A Virginia Tech student remains in immigration custody as his wife and legal advocates weigh in on the legal challenges ahead.
Cristian Romo-Bermejo, a Mexican national, has been held at a detention center in Farmville for about two weeks. According to his wife, Jadyn Yost, the detention has disrupted their lives and left them searching for clarity.
“There’s no really clear timeline,” Yost said.
“I am taking a summer class and I’m struggling to keep up with school because of the idea of working on anatomy whenever, you know, my husband is sitting in a detention center, it’s just, doesn’t feel right,” she added.
Yost says Romo-Bermejo has lived in the United States since he was 2 years old. The couple got married in March and began applying for his green card. However, that process could be at risk following his arrest and detention.
“Detention cases are moving very quickly,” said Jaime McGuire, an immigration attorney with Amaryllis Law in Salem.
“An assault on a law enforcement officer probably will be classified under a deportable offense,” McGuire said.
McGuire explained that any criminal charges could jeopardize Romo-Bermejo’s path to legal status.
“Crimes can disqualify him from getting his green card, unfortunately,” said McGuire. “So if he’s convicted of this charge, it could mean that he has to apply for additional waivers. It can also mean that he might be out of the country for several years before he could try to reapply to reenter.”
In a statement to 10 News, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement confirmed that Romo-Bermejo is being held without bond.
Yost says the family plans to seek a cancellation of removal to help him stay in the country.
“We can only really go one step at a time. And the process takes a while,” said Yost. “We’ve just been trying to gather all the evidence that we can so that we can give him a really strong, fighting chance.”
McGuire emphasized the importance of legal expertise in these types of cases.
“Analyzing what has already been filed on their case, what might need to be filed and then going from there,” she said.