Rene Lima-Marin, threatened with deportation to his native Cuba after appeared to have ended with a governor’s pardon, has won his motion to reopen his immigration case and withdraw his order for removal, his attorney said Tuesday.
But his legal saga will continue, possibly for months, as his case is heard in immigration court in Aurora, where he has been held since the day of his pardon for crimes stemming from two video store robberies in 1998. Lima-Marin’s legal team said it expects that he could remain in custody throughout the next phase of proceedings.
Attorney Hans Meyer, representing Lima-Marin, slammed the Trump administration and federal authorities for a “shocking level of arrogance and brutality” in contesting his client’s case bipartisan and extensive public support. He said Immigration and Customs Enforcement lawyers are abusing their power by him to resume his life with his family.
“Today, we achieved a significant victory in a hard-fought battle, and while the war to keep Rene here with his family is not yet over, we are on the right side of history,” Meyer said. The motion was granted July 31, and Lima-Marin’s case was moved from Denver to Aurora, according to the Meyer Law Office, and his first hearing was on Tuesday.
Though pleased with the latest development, Jasmine Lima-Marin said the months in custody have been especially difficult for her husband. “The bad thing is now we have to wait even longer for resolution,” she said. “There’s no telling how long thatap going to be.”
In May, Arapahoe County District Court Judge Carlos Samour Jr. had and ordered him released from the 98-year sentence he was serving for the robberies. Hickenlooper pardoned Lima-Marin just hours later in an effort to thwart any deportation effort.
A paperwork error had allowed Lima-Marin to be paroled in 2008, and he embarked on a productive new life in Aurora. He rose to a well-paying job as a glazier, married and became father to two sons. But when prosecutors discovered the error in 2014, they moved quickly to send him back to prison to complete his sentence.
Samour’s ruling appeared to reunite Lima-Marin with his wife and young boys, Justus and Josiah. But federal authorities stepped in and pushed for deportation.
Though born in Havana, Lima-Marin, now 39, came to the U.S. with his family when he was about 2 years old in the Mariel boatlift that ferried about 125,000 refugees to Florida in 1980. He gained permanent resident status in 1986, his attorney says.
