Thread: Clock ticking for North Brunswick family facing deportation

Clock ticking for North Brunswick family facing deportation

6:12 PM, Dec. 14, 2011 |
Written by Gene Racz | Staff Writer

NORTH BRUNSWICK — It was a little past 9 on the morning on Oct. 5, when Homeland Security officials knocked on Atanas Entchev’s front door.

His wife, Mayia, had just left for work, but their 21-year-old son, Enislav (Eni), was still at home.

Atanas said officers from the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) told them they had about 10 minutes to get ready to stay somewhere “for a couple hours or maybe a couple of days.”

“They came to my door, introduced themselves and said, ‘We have a warrant for you and we have to satisfy that warrant,’ ” said Atanas, who knew what the visit was about.

For years, Atanas had been unsuccessfully trying to change his immigration status, and he exhausted all administrative appeals during the summer.

“So, after living here legally for about 20 years, automatically, just like that, with a flip of the switch, I became illegal,” said Atanas, who arrived from his native Bulgaria 20 years ago.

He first arrived on a nonimmigrant visa and has been trying to change to immigrant status with the hope of obtaining a green card and eventual citizenship.

“It has been an 18-year ordeal,” said Atanas, who earned a master’s degree from Rutgers University, taught at Monmouth University and started his own urban planning geo-spatial information systems that does work for all levels of government from the federal to local.

Atanas wound up being detained for 65 days in Delaney Hall in Newark, next to the Essex County jailhouse, with his son, Eni. They were facing Orders of Deportation before pleas and petitions by politicians, friends colleagues and efforts by his attorney recently got them and Mayia a one-year stay of deportation.

Eni was 2 when he joined his parents in America, and it’s the only country he has ever known. He doesn’t speak Bulgarian.

“Eni was walking around that detention facility and the guards looked at him and talked to him. They said, ‘Why are you here. You don’t belong here,’ ” Atanas said. “And he doesn’t. Not only because he speaks like an American and acts like an American and has no accent, but because he had no say in whatever decision I made on his behalf when he came here.

“So, he is all of a sudden wearing an orange jumpsuit through no fault of his own. So, if I have any issues with the whole thing, it’s that I have no issues whether people can lock me up. I have no issues with the conditions there. I’m a big boy. But I do have an issue with the politicians at the very top who don’t seem to have the political courage to enact legislation that’s meaningful and that’s workable and that addresses all these issues.”

Eni has attended college and has no criminal history. Atanas and Mayia also have a 27-year-old daughter, Christina, who married an American citizen and therefore cannot be deported.

Atanas is considered an expert in his field of geographical informational systems in which he designs and builds computer systems to gather data on land masses that can be used to assist governments in areas such as urban planning, zoning and creating districts and tax maps. Mayia is an internationally awarded architect who designed the Microsoft School of the Future in Philadelphia.

“We are thrilled the Entchevs were released from detention,” said Eric Mark, attorney for the family. “However, the Stay of Removal is a temporary and insufficient solution. We will begin immediately to work on a permanent solution to keep this talented, hard-working and beloved family in the United States, where they can continue to contribute to this country as they have for 20 years.”

Mark credits a confluence of efforts for the stay, including support on the family’s behalf from U.S. Sen. Robert Menendez (D-N.J.), Rep. Rush Holt (D-N.J.) and petition and fundraising efforts that were aided by social media outlet Change.org, as well as the Dream Act Coalition.

Atanas said Eni would be someone who could qualify for the proposed Dream Act, which would provide conditional permanent residency to certain illegal aliens of good moral character who graduate from U.S. high schools, arrived in the U.S. as minors and lived in the country continuously for at least five years prior to enactment.

Reached at his office on Wednesday, ICE spokesman Harold Ort said he could not immediately provide a response regarding the Entchev family, for which the deportation clock once again is ticking.

Mark said Atanas has qualified for an Outstanding Research Professor visa, and that avenue might be pursued again if Atanas can find another university employer. Mark said Atanas also might qualify for a “visa for extraordinary ability” reserved for individuals who are recognized for achievements in their respective fields.

“I am extremely optimistic about my chances to eventually become an American citizen,” Atanas said. “Mark calls me the eternal optimist. Words fail to describe how grateful I am to all these people for helping us temporarily avoid deportation. I’ll never be able to thank them enough.”

http://www.mycentraljersey.com/artic...ng-deportation