Canadian-born dentist taken into ICE custody at green card interview in Minneapolis, his wife says
Walking into a green card interview in downtown Minneapolis, William Lizardo expected to take another step towards citizenship.
Instead, the Canadian-born dentist and father left in U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement custody.
Lauren Lizardo, Will Lizardo's wife, said she learned what happened through their attorney, who was present at the interview and for the detainment.
"It was my worst fear that I never thought would happen and now it's happening," she said.
Lauren Lizardo said that she never thought it would happen because she believed she and her husband had done everything right. The pair met at the University of Minnesota School of Dentistry and got married shortly after graduation. They now have an 18-month-old baby girl.
Lauren Lizardo said she helped sponsor Will Lizardo as he applied for a green card. In January of this year, they learned that he had been denied. While he hasn't been allowed to work, Lauren Lizardo said that her husband has been volunteering at a low-cost dental clinic in Burnsville, Minnesota. At the time, Lizardo didn't think it would be an issue. They didn't have the money post-graduation to apply with an attorney, but they decided to take a second crack at it with legal representation.
"We thought we were doing everything right; the attorney said we were doing everything right. He said we would have no problem getting a green card," Lauren Lizardo said.
The attorney, David Whalen, told WCCO that when it came to achieving a green card, Will was "probably the best candidate I'd ever had."
Whalen said he was with Will Lizardo on Friday when the woman interviewing him stood up at the end of the conversation, left the room and returned with two ICE agents.
"It's very straightforward that they [the government] screwed up," Whalen said.
According to Lauren Lizardo, she and her husband learned for the first time on Friday that there was actually an order for deportation for Will Lizardo. It came after he didn't respond to a notice to appear before an immigration judge. Lauren Lizardo said that the federal government had sent the notice back in February to a Virginia address that they hadn't lived at for more than two years.
"We had no way of knowing there was this notice to appear, but they still detained him because he didn't appear to something we didn't know was happening," Lizardo said.
Lauren Lizardo explained that they have been meticulous with their record-keeping and check an online immigration portal related to Will Lizardo's case daily. She said that he has seen immigration officials in recent months for fingerprinting and that they receive official communications from U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services at their current address in Victoria, Minnesota. But no one has brought up anything about a deportation order or appearance notice, according to her.
As of Friday night, ICE, which commands the largest law enforcement budget in the country, has not acknowledged WCCO's request for information about what happened.
Whalen said Friday that they would be filing an emergency motion for Will Lizardo's release. Lauren Lizardo is left to wonder what comes next and when she'll get to see her husband.
"I want a fair chance and I want to be treated with compassion and kindness. I feel like I haven't been given that opportunity, and Will hasn't either," Lauren Lizardo said.
