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Immigration officers challenge longtime Saranac Lake resident

SARANAC LAKE — U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers took a longtime local resident away from home in shackles Wednesday morning.

After that, the two sides of the story diverge.

Adem Bukva, a native of Bosnia, said the officers drove him to Champlain, 80 miles away, where they questioned him and realized his immigration papers were in order after all. He said they gave him back his permanent resident card, aka Green Card, which is up to date, and told him to call his girlfriend to pick him up. He said there is no change to his immigration status as a result of the incident, and he added that some of the officers apologized to him afterward.

“They said, ‘I’m sorry. We were just doing our job. Sorry to upset your daughter,'” Bukva said.

“I feel bad those ICE guys had to be there because it was a waste of their time and, quite frankly, a waste of our taxpayer money,” said his girlfriend Lillian Cavallo.

ICE, however, says the man they picked up in Saranac Lake Wednesday morning may be deported.

“I can tell you it wasn’t a mistake,” said ICE spokesman Khaalid Walls, based in Detroit. “He was placed in removal proceedings. He will have a hearing before an immigration judge in the near term.”

The Enterprise has independently verified that Bukva was the arrestee, but Walls would not confirm his name or describe the alleged violation, citing privacy rights.

“Immigration records are not matter of public record,” Walls wrote. “For individuals who are facing administrative immigration violations only, we are only at liberty to release limited information. … For individuals who are facing criminal charges, there’s more information available.”

The Privacy Act of 1974 is one law that prevents the federal government from openly discussing an individual’s status without that person’s written permission. It has 12 exceptions, including law enforcement — for criminal matters, for example — but not immigration.

Walls did add, “The male subject has prior convictions for acting in a manner injurious to a child less than 17 years-old, assault 3rd degree with intent to cause physical injury, and has had two orders of protection issued against him.” While Walls made a point of mentioning those misdemeanors in relation to this arrest, he did not specify how they related to the violation.

“Our operations are targeted and lead driven, prioritizing individuals who pose a risk to our communities,” Walls added.

Bukva said one of the misdemeanors dates to 2005 and the other was from 2014. He said U.S. immigration officials are well aware of them, and his probation is over.

“I was actually in the immigration office in late February,” he said. He said he is seeking to be naturalized as a U.S. citizen and was told that he would have to start his application over due to the misdemeanors. Otherwise, he said, everything seemed to be in order.

Bukva was born in Bosnia and immigrated to the U.S. in 2001, coming to the Saranac Lake-Lake Placid area, which has a substantial community of Bosnian and Montenegrin immigrants. An electrician by trade, he said he has worked for North Country Electrical Services for 14 years and is now going into business for himself. Divorced with custody of his two daughters, he said that when the ICE officers showed up at his home, he was just leaving for Boston to see the older girl’s college art show. His younger daughter and Cavallo, who live with him and were going to Boston with him, witnessed the scene. They spoke on speaker phone while driving to Boston Wednesday evening.

“Obviously seeing your parent taken into custody in shackles like he’s public enemy number one is ridiculous … humiliating and embarrassing and, quite frankly, very scary,” Cavallo said.

“As far as the arrest,” Walls wrote, “this arrest and all enforcement activities are conducted with the same level of professionalism and respect that ICE officers exhibit every day during the course of their work.”

Ere Cecunjanin, a Bosnian native who owns La Bella Ristorante with his family, was unaware ICE had taken Bukva. He said he knows Bukva well as a friend and a fellow emigre from the Bosnian war.

“I know 100 percent he is here legally in this country,” Cecunjanin said.

Cavallo said Bukva has “been nothing but an upstanding citizen.” While she didn’t blame the officers, she said ICE is scaring people all over the country with demonstrations of force for checkups that could be handled with phone calls or better record-keeping.

“They have very old records, but that didn’t stop them from sending out a squad,” she said. “This is going on around the country. This isn’t just Saranac Lake. … We were just victims of that misunderstanding.”

One of President Donald Trump’s first orders upon taking office in January was to expand ICE agents’ power to arrest and deport undocumented immigrants, moving well beyond President Barack Obama’s focus on serious criminals such as gang members. Bukva, however, says he’s in the U.S. legally as a permanent resident, so it’s unclear whether Trump’s new guidelines have anything to do with his case.

Meanwhile, Bukva said the incident left him feeling confused and embarrassed.

“I don’t know what my crime is,” he said.

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