Undocumented Israeli in U.S. might face deportation

[UPDATE: FRIDAY, DEC. 9, 11:50 A.M.]
Landazuri’s status update on Facebook that her brother-in-law, Adi Zinder, 32-year-old undocumented Israeli native, is coming home to Los Angeles - following his year-long custody with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) - has prompted a stream of positive replies on her Facebook page and on the pages of people who appear to be Zinder’s friend. “My great friend 20 years has been locked away for over a year…He’s finally coming home!” said a friend of Landazuri.

ICE declined to confirm that Zinder is being returned home, in a call placed by the Journal. ICE spokeswoman Lori Haley said the agency might issue a statement soon regarding Zinder.

[UPDATE: FRIDAY, DEC. 9, 11:30 A.M.]
Adi Zinder is returning home, according to a Facebook post. The post was written as a status update on the Facebook page of Carolina Landazuri—yesterday, L.A. Weekly reported that Landazuri is Zinder’s sister-in-law. The publication quoted an email from Landazuri saying that Zinder, an undocumented Israeli living in Woodland Hills who has been in the custody of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, was being transported from El Paso to New Orleans and might be deported back to Israel. But it looks as though Zinder’s coming back to Los Angeles. More details to come.
Read below for a story posted last night.
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Thirty-two-year-old Adi Zinder, an Israeli native who has been living in the U.S, might be deported back to Israel.

Zinder is in the custody of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and is currently being held at an El Paso processing center, the ICE Web site confirms.

Zinder has been held by ICE since last fall, according to an article by the L.A. Weekly, which cited reports from Zinder’s sister-in-law.

ICE officials raided Zinder’s home and detained him in the middle of the night, the L.A. Weekly story says, adding that Zinder was living in Woodland Hills and has been living in the U.S. since he was 10-years-old, and though he is undocumented, has a clean record.

Zinder is married to a U.S. citizen and currently in the process of applying for citizenship through marriage, the L.A. Weekly reported.

Citing an email she says Zinder’s sister-in-law sent today, the Weekly reporter, Simone Wilson, wrote that Zinder is being transported from El Paso, to New Orleans.

No information was immediately available about when ICE officials relocated Zinder from Los Angeles to El Paso, and the Weekly story does not provide that information.

Zinder was being held in the Mira Loma Detention Center in W. Lancaster, California, according to L.A. Weekly.

A review process regarding the possibility of granting citizenship to Zinder began in April, L.A. Weekly reported.

Zinder was put into solitary confinement in Mira Loma after complaining about not receiving kosher meals: “... they threw him in the hole,”  Zinder’s sister-in-law is quoted as saying.

In a call today, an ICE spokeswoman declined to comment on Zinder’s situation. The spokeswoman requested that The Journal email her, saying she would provide information about Zinder as soon as possible and that the agency cannot provide specifics on individual detainee cases.

U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) spokesperson Mariana Gitomer did not know about Zinder’s individual case, but if Zinder is seeking legal status through marriage, he is required to return to Israel and be subject to processing by the U.S. consulate there, Gitomer said. If Zinder has been living here illegally all this time and was deported back to Israel, he might be barred from returning to the U.S., Gitomer added.

ICE and USCIS are agencies of the Department of Homeland Security.