A Lawrence man from the Dominican Republic, Leandro Arriaga, is scheduled to appear before a U.S. District Judge tomorrow at a hearing called by a federal judge to consider his release. The hearing comes after Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officials with no explanation first agreed to release the undocumented worker on a $5,000 bond, but did not follow through.
On April 28, pro-bono lawyers for the firm Foley Hoag filed a writ of release for Leondro Arriaga before U.S. Judge Mark Wolf, according to court documents. Soon after, ICE agreed to something that is virtually unheard of in an active deportation case: a $5,000 bond.
When the agency failed to follow through, however, Foley Hoag lawyers on Wednesday filed a temporary restraining order against the agency for unlawful detention. Meanwhile, Arriaga is now scheduled to appear before the court Friday at 10:30 a.m. on the writ of release request.
Arriga — a self-employed carpenter with no criminal record — was picked up by ICE when he went to an immigration and citizenship office in Lawrence with his wife to apply for a green card in late March. His arrest, and that of four others, sent ripples of fear across immigrant communities nationally. He was sent to Bristol County jail to await deportation to the Dominican Republic. He had been ordered to leave the U.S. when he first arrived in 2001, but stayed and made his way to Massachusetts.
Correction: An earlier version of this story stated the pro-bono lawyers' firm as Foley and Hoag, not Foley Hoag.
