Flavio Musmanno thought he was getting some of his belongings back when he agreed to meet the person who had called him to tell him he had found his lost wallet. Instead, the “Good Samaritan” turned out to be Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), which promptly arrested Musmanno and has him slated for imminent deportation, despite the fact that the dad has no criminal record and is in the process of adjusting his status through his U.S. citizen wife.
"They just want to deport him!" Musmanno’s distraught stepdaughter Paola told the Miami New Times. "They won't tell us anything else. We sent them the petition he filed, but they just ignored it and keep saying they're going to deport him. And things are not good where we came from—if people find out he was living in Miami, they might think he has money and try to rob him or kidnap him."
Musmanno, who was doing construction work in Ohio at the time of his arrest, came here nearly 20 years ago with a visa that has since expired, but this year filed paperwork to begin the green card process. “Paola says her father received a confirmation that U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services had received the form and was processing it,” but none of that mattered to ICE, which arrested her dad at the truck stop they agreed to meet at. “Paola stressed that ICE agents never identified themselves on the phone with her stepfather,” the Miami News Times continues.
Deplorable, but in line with the shameless and deceptive tactics ICE has used to arrest immigrants, many without a criminal record, and tactics the agency has escalated since Donald Trump’s inauguration. Some of these tactics have included using kids as “bait” in order to arrest their immigrant parents. Musmanno could now face deportation as soon as today back to his native Argentina, and his family is scrambling to fundraise money for legal assistance, and if necessary, a cushion to restart his life if he’s deported. "Three years ago, my brother was bullied at school, but my dad was the one who helped him take all his feelings out and get him through it,” Paola said.