Rui Murras is a 32-year-old Portuguese, with permanent residence permit in the United States- ‘Green Card’- and living on American soil since he was 2 years old
The Portuguese Rui Murras, detained at the end of March by the US immigration authorities and facing the possibility of deportation, was released on Tuesday, the president of the New Bedford Immigrant Assistance Center.
Speaking to Lusa, Helena da Silva Hughes, president of the New Bedford Immigrant Assistance Center, a city of the US state of Massachusetts where Rui Murras resides, said the Portuguese was released after the bail and is already with the family.
Helena da Silva Hughes explained that the Portuguese will now have to be present to an immigration judge, but without moving with dates.
Rui Murras is a 32-year-old Portuguese, with permanent residence permit in the United States- ‘Green Card’- and living on American soil since he was 2 years old, who has been arrested by immigration authorities by returning from a vacation abroad.
Born in Portugal, Murras lived almost all his life in New Bedford, but now faces the possibility of deportation for Portugal due to problems he had with the US courts in the past.
“I’ve been following many cases in the past of people who have been deported even having ‘Green Card’. So this process will take time,” said the president of the New Bedford Immigrant Assistance Center, a non -profit organization.
“I followed a few years ago, the case of a Portuguese lady who spent $ 27,000 [24 mil euros no câmbio atual] To save his son, not to be deported and, in the end, unfortunately, spent the money and he was deported in it, “he told Lusa.
Rui Murras spent several weeks in the custody of the immigration and customs service (ICE) and kept in prison outside of Massachusetts, where he lives legally.
“Rui now will have to convince the judge that he has never had problems with justice, who has a job, who has a family here, that his family has American citizenship,” he added.
On a funds raising page to cover the legal expenses of the case -but already closed -, Portuguese’s sister -in -law, Sofia Cabral -Murras, presented details about the case, explaining that the young man “was arrested by the border patrol when he returned because of an old criminal record.”
“Rui is not a criminal. He is a good person who does not deserve to be in prison until this is clarified,” said the sister -in -law, stressing, “We never imagined being in this situation.”
Rui Murras was detained in Portland, a city in the state of Maine, while his family was fighting to bring him back home.
Lusa tried to get in touch with the Murras family, but got no response.
According to the local newspaper The New Bedford Light, the Portuguese had problems with justice in 2012, when it was “accused of distributing a class D -typically Marijuana – and conspiracy to violate drug laws” controlled substance, and the conspiracy accusation was rejected by recommendation of the Conditional Freedom Department in July 2013.
In 2017, Murras was accused of driving under the influence of alcohol, but the case was filed the following year, after the Portuguese completed an alcohol education program.
The Portuguese defense believes that detention is based on the accusation of drug trafficking in 2012.
Even though he has a permanent residence visa, Portuguese may be deported, as is happening to other foreigners.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MNE) said it was “accompanying” the case, having the consul of Portugal in New Bedford “spoken to him and his family,” said the official source of the government.
Legal permanent residence – granted through ‘Green Card’ – gives the right to live and work in the United States indefinitely, but does not protect individuals from deportation.
About 12.8 million Green Card patients live in the United States, according to the latest estimates of the internal security statistics office.
Since Donald Trump has returned to the US presidency, the cases of ‘Green Card’ who are detained and in the process of deportation have been added.
The most media example is that of Mahmoud Khalil, a student at the University of Columbia who led protests against war in the Gaza Strip and who had his ‘Green Card’ revoked and the process of deportation started.
