When Heury Gómez returned from a much-awaited birthday vacation in August, he was ready for the responsibility of a lifetime: caring full-time for his disabled son.
A few months before the vacation, Gómez, a 43-year-old legal resident of the US from the Dominican Republic, had been awarded full custody of 18-year-old Noah, who suffers from cerebral palsy and epilepsy. Noah is nonverbal, cannot walk and requires continuous care. Gómez took the 5-day trip to Mexico City as a brief respite before starting intensive training to care for Noah at his home in New York City.
However, Gómez never started training. He was arrested by US Customs and Border Protection when he arrived at Newark Airport in New Jersey. He now faces removal proceedings stemming from two misdemeanor convictions from nearly a decade ago.
His case is another example of how the Department of Homeland Security has vastly expanded its targets for immigration enforcement under President Donald Trump’s second term. The administration has both overseen sweeping raids targeting undocumented immigrants regardless of their criminal records and cut down on pathways to legal immigration, including asylum. Green card holders like Gomez have been caught up in the deportation effort, too, including Palestinian student activist Mahmoud Khalil, who was incarcerated by ICE for months.
The administration has said they’re targeting “the worst of the worst” and focusing on violent criminals.
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