Nestor Marchi, a 59-year-old Greensboro man and native of Brazil who was ordered by US Immigration and Customs Enforcement to leave the country, has received a three-month stay of removal.
Jeremy McKinney, Marchi’s immigration lawyer, said ICE granted the stay to his client, who suffers from congestive heart failure, diabetes and other ailments, in the interest of maintaining continuity of medical care.
“I’m not sure three months is enough to accomplish the objective,” McKinney said in a prepared statement, “but we are thrilled ICE is giving us time to try.”
Marchi’s family are working with contacts in Brazil to set up consultations and transfer medical information, McKinney said. Andy Marchi, Nestor’s son, was able to become a Greensboro firefighter when he was granted Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals status under the Obama administration. Andy Marchi, who recently married, is working towards American citizenship, which he expects to obtain in about three years. At that time, he could sponsor his father. But Nestor Marchi’s family and friends don’t believe he will live that long because of the quality of the Brazilian healthcare system, and have said the deportation order amounts to a death sentence.
Marchi’s story, which was covered first by Triad City Beat on May 10, garnered national attention, with an article on the Daily Kos blog. The American Civil Liberties Union tweeted out a link to the TCB story.
McKinney said a petition circulated by American Friends Service Committee to support Marchi received almost 2,000 signatures.
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