Hawaiʻi Island resident Juan José Estrada Lopez was detained by ICE agents at his green card interview. He remained in the Honolulu FDC until late January. Juan and his wife, Emily Estrada Lopez, recently gave their first extended interview to HPR.⁠
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After filing a lawsuit on Juan’s behalf in January, the American Civil Liberties Union of Hawaiʻi said, “He is a hard worker, a family man, and has zero criminal history.”⁠
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Local immigration attorneys say the Trump administration has employed a new tactic during deportation proceedings: holding immigrants in detention facilities alongside people awaiting trial for federal crimes.⁠
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Juan said he worries that his ordeal might not have ended for good. ICE agents had previously raided the Kona coffee farm where Juan and Emily work. ⁠Juan said he’s made sure to keep every document he’s received since entering the United States back in 2022. ⁠
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He urged community members to remember the human piece of the immigration picture: “At the end of the day, we’re all people with different situations,” he said through an interpreter. “We're just looking for opportunities to better our lives, and I think this is a good place for that. We wish we could find legal ways to do things, but sometimes, that's just not possible.”⁠
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📸: Courtesy Emily Estrada