BOSTON (AP) – A Massachusetts Institute of Technology janitor who became a rallying cry for local opponents of President Donald Trump’s immigration crackdown is fighting his deportation while jailed.
Francisco Rodriguez-Guardado says he hopes to remain in the United States on asylum. But he also has resolved to keep his family together even if it means uprooting his three American-born children and returning to El Salvador.
Rodriguez-Guardado has been held since July 13 at the Suffolk County House of Corrections in Boston.
U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials took the 43-year-old into custody after declining to renew his temporary authorization to remain in the U.S. His case sparked protests across Boston and an outpouring of support from local politicians this summer.
The Republican president says his immigration crackdown is meant to keep the U.S. safe.