Man gets first shot at release 3 years after serving jail sentence

Man gets first shot at release 3 years after serving jail sentence

(Chairez family photo, Handout)


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WEST VALLEY CITY — A Salt Lake man held in jail for more than three years while he fights deportation moved a step closer to release Thursday when an immigration judge set his bond at $50,000.

Immigration Judge David C. Anderson set bond for Martin Chairez-Castrejon at the conclusion of a three-hour hearing, although an attorney for the Department of Homeland Security reserved the right to appeal the decision.

It was unclear when Chairez could be released from jail. Anderson said the government has until Aug. 1 to file an appeal with the Board of Immigration Appeals.

Chairez, a lawful permanent resident of the United States for more than 20 years, has been held in the Utah County Jail on a mandatory Immigration Customs Enforcement hold since March 14, 2013. During that time, he wasn't granted a bond hearing until May.

Earlier that year, Chairez served 44 days in jail after pleading no contest to discharging a firearm during a fight in 2012.

After completing the criminal sentence, Chairez was transferred to ICE custody pending deportation proceedings. More than 1,200 days later, he remains behind bars — 27 times longer than the criminal sentence that set the deportation proceedings into motion.

Department of Homeland Security attorney Jon Stowers argued that Chairez's release "would pose a danger to the community" based on his criminal history, which includes two convictions of drunken driving, sexual solicitation and the felony discharge of a firearm three years ago.

"(Chairez's) … conviction for felony discharge of a firearm, is a serious crime. The evidence indicates respondent obtained an AK-47 and provided a handgun to his son and then he went to someone else's residence in a residential neighborhood and struck a victim several times in the face and head with the rifle," Stowers said.

"(Chairez's) son came over with a firearm that the respondent had provided him and fired it. A short time later, the respondent returned to the same location and again consciously placed a firearm in his waistband and got into an altercation and fired the weapon two times and an individual was grazed twice by bullets from that firearm. Judge, that's a serious crime. The respondent poses a danger."

Martin Chairez Gonzalez with his family on his high school graduation day in 2008. Martin's father, Martin Chairez-Castrejon, second from left, has been in immigration custody for more than three years without a bond hearing. An immigration judge conducted a bond hearing on Thursday, June 30, 2016. (Photo: Chairez family photo, Handout)
Martin Chairez Gonzalez with his family on his high school graduation day in 2008. Martin's father, Martin Chairez-Castrejon, second from left, has been in immigration custody for more than three years without a bond hearing. An immigration judge conducted a bond hearing on Thursday, June 30, 2016. (Photo: Chairez family photo, Handout)

But Chairez's attorney argued that his client has lived in the United States since he was 19 years old, has strong family and community ties and a long employment history.

In testimony to the court, Chairez acknowledged that his use of alcohol led to poor decisions that hurt his family and imperiled others.

Chairez said he regularly attends Alcoholic Anonymous meetings, completed his high school education and attends both Catholic and LDS church services at the jail.

"The government can't point to a single thing in the past four years to demonstrate that the respondent is a danger to the community. They may argue that evidence exists to suggest that he was, but there's no evidence to suggest that he is," Chairez's attorney Skyler Anderson said.

"If anybody was in a position to find evidence that the respondent is currently a danger to the community, that he's currently participating in destructive activities in jail, that would be the department. He's in their custody and they've pointed to nothing and I think that's very telling," the attorney said.

"He has demonstrated true and complete remorse and rehabilitation. He has the tools and sobriety necessary to make sure he does not have these problems that have arisen from his prior use of alcohol."

Stowers said in the most recent court proceeding, a judge ordered Chairez's removal from the United States.

"I understand that case is now on appeal but there is an order of removal so the department believes there is some risk of flight based on that removal order," he said.

The judge also ruled that the federal government had the burden of proof on the bond matter, relying on appellate court decisions in two federal court circuits. U.S. District Judge Jill N. Parrish, who in May ordered the bond hearing, provided no direction how to proceed, he said.

"In the absence of controlling precedent, I'm going to follow it," Judge Anderson said of case law from the 9th and 2nd Circuit courts of appeal.

Chairez's attorney, who has fought his client's deportation in multiple venues, said Judge Anderson's decision to allow Chairez bond "feels good."

"This is a big deal. I'm not aware of any time, in Utah anyway, of someone who's subject to mandatory detention under immigration law who's been granted a bond," Skyler Anderson said.


This is a big deal. I'm not aware of any time, in Utah anyway, of someone who's subject to mandatory detention under immigration law who's been granted a bond.

–Skyler Anderson, attorney


The federal government has spent some $87,000 to house Chairez at the Utah County Jail over the past three years, according to the facility's daily incarceration rate of $72.25.

A Department of Justice attorney argued in federal court earlier this year that the delays could be attributed to Chairez's appeals of decisions by courts and the Board of Immigration Appeals.

But Skyler Anderson maintains Chairez's detention "became prolonged at the sixth-month mark. … He is now detained subject to the (U.S.) attorney general's discretion."

Anderson said he also hopes a recent Supreme Court decision — Mathis v. United States, which addresses prior convictions in federal sentencing and deportation cases — may help his client's ongoing fight to remain in the United States.

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