After a laboratory technician at the University of Washington and the head of the Green Card was recently arrested for the United States immigration and customs application, his family is talking.
Lewelyn Dixon, 64, who has had a legal permanent status in the US for 50 years, was arrested at Seattle airport and put on ice custody after returning from a trip to its native philippines at the end of February. She has a scheduled audience for July, but her loved ones are asking for her release, telling NBC News that is the glue that keeps the family together.
“She has always been our option,” said Dixon’s niece, Lani Madriaga, who described her as a maternal figure. “She has always been that.”
ICE did not immediately respond to the request for comments from NBC News.
Dixon is being held at the ICE Northwest processing center in Tacoma, Washington, Madriaga, said, where he has been socializing with the other detainees, translating and helping them communicate with their lawyers in the midst of waiting before their audience.
Dixon’s lawyer, Benjamin Osorio, said that customs and border protection of the United States probably saw a condemnation of embezzlement of decades in their registry upon return, which caused the arrest. Dixon, who declared himself guilty of the non -violent crime in 2000, received the order to pay the restitution and spend 30 days in an intermediate house, as shown in the judicial documents. In 2019, he finished paying the restitution.
Dixon had been a vault cashier and operations supervisor in Washington Mutual Bank, where he “eliminated cash from the vault on eight separate occasions” without the bank’s authorization, according to his guilt agreement. In total, she eliminated $ 6,460.
Dixon never told the family about the conviction, said Madriaga, who called him the “darkest secret” of his aunt.
“If she hadn’t traveled, she wouldn’t have caused this,” Osorio said.
And although Dixon has also been eligible for American citizenship, said Osorio, promised his father that he would maintain his Philippine status to be able to retain property and land in the Philippines.
“He probably didn’t understand the risk,” said Osorio. “Otherwise, there would probably be … naturalized before traveling.”
Dixon arrived in the United States when he was 14 years old, immediately helping Madriaga and his brothers, who are also immigrants, to life in his new country.
“We stayed together. We slept in the same room. We had an extra bunk and bed, and we stayed in that room during our school years,” said Madriaga, 59. “He was very independent and was a good model to follow, making sure to have hard work.”
Later, when Madriaga’s sister divorced, becoming a single mother, Dixon moved to the state of Washington so she could be there for children and participate with the rent. Madriaga went through his own divorce years later and said Dixon was also there to help with the children.
“That was difficult. He made sure to take care of my minor, because he was still a minor,” said Madriaga. “She is like a second mother for her.”
In the laboratory, Dixon is a dedicated worker, said Madriaga. He had even scheduled to work a shift the night he was going out of the flight, he added. Dixon was on the cusp of his 10th anniversary at work, during which his pension would be granted. His family members are now worried that he loses his work and his pension after being out for so long.
Susan Gregg, UW Medicine spokesman, did not make the Dixon case, but said he had worked as a laboratory technician since 2015.
“Uw Medicine is dedicated to the well -being of all employees and expects Lewlyn to receive due process in a timely manner,” Gregg said.
Madriaga said that the family is talking about her aunt and also hopes to help others protect themselves from a similar destination.
“For people who avoided becoming a citizen like my aunt, who thought she was protected: No. Go to look for your citizenship,” said Madriaga.
