Honduras-Born North Carolina Teen Spared Deportation For Now

Wildin Acosta is being spared deportation back to Honduras for now.

By NAN Staff Writer

News Americas, RALEIGH, NC, Mon. Mar. 21, 2016: A 19-year-old North Carolina teen who was slated to be deported to his homeland of Honduras Sunday has been spared deportation for now.

Wildin Acosta of Riverside High School in Durham, N.C. was set to be deported on Sunday after being held in a rural jail in Georgia. He is a Central American teen who fled Honduras after a gang member threatened to kill him and entered the U.S. illegally. But he was arrested outside his parents’ home in January as part of the Obama administration’s efforts to find and deport immigrants who were part of the 2014 surge of illegal crossings by unaccompanied children and families. His arrest came after an immigration judge in Charlotte had approved his deportation after failing to show up for an immigration hearing.

On Sunday, however, US ICE director Sarah Saldana backtracked on her initial decision and issued an order to prevent Acosta, 18, from being deported until an appeal can take place.

Congressman G.K. Butterfield who had lobbied vigorously on behalf of Acosta, made the announcement, adding: “It is my hope that he will be eventually granted asylum in the United States.”

The Durham Human Relations Commission has since asked federal immigration officials to stop deporting young people from the city.