An Indonesian man living in Aurora with his wife and teenage son and who came to the United States to escape persecution for being a Christian has been deported after being detained by immigration officials Tuesday.
Advocates say Haris Simangunsong, who was living in the country unlawfully, had been moved to San Francisco on Wednesday morning. Federal authorities said Wednesday afternoon that he had been deported to Indonesia.
Simangunsong’s supporters fear he could be jailed, hurt or worse when he returns to his homeland.
Gabriela Flora, with the American Friends Service Committee in Denver, said Simangunsong was taken into custody during a check-in Tuesday morning with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement. Flora said he had a stay of removal that expired last month and that his latest application for a delay in his deportation had been denied.
Simangunsong’s appeal for asylum was denied in 2012. At the time he was detained Tuesday, advocates say, he was seeking to have his asylum case reviewed.
“He was trying to do the right thing,” Flora said, “and do what was correct.”
ICE said Wednesday that Simangunsong came to the U.S. on Sept. 25, 1996, from Indonesia and legally entered the country through Los Angeles on a temporary visitor’s visa.
“A federal immigration judge granted him voluntary departure in April 2007,” said Carl Rusnok, a spokesman for ICE. “He failed to depart the United States as he had agreed. The Board of Immigration Appeals denied Simangunsong’s appeal of the judge’s decision in March 2008. In August 2008, the U.S. 10th Circuit Court of Appeals denied Simangunsong’s petition for his case to be reviewed.”
Rusnok said Simangunsong overstayed his original visa by more than 20 years and exhausted his petitions through the immigration courts and through ICE.
“Simangunsong has been removed to Indonesia,” Rusnok said.
Simangunsong’s supporters say they petitioned U.S. Sen. Cory Gardner, R-Colorado, for help in the case and say his office has been in touch with ICE.
“Due to constituent privacy policies, I cannot confirm or comment on any outstanding inquiries the office may or may not be involved in,” said Casey Contres, a spokesman for Gardner.
Immigrant advocates say they are alarmed at how fast federal authorities moved to deport Simangunsong. Flora, who has advocated on behalf of others living in the U.S. illegally, said deportation proceedings for people from Indonesia and surrounding countries typically take weeks.
When Simangunsong came to the U.S. in 1996, his supporters say, he came — and overstayed his lawful welcome — to avoid persecution. He is Lutheran and was a leader of a student Christian group on his college campus in Indonesia, making him a target.
He is also of the minority Batak tribe, whose members often face discrimination.
Simangunsong, 50, and his wife have a son, Mark, who is a citizen.
Another child, Chris, died of brain cancer in 2016 before he turned 11.
Jennifer Piper, also of the American Friends Service Committee, said the only reason Simangunsong was known to immigration authorities was because in 2003 he registered with the government under a Bush administration program. It requested men from Muslim-majority countries make themselves known, and Simangunsong followed suit even though he is Christian.
“This is a really big loss for us,” Piper said.
Piper added that she finds it ironic President Donald Trump and Vice President Mike Pence have made it a goal to protect Christians in the U.S. and abroad. She said Simangunsong does not have a criminal record.
“Then this is what happens to Haris,” she said.
