SAN DIEGO (KGTV) — An active duty Navy sailor in San Diego is in disbelief after Immigration and Customs Enforcement detained his wife during what was supposed to be a routine green card interview.
Thomas McCarthy said his wife Jessica's interview with U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services was almost over when ICE agents entered the room and detained her for overstaying her visa.
"We heard a knock on the door. She stepped out, and then they came in and said, 'Yeah, two ICE agents want to ask us questions,'" McCarthy said.
The couple has been together for two years and married for a year and a half. They celebrated their marriage in the Catholic Church about a month ago.
"I'm just kind of in disbelief about it because we were doing the right thing," McCarthy said.
Jessica is one of several people detained over the last week at USCIS offices for visa overstays. Immigration attorneys say they have never seen anything like this before.
"It's just like a punch in the face, like my world's been turned upside down," McCarthy said.
McCarthy said his wife was worried this could happen after seeing previous ABC 10News coverage about the USCIS detentions, but he reassured her everything would be fine.
"I think she saw your article specifically in San Diego of that happening recently," McCarthy said.
Immigration attorney Jacob Sapochnick, who McCarthy has hired, said he received a frantic call about the detention. Sapochnick is one of several attorneys who told ABC 10News that people are now being detained at their green card interviews.
Sapochnick said the law allows people to adjust their status from a visa overstay to a green card and argues this new tactic is a waste of resources.
"The thing is we will be able to release them. It's just, it's a waste of resources for them. It's anxiety for the spouses, it's trauma that's gonna last for a long time," Sapochnick said.
ICE referred ABC 10News to a statement sent earlier in the week about the USCIS detentions, saying they are committed to enforcing federal immigration laws and that people unlawfully present in the U.S., including at places like USCIS offices, may face arrest, detention, and removal.
"She didn't do anything wrong. We went in there with good faith, you know, doing everything the legal way, paid our dues," McCarthy said.
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