Blumenthal Statement on Joel Colindres

(Hartford, CT) – U.S. Senator Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.) issued the following statement regarding the deportation order for New Fairfield father Joel Colindres:

“My office has been in close contact with the Colindres family and their attorney to support them during this heartbreaking ordeal. Yet again, the Trump administration is seeking to separate a hardworking father from his U.S. citizen children—a law-abiding man who has lived here dutifully reporting to ICE each year while contributing to his community and raising his beautiful family. The fact that ICE would give a father only 28-days’ notice to leave his wife and children—leaving next to no time to pursue legal remedies—is cold, callous and reprehensible. ICE approved Samantha Colindres’ application to sponsor her husband’s visa but is now deporting him before he can proceed through the process for obtaining legal status pursuant to that approved sponsorship.   ICE should allow Mr. Colindres to follow through on that sponsorship rather than permanently upending this family’s life. This nightmare is the direct result of the Trump administration’s decision to remove all reason and rationality from its immigration policies, and I continue to implore the President to end this nightmare and commit to true, bipartisan discussions to reform this broken immigration system in a way that respects our fundamental American values and morals.”