Student activist seeks voluntary departure instead of deportation

By Guillermo Contreras
Updated 6:36 am CDT, Thursday, September 6, 2018 34


Photo: Courtesy
Sergio Salazar, 18, checks out his camera in this undated photo. Salazar, a student activist known as "Mapache," was arrested Friday, Aug. 3, 2018, in San Antonio by federal agents on an alleged immigration ... more


A lawyer for DACA recipient and activist Sergio “Mapache” Salazar, whose immigration benefits were not renewed, told a judge Wednesday that his client will seek voluntary departure to Mexico instead of being deported.

During a hearing in San Antonio, Salazar’s lead attorney Javier Maldonado told Immigration Judge Justin Adams that Salazar admits he was out of immigration status, but that he would seek to introduce evidence supporting Salazar’s intent to leave on his own.

“Being detained is very difficult for an 18/19-year-old,” Maldonado said after the hearing. By seeking voluntary departure, “he would be back in Mexico soon.”

Voluntary departure can protect Salazar, 18, from the harsh consequences of an order of removal or deportation, which could bar him from returning to the U.S. for several years — even permanently, according to Maldonado. Voluntary departure, among other benefits, buys a person more time to take care of affairs before leaving and does not automatically bar a person from the United States for a set number of years.

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