On Thursday morning in U.S. Immigration Court, Gary Kabeya, a 24-year-old asylum seeker from the Democratic Republic of Congo, was granted release on $7,500 bond.
Kabeya is known in Buffalo for volunteering at several organizations across the city, including GoBike Buffalo, Friends Feeding Friends and through several programs at his church, the Buffalo Dream Center.
He was originally taken into ICE custody and detained at the facility in Batavia at the end of October.
Judge Lena Golovnin said that the court determined he is not a danger to the community, adding “in fact, it appears he participates in the community where he resides.” The judge also mentioned the “overwhelming community support” present at the court proceeding, which Golovnin believes supports that he is not a flight risk.
Kabeya's uncle, who he had been living with in Buffalo, attended the virtual meeting, along with many supporters. Kabeya had moved in with his uncle after conflict broke out in the Democratic Republic of Congo. Kabeya had been in the US on a student visa studying English, but when the conflict broke out, he lost touch with his parents.
His parents are now presumed deceased. Unable to pay school costs due to the work limitations of a student visa, but also unable to return to the DRC, Kabeya applied for asylum.
In court, Kabeya said he had attended school for roughly a year and a half. In the US, asylum typically has to be applied for within a year of entering the country. However, according to US law, exemptions can be made to the one-year rule if the applicant can demonstrate "either the existence of changed circumstances which materially affect the applicant’s eligibility for asylum or extraordinary circumstances relating to the delay in filing an application."
After Kabeya's bond hearing the court held a removal proceeding. Removal proceedings are held when the Department of Homeland Security seeks to remove a noncitizen from the country. A representative for DHS said in the proceeding that it is recommending the Congo as the country Kabeya would be sent to, if he is ultimately deported.
Kabeya's attorney stated his I-589, or Application for Asylum and for Withholding of Removal, will be updated before his next court date, which is currently scheduled for December 2. His attorney said they will argue for an exemption to the one-year rule.
A representative from GoBike told BTPM NPR that in addition to a GoFundMe raising nearly $30,000 for legal fees and bond for Kabeya, many community members had been visiting and sending letters of support.
ICE action in New York state, such as arrests, saw a significant surge starting in June of this year. Arrest numbers more than doubled from May to June, rising to 1,374 according to data from the Deportation Data Project and analyzed by fellow NPR-member station WXXI News.
