NYC Protest Demands Halt In Deportation Of Immigrant

FINANCIAL DISTRICT, NY — Supporters of a Long Island man facing deportation to Guatemala after 25 years of living in the U.S. gathered in Manhattan Tuesday to demand he be allowed to stay.

Local politicians and activists want Eber Garcia Vasquez released from federal custody, where he has been held since a routine check-in with authorities on Aug. 24, according to his lawyer Zachary Sanders. Vasquez's family joined members of his union as well as local activists and politicians to demand the 54-year-old's release from federal custody. Vasquez is currently being held at a jail in Bergen County, New Jersey, according to Sanders.

"ICE should not be trying to deport someone who is eligible for a Green Card and is on his way to getting it," Sanders said on Tuesday. "He has a family to support and a community that values hime."

Vasquez, who lives in Elmont, has worked for more than two decades at Stericylce, the medical waste management company. He's been so involved in his work that he's designed a waste-processing machine known within the company as the "Eber Dumper," after Vasquez, according to Sanders.

City Council Speaker Melissa Mark-Viverito also joined the rally outside the New York headquarters of Immigrations and Customs Enforcement on Tuesday to demand he be allowed to continue waiting for legal resident status in the U.S.

"This individual that resides in the White House is looking to prey upon the most vulnerable in our country," Mark-Viverito said. "We have to stand here united and stay that we will not stand for this."

The husband and father of three U.S. citizens fled to the country from Guatemala 25 years ago, according to his lawyer.

He petitioned for asylum, claiming his country's civil war at the time put him in danger, but his claim was ultimately declined. He has reported to ICE every year while he applied for a Green Card through marriage, his lawyer said. (For more information on this and other neighborhood stories, subscribe to Patch to receive daily newsletters and breaking news alerts.)

Image credit: Justin Sullivan / Staff / Getty Images News.