Connor Read, a 29-year-old British national, was detained by Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents on June 3 following an appointment at a federal immigration building in Tampa, Florida, where he had been invited to attend a green card interview. Read has resided in the United States since 2007, when he moved to the country as a child with his mother and stepfather, attending American schools throughout his youth. His detention separated him from his wife, Jaelin, and their three-year-old twin sons.
Read initially faced a removal order in 2011 but was granted Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals status at age 16, a federal policy that offers deportation protection and work authorization to certain individuals who entered the US as minors. However, Read subsequently accumulated several minor criminal convictions, including possession of narcotic equipment, possession of liquor, and resisting an officer. These convictions rendered him ineligible to renew his DACA status when he attempted to do so at age 22.
When Read married and sought to apply for permanent residency through his spouse, he was called in for a green card interview. Upon arrival at the immigration office, four ICE agents arrested him and removed him from the building. He was first held in a Florida county jail for eight days before being transferred to an ICE detention facility in Louisiana, where he remains as of the reporting.
ICE officials characterized Read as a “criminal illegal alien” and noted his entry to the US in 2007 on an F-2 visa as a dependent of an F-1 student visa holder. The agency stated that Read’s status became contingent upon his parent’s visa compliance and that removal proceedings were initiated following a violation of visa terms. An ICE spokesperson indicated the agency is prioritizing arrests of individuals with criminal histories under the current administration, stating that nearly 70 percent of recent ICE arrests involved individuals charged or convicted of crimes in the US. Read is appealing his final removal order, though officials indicated a decision could take up to six months.
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