An East Hampton man who was detained by federal immigration authorities in April was released from a detention facility in New Mexico after posting bond on Wednesday, May 9.Luis Marin-Castro was granted bond at a hearing before a federal immigration judge, according to Chimene Visser Macnaughton, the general manager at Wainscott Wine & Spirits, where Mr. Marin-Castro works as a sommelier.Ms. Macnaughton said that Mr. Marin-Castro flew back to New York with his family on Friday. Mr. Marin-Castro was helping unload a wine delivery in the parking lot of the Wainscott wine shop on the morning of April 9 when Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents approached him and placed him under arrest.Mr. Marin-Castro, 31, a native of Ecuador, has lived in the United States since he was 11, and is married to a U.S. citizen; his sisters were both born in the United States, his parents are naturalized citizens, and he was involved in the application process for a “green card.” He had been living and working legally in the United States under the deferred immigration status given to those who were brought to the country by their parents as minors, known as Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, or DACA. But he was found guilty of DWI in 2015, which voided his DACA status and, with the steep uptick in ICE enforcement in the last 18 months, landed him on a priority list for deportation. His detainment set off an outpouring of support from the local community, and raised more than $60,000 for his legal defense. It also sparked outrage from many about the newly aggressive approach to deportations by the Immigration and Customs Enforcement division of the Department of Homeland Security. An attorney for the family hired in New Mexico, where he had been taken less than 36 hours after being arrested, successfully won him a relatively rare bond hearing and a chance to argue against his deportation from outside a federal detention center. Family members this week thanked those who have helped and supported them since his detention and said they were thankful to have him home, but declined to comment.
Greg Wehner on May 12, 2018