(NewsNation) — An Oklahoma man is facing deportation after Immigrations and Customs Enforcement officials broke into his car and took him away Saturday.
“I reach out to my husband, and he’s not there. I just want him to be back with us,” Vanessa Chavez told NewsNation affiliate KFOR.
She said her husband, Noe Chavez, has lived in Oklahoma for over two decades. They’ve been married for most of that time and have four kids.
He has tried for several years to gain legal status. Vanessa said that only this year he was able to get fingerprinted, and in the next month or so, he was facing one of the final steps in the process to obtain his green card.
Chavez was headed to a Dollar General near NW 10th and Morgan Rd. Saturday, while his son Andrew was driving.
Andrew said that he noticed an unmarked vehicle blocking their car from getting out of the parking lot.
“They walked up to our windows, and they had asked me for my ID. I quickly handed them my Chickasaw tribal card,” said Andrew.
He said that is probably what saved him from being taken away, too.
“I just heard the glass shatter and then saw my father and a bunch of the first responders,” said Andrew.
He said the agents kept saying that they had a warrant for his dad, and that is why they were taking him away.
Andrew said the men were ICE agents who were there for his father.
“I got a call from Noe, and I thought, oh maybe he’s calling to see what brand of gravy mix I wanted. No, all I heard was my husband yelling, ‘that’s my son. That’s my son.’ And I’m like, hey, what’s going on? What’s the matter? He’s like, ‘My love, please get here as fast as you can. Hurry, hurry, hurry.’ I told them that we have an immigration attorney and that we’re going through the process. That he’s done nothing wrong,” said Vanessa.
This happened on Saturday; however, when News 4 went to the store on Wednesday, there was still shattered glass from their car window.
Andrew spoke to News 4 and said it’s going to cost $500 to fix the busted window.
“It’s not about the money. I just want my dad back,” said Andrew.
Vanessa has been trying nonstop since Saturday to get in contact with her husband. She spoke to him earlier Wednesday, and he told her that he is in Cushing but that he more than likely is being sent to Guatemala eventually.
She said agents or officials have told her that he was taken based on a Driving Under the Influence conviction from years ago.
KFOR checked OSCN for Chavez’s court records, but couldn’t find any listed as D.U.I.
“I said, my husband does not have a conviction for a DUI. I told him that it is in the system as a speeding ticket. The City of Oklahoma never filed on my husband for that; it’s down as a speeding ticket. We paid all the money that we needed for that, but there is no conviction for a DUI on my husband,” said Vanessa.
Vanessa said her kids are heartbroken.
“If I could see him right now, I would just give him a big hug. I miss my husband. If he were here, I would be so happy that he’s back with our family. It’s hard being here without him. I can’t go to sleep without touching my husband. We’ve shared the same bed forever. I just reached out for my husband, and he’s not there. I just want him to be back with us,” said Vanessa. “It is hard to look at your kids’ faces and tell them you don’t know when their father is coming home, that he did nothing wrong, but they still took him away from his family.”
She said she has been able to gather around $3,500 to start the court process of getting a bond for Noe.
The family has also started a GoFundMe in the hopes that they could get some help.
“It has just been so difficult to get answers, let alone talk to my husband,” said Vanessa.
News 4 reached out to an ICE media email Wednesday morning and asked for the Warrant surrounding Noe, along with where he is headed. The agency said they did receive the question and that they are looking into it.
This comes just a few weeks after another Oklahoma man went to his immigration hearing was was immediately detained, set to be deported to Laos.
Family and friends of Ton Vongphakdy are pleading for him not to be deported after he was detained at his last immigration hearing for a crime he committed decades ago.
Ton came as a toddler to America in 1981 and has lived in Oklahoma for over 40 years.
Ton, though, at 19 years old, was arrested for theft in drug offenses in the 90’s. He served around seven years for the crimes and got out of jail.
When he got out, his family said he turned a new leaf. He then met his wife, got a house, had two girls, and became an Oklahoman.
They said he has had a working visa and has been going to his immigration hearings. However, he had a feeling that his next one would be his last.
Brian Ruttman is a longtime friend of Ton’s and said that he told him at their Memorial Day barbecue that he was about to be deported.
At his next immigration hearing, Ruttman said, Ton was detained and sent away.
Communication between family, Ruttman said, has been nearly impossible.
He said the family sent communications out, but never really heard back a set answer of where Ton was.
News 4 reached out to ICE about him two weeks ago, and still, we haven’t heard back.