PLANT CITY, FL - Whether you were angry, or sad, this story made many of you feel some type of way.
A Plant City father is being deported at the end of the month after 20 years of living here in Florida.
It sparked a heated conversation on our Facebook page.
Luis Blanco is counting down the days until he must leave his family and job.
He's the sole breadwinner for his family. Blanco has a wife, five children, with another on the way.
His wife is in the United States because of DACA, but both are worried that could be taken away. All children are U.S. citizens.
“My other girls have a therapist because their lives, too, have changed. They're having a hard time. I haven't told my younger girls yet. I just said I'm leaving for a whole to visit this grandpa,” says Blanco.
This wouldn't be the first time Luis was deported.
In 1998, he received a deportation order and was sent back to Mexico. But even after being sent back, he came to the U.S. illegally and has been living here ever since.
One of the most asked questions about this story was this: If Luis has lived here for almost 20 years, why didn't he try and obtain his citizenship?
We took this questions straight to a local immigration attorney.
Daniela Hogue tells us because Luis doesn't have a family member who is a U.S. citizen, he doesn't have anyone to sponsor him. On top of that, since he has a deportation order, it makes it even harder.
We also asked ICE officials about this. While they said they can't comment on this specific case, they released this statement
U.S Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) takes seriously its obligation to enforce the nation’s immigration laws, and the enforcement actions ICE employs are intended to accomplish this fairly and efficiently. ICE focuses its enforcement resources on individuals who pose a threat to national security, public safety, and border security. However, as acting ICE Director Thomas Homan made clear, ICE will not exempt classes or categories of aliens not lawfully present in the Unites States from potential enforcement. All of those in violation of U.S. immigration laws may be subject to immigration arrest, detention, and removal from the United States, if found removable by final order.
Another question: How was Luis working here, if he had a deportation order in the past?
When Luis was stopped for a traffic offense in 2014, he was put under a court order supervision and was granted a humanitarian stay.
That allowed him to qualify for a work permit, which was renewed every year, until now.
Next question, many of you asked: Did this family receive government assistance and do undocumented immigrants even qualify.
The answer is no. Luis made enough money that the family didn't need government assistance.
However, once he is deported, then his children CAN get help since they're U.S. citizens.
Their mom will have to apply on their behalf. They will only receive food stamps for six kids -- mom doesn't qualify for assistance since she's with DACA.
We also took this story to the streets and asked people how they felt. Many didn’t feel sorry for this father.
“There has to be a way to fix this," says Carmen Lara. "For them to be able to stay here and not separate the family. OK, he came back, but you do anything for your family. You'd do anything. It's worse if those children are separated from their parents and put in foster care or somewhere else,”
“He put his family in jeopardy, the law did not, he did," says Carmen Lara. "The law is designed so this doesn't happen. The law is here to protect the immigrant as well as the American."
Luis is set to be deported on Jan. 31.
