Edvin Alvarez via Facebook, Oct. 25, 2024. Waltham business owner Edvin Alvarez has spent six months in the custody of federal immigration authorities. He faces the possibility of being deported if his legal appeals are eventually rejected. Alvarez is a graduate of Waltham High School and owner of a local landscaping business. He was seized in Waltham without warning last New Year’s Eve by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents. Family members said at the time that Alvarez was in the United States legally with a federal Employment Authorization Document allowing him to work in the United States, and that he was working toward getting a permanent resident card and citizenship. Alvarez came to the United States 35 years ago from Guatemala and has owned a landscaping business for 20 years. His family has used a GoFundMe campaign to raise nearly $25,000 of its goal of $26,000 to pay his legal fees. According to updates on the GoFundMe site, Alvarez’s recent application for cancellation of his deportation proceedings via form 42B, which allows certain nonpermanent residents to avoid deportation and obtain a green card, was rejected because he hadn’t proven his deportation would result in extreme hardship to his family. He also has filed for a writ of habeas corpus seeking a legal justification for his detention. Alvarez has been transferred among detention centers around the country; he is currently being held in Texas, his family said.