US immigration authorities arrested this week a Polish doctor and green-card holder Lukasz Niec despite him having lived in the US for over 40 years.
Niec, who works as a physician at Bronson Healthcare Group in Kalamazoo, in the state of Michigan, has been detained in a county jail ever since his arrest. He is awaiting a bond hearing and possible deportation.
Niec arrived in the US at age 5 along with his parents and his sister in 1979 escaping social turmoil in Poland. He grew up in Michigan, and received a temporary green card and then in 1989 became a lawful permanent resident.
His sister Iwona Niec Villaire, a corporate lawyer, called the arrest “shocking” adding that no one could “understand what happened here.” For Niec, his Polish nationality was an afterthought and he “doesn’t even speak Polish”, his sister told the media.
Villaire has also expressed worry on how her brother will cope with being deported to “a country and culture completely foreign” to him. He has no existing relationships with family or friends in Poland she said, adding that her brother is “as American as anyone gets.”
Previous Convictions Reason For Detention
As per the “notice to appear” issued to him by the Department of Homeland Security, Niec’s detention has been attributed to two misdemeanor convictions that date 26 years ago.
In January 1992, Niec was found guilty of malicious destruction of property under $100. In April of the same year, he was found guilty of “receiving and concealing stolen property over $100” along with a financial transaction device.
Since Niec has been convicted of two crimes involving “moral turpitude” as a result of the two incidents, he is subject to removal, as per immigration authorities in the ‘notice to appear’, citing the Immigration and Nationality Act.
Both these offenses occurred when he was a teenager, and when he associated himself “with some bad people” according to his sister.
The first involved an altercation with a driver in the aftermath of a car crash, Niec’s sister said, while the second one was later expunged from his criminal record, as part of a guilty plea through Michigan’s Holmes Youthful Trainee Act, a program aimed at helping young offenders avoid the stigma of a criminal conviction.
Even though the crime has been eliminated from his public record, it can still be used against him for removal from the country, his sister said.
ICE has not yet commented on the matter. The ICE Detroit Field Office spokesman has said he is looking into the case.
Not A Risk To Public, Wife Asserts
Kalamazoo County court records reveal that Niec pleaded guilty in 2008 to operating impaired by liquor. On completion of his probation, the conviction was set aside, the plea withdrawn and the case dismissed. In 2013, he was also charged with domestic violence in 2013 and a jury found him not guilty after a trial.
Despite these issues, his wife has stressed that that he is not a risk to the public.
Low Level Offenders No Longer Let Off
Under previous administrations, immigration authorities typically let low-level offenders off the hook, preferring to focus on deporting violent criminals.
But under Trump administration, new guidelines have come into effect which have expanded the range of immigrants that are seen as high priority for deportation, which includes low-level offenders, and those with no criminal record .
According to Villaire, initially she had felt that green-card holders were “like anybody else, ” but that is not the case anymore she said. She had been a green-card holder until she successfully gained citizenship after applying while studying at law school, she said.
His wife Rachelle Burkart-Niec an American citizen said that Niec had been considering applying for citizenship, particularly after their marriage in 2016, but had failed to do so as a result of their demanding schedules. His wife works as a charge nurse at a Bronson hospital .
Colleagues Express Support
Although Lucasz Niec has spent a week in jail, he is yet to see a judge. He has also received no information from immigration authorities since the day of his arrest according to his family members.
Several of his hospital colleagues have written letters to an immigration judge, rallying support for Niec and attesting to his good character, according to local media.
Villaire has said that she is hiring a lawyer for her brother, and is also hoping that Michigan’s governor considers pardoning his misdemeanor offenses.
She is also exploring other options. She stated that her mother had become a naturalized citizen and if that had occurred before Lucasz Niec turned 18, he may already be a citizen by default. There are some important documents missing from the family archives which she is looking to retrieve as both the parents are deceased.
