Immigration detainees from Indonesia are freed on bond

Monsy Alvarado
NorthJersey

Two Indonesian men who were detained by immigration authorities after dropping their children off at school were released Thursday after spending 10 months in custody at the Essex County jail, officials said.

Gunawan Liem of Franklin Park and Roby Sanger of Metuchen left the jail in Newark after posting bond on Thursday, a day after a federal immigration judge ruled they could be released while they fight their immigration case. 

“It is an absolute blessing, and way overdue,’’ the Rev. Seth Kaper-Dale, co-pastor of the Reformed Church of Highland Park, said Wednesday after the men's release on bond was approved. 

Emilio Dabul, a spokesman for U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, confirmed Thursday that the men had been released.  

The Rev. Seth Kaper-Dale, of the Reformed Church of Highland Park, here talking in December 2016 with Yvonne Mukayisenga, a refugee from the Democratic Republic of Congo.

Sanger and Liem are part of a community of ethnic Chinese Christians who fled religious persecution in Indonesia, a Muslim-majority nation, in the 1990s and early 2000s and remained in the United States after overstaying their tourist visas.

N.J. attorney general: Grewal asks for federal review of immigration arrests at schools

More:Children of detained immigrants in NJ meet with lawmakers in Washington

GoFundMe fairy tale: Prosecutor says South Jersey couple, homeless vet bilked public

The pair were detained by ICE officers the morning of Jan. 25 after they dropped their children off at school. The men, each of whom has two children, were held at the Essex County jail, which has a contract with ICE to hold federal immigration detainees. After the arrests, ICE said in a statement that an immigration judge had issued orders of removal for the men that were later upheld by the Board of Immigration Appeals.

Days later, the New Jersey chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union, filed a class-action lawsuit to stop their deportation. U.S. District Judge Esther Salas in Newark issued a temporary restraining order stopping ICE from deporting several undocumented Indonesian Christians while she reviewed their request for a second chance at asylum.

Kaper-Dale, whose church has provided sanctuary to Indonesians who have been ordered deported, said the lawsuit helped keep Liem and Sangar in the United States, but it couldn’t get them out of detention. They had to wait for a bond hearing for a chance at release. 

“There was nothing they could do,’’ he said. 

Story continues after video

Kaper-Dale, who has been an immigration advocate for years and has helped others facing deportation, said he still doesn't understand the "ins and outs of why somebody is detained, and why somebody is released." 

"These folks were harmless before, and they are still harmless,'' he said. "I've walked through this with hundreds of families, and yet it doesn’t seem like there is a cookie-cutter approach, partly because there have been different administrations." 

"What I do understand is that it’s a really good thing when children are reconnected with their fathers,'' he added. "I'm glad this nightmare is over. I’m so grateful to know that these four children who have been languishing and waiting don’t have to do that anymore."

The day Sanger and Liem were picked up by ICE, a third Indonesian citizen, Harry Pangemanan of Highland Park, was supposed to be detained. Pangemanan was backing out of his driveway in his car when he saw an unmarked car, and ran back inside his house. He then called Kaper-Dale, who picked Pangemanan up and took him to the church, where he joined three other Indonesian Christians who sought sanctuary there at the time. 

Pangemanan had been honored for helping hundreds of New Jersey property owners rebuild their homes after Superstorm Sandy.  

The arrest and the decision that others made to take sanctuary led Gov. Phil Murphy to visit the church and talk to some of the men living there at the time. 

Advocates also organized prayer vigils and protests in support of the men. Their children, some of whom are U.S. citizens, also traveled to Washington to meet with federal lawmakers to generate support for their fathers' release. 

Email: alvarado@northjersey.com