Congressman Al Green provides update on status of Jaime Avalos retention in Mexico

Houston - On Tuesday, November 22, 2022, Congressman Al Green traveled to Ciudad Juarez to visit with his constituent Jaime Avalos who is currently stranded in Mexico and is celebrating his birthday the day after Thanksgiving. 

Congressman Green was joined by Avalos’s American-born wife of nearly three years, their infant son, and the family’s lawyer. 

Avalos is a DACA recipient who was brought to the U.S. at the age of one. Less than four months ago, he went to the U.S. Consulate General in Ciudad Juarez for a scheduled interview as part of the process to obtain his permanent residency. During the interview, it was discovered that after Avalos’s entry to the U.S. as an infant, his mother took him back to Mexico as a child of less than eight years of age to register his birth before bringing him back to the U.S. permanently.

Under U.S. law, Avalos has been barred from re-entering the U.S. for 10 years due to being taken out of the country by his mother and returning to the U.S. before he acquired permanent residency. Avalos has lived his entire 27 years in the U.S. and calls this country home. He is a graduate of Houston’s Bellaire High School, has held steady employment since he was a senior in high school, has no criminal record, and is married to a U.S. citizen with whom he has a son that will be celebrating his first birthday this December.

On Wednesday, November 23, Congressman Al Green hosted a press conference to provide important updates on his meeting with Avalos and efforts to bring Mr. him home. 

Last week, Congressman Green asked U.S. Department of Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas for full and fair consideration of Mr. Avalos’s case. He has also introduced legislation to amend the Immigration and Nationality Act, as well as a private bill for Avalos.