Judge rules Ann Arbor father facing deportation allowed to stay

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A father of four wins his battle to stay in the U.S. after being locked up and and nearly deported to Jordan.

The Ann Arbor community has been rallying behind his family since his arrest January 30.

Yousef Ajin is a Jordanian citizen born in Kuwait, who came to the U.S. as a legal permanent resident in 1999.

In January, this husband, father and Uber driver went in for his routine immigration check-in, but never came back.

The community gathered outside immigration court, bafing together after Ajin's 15-year-old daughter Betoul shared her family's story with the community high school newspaper.

She explained how she and her two sisters were caring for her severely disabled brother while their mom went back to work because their dad was in jail.

"My brother is disabled. It's something very important to him to have my dad around," she said.

Ajin was detained because of a shoplifting conviction in 2003 and using a stolen credit card in 2001.

He pled guilty and served probation for both crimes and has committed no crimes since.

So why now, with a disabled son and family to care for, was he facing deportation?

The immigration judge, David Paruch, found that the Ajin family would suffer extreme hardship if Yousef was deported, citing his disabled son, Bedar, who is 15 but can't speak and is still in diapers.

While Bedar may not know his father is coming home, the rest of the family is ecstatic.

"I'm so excited. I can't breathe," Betoul said. "My mom came out crying and it was the best feeling ever. ... If my dad were to leave it would change my whole life."

"I'm very happy because of his family. He needs him. We need him around his kids," said Issa Isaa, Yousef's cousin. "The judge is wonderful. He's a good man. I appreciate everyone showing up and the support, and God bless the U.S."