New Fairfield's Joel Colindres feels like he's fighting for his life with a second deportation order hanging over his head.

Colindres who has been ordered to leave the country by the end of this month is literally drowning in bureaucratic red tape. In August of last year, Joel won a temporary stay from deportation just minutes from being ordered on a plane back to Guatemala. According to an article in the NewsTimes, that same deportation nightmare hit the Colindres family again on Dec. 27 during a weekly check-in with ICE officials who, again, informed him of a deportation order that states he must leave the country by the end of this month. Here's what the Colindres family has been put through:

  1. Mix-up in paperwork in 2004 causes Joel to miss important court date causing an order for his removal.
  2. Deportation order causes a barrier to seek legal residency after his marriage to Samantha in 2010.
  3. Family attorney files request to reopen the case but sends it to the wrong office causing further delays.
  4. Joel claims that being sent back to Guatemala would be his death sentence.
  5. Aug. 17, 2017, Joel wins a temporary reprieve minutes before he boards a plane back to Guatemala.
  6. Online petition argues that Joel deserves a chance to make his case in court that he supports his family, is a law-abiding citizen, and contributing member of American society.
  7. Receives second deportation order on Dec. 27, 2018
  8. Colindres family urges supporters to call lawmakers and sets up a GoFundMe page to help with legal fees.
Used by Permission of the Family
Used by Permission of the Family
loading...

This Thursday, Jan. 18 there will be a rally in Hartford with the hope that it will win Joel a reprieve. All he wants to do is get in front of a judge to plead his case. He's followed every rule laid out by ICE officials, he pays taxes, he supports his family, and he's worn a GPS bracelet since Aug. 17, 2017. Why in God are they punishing this man and his family?

Read More Local Stories:

Bonus: Five Guys on Federal Rd. Mysteriously Closes:

Bonus: The Hatters' Monument in Danbury, CT Is Unveiled

More From WRKI and WINE