The Obama Administration has given a 22-year-old New Britain student a temporary reprieve from his impending deportation.
The Department of Homeland Security announced today that Mariano Cardoso, who is a month from finishing his degree at Capitol Community College, will be granted a temporary stay of removal.
Cardoso’s parents entered the United States illegally from Mexico when he was less than two years old. He’s been fighting deportation since 2008, when federal authorities showed up at a family gathering.
Gov. Dannel Malloy and Sen. Richard Blumemthal had both made pleas on Cardoso’s behalf.
“For all intents and purposes, Mariano is American,” Malloy said in a statement last week. “To send him back to a country he has no recollection of and did not grow up in makes little sense, particularly as he is finishing his degree and looking to contribute to his community and this state.”
Blumenthal today hailed the DHS move.”This decision is right for Mariano – and right for America – in light of his roots in the community and his future contributions to our society,” Blumenthal said in a statement.
The decision, he said, is renewable every year, “so that he can remain in the only country he has ever known,” and DHS’s action “ensures that he will be able to continue contributing to his community.”