Hazleton business owner deported, despite having proper documentation, he says
PHOTO COURTESY / J. ZAPATA MEXICAN FOOD - Ricardo Santos, owner of J. Zapata Mexican Food. Santos, a longtime Hazleton business owner, has been deported despite having proper documentation, he says.
HAZLETON – In an emotional video from Ciudad Juárez, Mexico, Ricardo Santos worried he may never see his family again.
Santos has owned and operated J. Zapata Mexican Food, which has multiple locations in the Hazleton area, for the past decade.
A native of Mexico, Santos has been stateside for the past 35 years. He has a green card, work permits, and other proper documentation, he says, but somewhere along the lines, bureaucratic red tape became tangled.
He had an outstanding deportation order, which he found out about as he worked to obtain insurance for a knee replacement surgery.
Santos came stateside when he was 18 at the encouragement of his father. He is now in his 50’s.
That crossing, he said, was not legal, but “a judge vacated illegal crossing because of his outstanding behavior and contribution to the community,” his business’s Facebook page wrote in a Facebook page.
On a Facebook Live video, he showed multiple documents he says are unlawful presence waivers.
“I’m here, I’m stuck,” Santos said in that Facebook Live video. He said he’s been in Mexico since June 21 and has had no avail in seeking assistance to return.
There is no documentation publicly available regarding any federal or state court case against Santos.
“I have a business to run, I have a family to feed, I have a community to serve,” Santos said. “But to not be able to see them again, especially my kids, my wife, my supporters. It breaks my heart.”
His family remains in the Hazleton area while he is in Mexico.
“I want to go back home,” Santos said. “I want to go back the right way.”
“I want to be there to serve, to cook, what my passion is,” Santos added. “I don’t know how much time I can hold on, man.”
Santos said he’s been told he cannot return to the country for ten years.
“I don’t want my kids to be raised by the system or for my wife to go on food stamps or welfare when I have the strength to work for it,” Santos said. “I want to go back home.”
Petitions have been set up and letters of support are being requested on the J. Zapata Facebook page.
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