Sara Lopez Garcia case mishandled and she should not be deported by ICE, attorney says

The case of the Suffolk County Community College honors student who was arrested by ICE was mishandled, and she should not be on her way to getting deported, a lawyer who consulted with her said Wednesday.

Sara Lopez Garcia had "a very, very easy case" to remain in the United States and obtain a green card, but in the crucial days after her arrest in May, she never got proper legal representation, said the lawyer, Izabela Kropiwnicka, of Southampton.

"The girl never should have been detained," she said. And even after she was arrested, in the worst scenario she could have posted bond and been released probably within two weeks, she said.

The case "was mishandled from the beginning," Kropiwnicka said. She based her assessment on details provided by the student and her family, she added.

Lopez Garcia, 20, had a good chance of getting released and remaining in the United States because she has a special immigrant juvenile status visa, which typically leads to a green card, the lawyer said. Lopez Garcia was on the path to obtain one, she added.

But after her arrest, Lopez Garcia decided to accept "voluntary departure," according to the student and her fiancé, Santiago Ruiz Castilla. They said she wanted to leave because she did not want to wait in jail any longer, and that another lawyer who was not Kropiwnicka early on told them Lopez Garcia would have to wait six to nine months in detention if she tried to fight her case.

That time frame is not accurate, Kropiwnicka said, and with proper legal representation she would have gotten out of jail far more quickly.

Lopez Garcia appeared in immigration court apparently without a lawyer, Kropiwnicka said. She agreed on June 3 to voluntary departure. Lopez Garcia was unable to present the facts of her case and immigration status to the judge, Kropiwnicka said.

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement has not responded to requests for comment about her case.

Theo Liebmann, a professor at Hofstra Law School who specializes in immigration law and deportation issues, agreed that Lopez Garcia would have had a good chance of getting released not long after her arrest, based on the known facts.

"There's a good legal argument to be made that someone who has received" a special immigrant juvenile status visa "should be eligible ... to ask for bond and be released," he said. "That would be a typical thing that a lawyer might do."

"Someone who's been here five years, honors student, assuming no criminal history, that is absolutely someone you would think bond would be granted," he said.

Lopez Garcia said she had no criminal record or even a traffic ticket. A search of recent records verified that.

She still has a slim chance to reopen her case and remain in the country, Kropiwnicka said, though accepting voluntary departure is a major hurdle to doing so.

Arrested in May in Mastic

Lopez Garcia and her mother, Vivian Garcia Gomez, were arrested May 21 at their basement apartment in Mastic. Her younger brother, 17, was not arrested, apparently because he is a minor and has the same special immigrant juvenile status.

The visa is granted to some immigrant children because they have been abandoned, abused or neglected by at least one parent. Lopez Garcia was 15 when she came here.

Her brother is now staying with neighbors on Long Island.

Lopez Garcia and Ruiz Castilla were planning to get married in August. He told Newsday he left Long Island for Colombia on Tuesday and believed his fiancée would be deported there by the end of this month.

Kropiwnicka said she spoke with Lopez Garcia on Sunday by phone from the South Louisiana ICE Processing Center in Basile, Louisiana. The lawyer also spoke with the student’s mother during the weekend. She has previously been in contact with the younger brother.

Kropiwnicka was not formally retained by Lopez Garcia and provided a free-of-charge telephone consultation to assess her case, the lawyer said.

Lopez Garcia’s arrest, part of the Trump administration’s escalating crackdown on immigration, has provoked shock and outrage on the SCCC campus. Rep. Andrew Garbarino (R-Bayport) has said he is bringing her case to the attention of the White House and the Department of Homeland Security.

She has a 3.9 GPA, was a peer mentor and was working on a school project for a nonprofit that helps women who are victims of domestic violence.

Lopez Garcia is the first known SUNY student arrested as part of what President Donald Trump pledges will be the largest mass deportation campaign in U.S. history. Trump said the effort is focused on dangerous criminals, but advocates and lawyers contend most people being detained are farm hands, restaurant dishwashers, landscapers, factory employees and other blue-collar workers.