ICE Arrests Flushing Father During Immigration Interview: Report

FLUSHING, QUEENS -- A Flushing father who thought he was on the path to permanent residency in the United States now faces deportation back to China, a homeland he hasn't called "home" in nearly 20 years.

Xiu Qing You, 39, showed up for an immigration interview last month expecting to finally get his green card, but was instead torn from his wife - a U.S. citizen - and two children when ICE agents arrested him, the New York Daily New reported.

You has lived in the country for 18 years, despite receiving a final order of deportation in 2002 after his claim for asylum in the U.S. was denied, the Daily News reported.

In 2015, he applied for the permanent residency he thought he was eligible for through his marriage to a citizen, according to the news outlet. But when the pair came in for an interview on May 23 to ensure their marriage was legitimate, You was arrested.

His wife, Yu Mei Chen, told the outlet she was asked leave while ICE questioned her husband, and she never saw him again.

You was instead shipped off to a New Jersey detention center, where he's been locked up ever since, court records state. Chen was left to care for the couple's six-year-old daughter and 4-year-old son by herself.

“I don’t know what to do now," she told the Daily News. "And the kids are calling for their father, asking 'Where's my father? every day."

Chen usually worked long hours at the couple's nail salon in Connecticut while her husband took care of the kids at their Flushing home, according to the Daily News. Now forced to assume both roles, she said she stays up late helping her daughter with homework that she herself struggles with because her English isn't has good as her husband's.

She told the newspaper her husband had no criminal record and she never thought the government would have a reason to deport him.

“Everything was in chaos,” she said. “I couldn’t sleep at night at all. I’m on the verge of a mental collapse.”

You’s lawyer, Yee Ling Poon, appealed the court's denial of his permanent residency and requested a stay of deportation, according to the Daily News. He also hopes to reopen the asylum claim on the grounds You fears being persecuted for his Catholic faith in China.

While they wait to receive the rulings, You could be deported at any moment.

ICE did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

Lead photo via U.S. Customs and Immigration Enforcement.