SEATTLE (AP) — U.S. Sen. Maria Cantwell says the deportation of a University of Washington graduate who is illegally in the country has been indefinitely delayed.
Cantwell lobbied on behalf of Peruvian national Jorge-Alonso Chehade with Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano. The senator said Friday that Chehade’s deportation has been delayed indefinitely, pending a new review of his case.
Chehade was arrested in 2009 after taking the wrong turn on Interstate 5 from Bellingham, and unintentionally crossing into Canada. Since then, Chehade launched a wide-reaching campaign to remain in the country.
Chehade says he was brought to the country when he was 14.
Cantwell, a Democrat from Washington, supports the DREAM Act, a provision which would provide students who are illegal immigrants a pathway to legal residency.
