to Fairbanks correctional center, then to Anchorage and finally to the Northwest Detention Center in TacomaWashington. “I felt as if they were kidnapping. I didn’t know what was happening,” he told Fairbanks Daily News-Miner.
Background that complicates your case
Although I was in Process of obtaining the Green Card, Buntow drags a 2015 condemnationwhen he declared himself guilty of having falsely claimed American citizenship in applications to the Permanent Fund of Alaska. That legal history has generated doubts about its eligibility and exposes it to a higher risk of deportation, especially under the strictest immigration policies of recent years.
The detention caused outrage among its neighbors In Alaska. Last Saturday, dozens of people made a demonstration asking for your release, while B to cover legal expenses and the possible bond.
Your daughter Jailah Sims expressed uncertainty They face: “He will wait for a judge to tell him that he is worthy of being a citizen. Or not. And if he considers her unworthy, they will send her back to a country she has not lived since she was 11 years old.”
So far it has not been defined The next step in the case. The family fears that, after more than 30 years in the United States, Buntow is deported to Thailanda country from which you barely keep memories.