Judge pauses deportation of Springfield man who says he was trafficked
SPRINGFIELD — A Springfield man who was told by federal immigration officials to self-deport by Tuesday remains in the state after a judge issued an emergency order last night.
Juan David Quichimbo Sumba applied for a special visa for victims of human trafficking last year, as he said a previous employer exploited his immigration status. But while his application was still pending, he was told to self-deport along with his wife and daughter.
He had a flight scheduled for early this morning.
However, he remains in the state for now. The Springfield resident, originally from Ecuador, was at a U.S. Customs and Immigration Enforcement facility in Framingham this morning, completing paperwork, according to his attorney, Elizabeth Shaw.
While the situation continues to be in flux, "we stay on for the fight," Shaw said.
Shaw filed a petition with the federal court Monday night, challenging the Department of Homeland order telling her client to self-deport. The order, she said, was written on a sticky note.
A sticky note, she said, was nonbinding and violated procedure, creating a due-process issue.
In an order issued at 8:10 p.m., Judge Angel Kelley, of the federal court in Boston, told the Department of Homeland Security not to remove the family from Massachusetts for at least 72 hours.
The court then transferred the case to Judge George O'Toole Jr., who issued an order of his own at 8:28 a.m. today: Homeland Security shall not move the family outside Massachusetts without giving him 48 hours notice. He gave federal officials two weeks to file a response to the family's petition.
The judges' orders come after LUCE Immigrant Justice Network of Massachusetts held a rally in support of Quichimbo Sumba and his family in Springfield on Monday.
There, about 100 people gathered in front of the federal courthouse on State Street and listened as Quichimbo Sumba spoke to them in Spanish and through a translator.
He described how immigration officials detained his wife at the end of August and how she needed to regain her health after she was released.
A document filed in a previous court case details Quichimbo Sumba's labor trafficking claims. Between October 2021 to December 2021 and then from June 2022 to October 2022, he worked for a company based in Port Washington, New York, that rented out party tents.
He said the company failed to give him meal breaks or pay him overtime, even though he regularly worked from 5 a.m. to 5 p.m. six days a week. His supervisor would threaten to hand him over to immigration officials to get him to work faster, according to the filing.
LUCE said in a statement Tuesday that, while the agency is relieved the family was not deported, it wants to ensure the family has genuine due process. It has told its supporters to contact the region's federal lawmakers in an effort to get them to push for a stay of removal.
"The family deserves a fair decision on their T-visa application before the federal government makes any further attempt to threaten arrest or deportation," the statement said.
Sen. Ed Markey's office said Tuesday it is aware of Quichimbo Sumba's situation, and it is doing what it can to help.
About 100 people attend a rally outside the federal courthouse in Springfield on Monday to protest efforts to deport Juan David Quichimbo Sumba, a Springfield resident seeking a visa for people who experienced human trafficking. (Daniel Jackson / The Republican)Daniel Jackson
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