ANCHORAGE, Alaska (KTUU) - A Vietnamese immigrant and Anchorage-area husband and father said he was detained by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement during what he believed was a routine check-in, then held in the Anchorage Correctional Complex for about nine weeks before being released.Alaska’s News Source is concealing the family’s identity because of their concerns about retaliation.The man’s wife, a U.S. citizen, said her husband had been checking in with ICE about every three months. She said he went in for an update on Jan. 12 and was detained that day, after what the couple said they were told would be a routine status update.“We had a pending case, but they said that it was denied already. But we never received any paperwork yet until, like, a few hours later, like, towards the end of the day. They said, ‘Here you go. This is a copy of your denial letter.’ And that was it,” she said. The couple said they have been married 14 years, have owned an Anchorage-area business for the past ten years, and have two children. They said the man has lived in Alaska for 17 years. He came to the United States as a refugee through the Indochinese parole program in 1992, when he was fifteen-years-old. The man said ICE told him his green card application was denied due to an old criminal case from when he was a teenager in the 1990’s. He said he served time and has not been in trouble since but feared he would lose “everything” he and his family have built.His wife said she was out of state at the time of January 12 detention, in California caring for her mother after liver cancer surgery, and had to rush back to Alaska to take care of their children.The wife said their original attorney in Anchorage told them he could not continue the case because of his schedule, and they sought new counsel. The family said their new attorney filed emergency motions aimed at keeping the man in Alaska rather than being transferred to Seattle. A federal judge granted a temporary restraining order to keep the man in Anchorage, according to court records. He spent 65 days in the Anchorage Correctional Complex, separate from inmates.“I have to be in the cell, like, 23 hours a day. And someday, not even come out, can’t even come out to call and make a phone call. Or, like, shower, you know? It’s all depend on, to me, it all depend on the officer that day,” he said. The family said they did not learn he would be released until March 18.“I got a call from my husband saying, ‘Come up and pick me up.’ They released me,” the wife said. Court records show ICE canceled a “final administrative removal order” in the case. Anchorage immigration attorney Margaret Stock, managing attorney at Cascadia Cross Border Law Group, said she reviewed the case after the family sought a second opinion and said she believed the man was wrongfully targeted.According to court records, the family’s Virginia attorney filed a habeas corpus petition challenging the detention. Stock said the case was not ultimately decided by a judge because federal officials agreed to release the man and asked that the habeas petition be dismissed.“USCIS has decided that they’re going to mine the benefits applications to turn people over to ICE,” Stock said.Stock said that federal officials had claimed the man had a final deportation order “from a judge,” which she said was not true. She said the Department of Justice later filed paperwork canceling a final administrative removal order.Stock also alleged the man was listed on a Department of Homeland Security public “worst of the worst” website with inaccurate information about his record, including a burglary conviction she said he does not have. The man’s previous criminal record involved a home-invasion type incident in Chicago when he was a teenager, Stock said, adding that because it was not an aggravated felony, he was not barred from seeking a green card.Stock said the Indochinese parole program later created a pathway for certain parolees from Vietnam, Cambodia and Laos to seek permanent residency.“He’s eligible to get a green card under that law,” Stock said. According to U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, the Indochinese Parole Adjustment Act allows certain people from Vietnam, Cambodia and Laos to apply to become lawful permanent residents if they meet specific requirements. USCIS says applicants generally must have been inspected and paroled into the United States before Oct. 1, 1997, been physically present in the U.S. prior to and on Oct. 1, 1997, and be admissible under immigration law.USCIS also says applicants must have been paroled under the Orderly Departure Program or through designated refugee or displaced-person camps. The agency says eligible applicants can seek a green card by filing Form I-485.In a statement, USCIS spokesman Matthew J. Tragesser said USCIS and ICE “collaborate closely to identify and remove criminal aliens and those attempting to exploit the U.S. immigration system.” Tragesser said a pending application or petition with USCIS “does not protect an alien from enforcement actions by ICE,” and said people with outstanding warrants, court-issued removal orders, or those who have committed fraud, crimes or other immigration violations remain subject to enforcement. He said USCIS refers such cases to ICE or other law enforcement agencies for appropriate action.The family said the man is now on an ankle monitor and must report to ICE weekly. They said they are pursuing adjustment of status again and have an open case in Portland.“It’s, it’s hard to imagine what [would] happen, if I cannot stay here in the U.S. I don’t know what, how my kids don’t survive, and my wife… I don’t know what to do, I don’t know what to do for real, how to imagine that,” he said. “So I hope that, you know, I can stay and be with my kids till the end of my time,” the man said. Federal immigration officials have said a pending application does not shield someone from enforcement. In an email, an ICE spokesperson said the Department of Homeland Security maintains that green cards are a privilege, not a right.The family said they are continuing to fight for legal status.“My kids, they’re innocent. They need to deserve, you know, they deserve to have a family, like, with the dad and the mom together, you know, to take care of them. Because they’re still little, you know. What happens when I’m gone? Who’s going to take care of them?,” the man said. See a spelling or grammar error? Report it to web@ktuu.comCopyright 2026 KTUU. All rights reserved.