CLAY COUNTY, Fla. — A Clay County man forced to self-deport back to India has new hopes of returning.
Action News Jax told you about Tapan Purohit in late March after his family contacted our station.
But now, his wife says a new ruling should clear the way for him to come home.
Tapan, who came to the US in 2011 on a J-1 visa, was forced to self-deport after ICE agents enforced an order of removal against him.
“It is very difficult. It’s a horrible thing to go through,” said Tapan’s Wife, Ashley Kennedy-Purohit.
At the time Tapan left, he and his wife, who is a US citizen, were waiting for a ruling from an immigration judge that would have allowed him to stay as their I-130 marriage petition was processed.
Ashley just returned from a two-week trip to visit her husband.
She told Action News Jax that soon after arriving, she got some uplifting news: The ruling they’d been holding out for had been issued in Tapan’s favor.
It was approved just a few days after he self-deported.
“A part of me thinks if I hadn’t have pushed him to get on the plane, that maybe he could still be here,” said Ashley.
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With the ruling, she believes her husband should be able to return to the States as he waits for a hearing scheduled for May of next year.
But out of an abundance of caution, the family is waiting for guidance from ICE.
Their attorney contacted the agent assigned to his case six days ago, but still hasn’t heard back.
We contacted the regional ICE office about the case on Friday, and have also not heard back.
“So, it’s all we can do is keep staying positive and push where we can push and, you know, we’ve got appointments coming up with the attorney,” said Ashley. ”We’re gonna keep talking about what we can do, but it is a confusing time because it’s in their hands.”
For the time being, Ashley, Tapan, and their children will have to wait a bit longer to be reunited.
But at the very least, the future is looking less bleak than it appeared earlier this year.
“I’m just trying to figure out how to continue and keep my business afloat so that I can provide for the kids and get through this until he can come home,” said Ashley.
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