BLACKSBURG, VA – Cristian Romo-Bermejo has been in I.C.E. custody for nearly two weeks.
The Virginia Tech student was detained after what his family calls a mental health crisis, which led to several charges.
“He was disoriented and scared and begging to be taken to a hospital to get help. He wasn’t trying to cause harm,” Cristian’s wife, Jaydn Yost said.
Yost has been leading the charge to bring him home.
“It’s been a really massive absence for all of us. There’s no really clear timeline,” Yost said.
It all began on July 9, when Blacksburg Police were called about possible alcohol poisoning.
Cristian’s friends and family say he was at a going-away party for his friend Kristin Faulk.
“You could tell that he was having more of a panic attack. He didn’t want to be touched by anybody; he didn’t know what to do,” Faulk said.
Cristian asked for an ambulance; his sister, Carina, says police arrived with it.
“He got kind of scared when he saw police show up, and he from the jump admitted, ‘I don’t have legal status,’” Carina said.
Blacksburg Police say things escalated at the hospital, where they say Cristian threatened medical staff and assaulted police officers.
“He has no criminal record, he is not a violent person,” Carina said.
He was arrested, then taken to an I.C.E. detention center in Farmville.
Carina says Cristian has lived in the U.S. since age 2
“He’s never known anything other than being here in Virginia. He does not remember Mexico.”
Cristian and Yost were applying for his green card.
Once the criminal case is settled, they plan to seek a cancellation of removal.
“I would have to prove to the judge that I would be facing, since I am the U.S. citizen, extreme hardship if he was deported, or if I went to Mexico with him. Another requirement is that he had to have been here for at least a decade, and he’s been here two decades,” Yost said.
For now, they’re thankful for support.
“We’re just trying to gather all the evidence that we can so we can give him a real fighting chance. All I’ve wanted to do is hug him, but all we can do is just hold hands through the window,” Yost said.
His family believes I.C.E won’t deport him until the criminal case is over.
10 News reached out to I.C.E. for confirmation, which you can find here.