Judge Bars ICE From Moving Friendship Store Owner Seized Without Explanation
Dhavalkumar Patel, who runs Wallace's Market with his wife, stays jailed in Massachusetts while a judge's order blocks his removal for 72 hours.
A judge has temporarily stopped federal immigration authorities from relocating a Friendship store owner they took into custody on June 27, the Bangor Daily News reported.
Dhavalkumar Kalidas Patel, who runs Wallace's Market on Harbor Road with his wife, was detained by ICE agents who, according to the report, gave no explanation for the action and did not initially identify themselves. Greater Boston Legal Services attorney Audrey Richardson responded by filing a habeas corpus petition, and U.S. District Judge Indira Talwani in Massachusetts moved quickly, issuing an emergency order the same day that keeps Patel from being removed from the country or shifted to another judicial district for a minimum of 72 hours once the order is docketed. He remains in custody at the Plymouth County Correctional Facility in Massachusetts, with federal authorities given until July 6 to respond to the petition; a further court date has not been set.
Richardson said Patel, whose child was born in the U.S., was permitted a single phone call only after agents stopped in Scarborough. "This is another example of ICE illegally and illegitimately taking someone who is working hard to support their family," she said.
Knox County Sheriff Patrick Polky said his office learned of the arrest from ICE afterward, even though notification was not required.
This story was first reported by Bangor Daily News.
