SARANAC LAKE - The incarceration of a local business owner and father has many in the community concerned and hoping he is able to return safely to his family, but according to officials, this is unlikely.

Paresh Prajapati, a citizen of India who, with his wife Pragna, own the E&M Market on Broadway, was picked up on Sept. 25 by a fugitive operations team, part of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, and is currently being held without bail in the Clinton County Jail in Plattsburgh. The couple has two children, one at St. Bernard's Elementary and the other at Saranac Lake Middle School.

"He was ordered removed in October 1999 by an immigration judge in Buffalo and given until February of 2000 to deport voluntarily," said Mike Gilhooley, spokesman for ICE. "He refused to do that and defied the judge's orders and became a fugitive."

Gilhooley said he did not know why the judge ordered that Prajapati be deported. But many locals seem to believe there has been an error somewhere and they hope this is all a mistake.

"I think it must just be a tragic misunderstanding," said Barbara Kent, who has been cooking at E and M Market for 30 years. She said the Prajapatis have owned the business for two years or so. "This is just so hard on the family; you can see the effect it's having on the children. How would you like it to come home from school to find out your dad had been ripped away to jail?"

According to Gilhooley, Prajapati will remain in jail until his deportation, which Gilhooley said has not been scheduled.

"We'll apply for a travel document from his country of citizenship, and generally a consulate from that country would want to interview him in person or by phone to say, 'Yes, this is our citizen,'" Gilhooley said.

Once deported, Prajapati will be barred from the U.S. for five years, after which he can apply for a visa to return.

Nicole Darrah, who works at Wayne Darrah Autobody in Saranac Lake and frequents the popular lunch stop, said everybody at the body shop is concerned for Prajapati.

"He's a super-nice guy, and I don't know if he just forgot about the paperwork, but it's really just a shame," she said. "We support him 100 percent up here, though."

But Gilhooley said Prajapati's case is not an issue of misfiled paperwork or a forgetful mind.

"He's had his due process, and we're going to move ahead as expeditiously as possible with his removal," Gilhooley said. "He's been able to elude us for eight years as a fugitive."

Prajapati's lawyer, Kimberly Finnigan, a former Saranac Laker who now works in Albany, issued a statement that read, "His attorneys are investigating the matter and pursuing appropriate legal remedies. The merits of his case will be examined in accordance with applicable immigration law."

According to Mike Phillips, an ICE field officer, Prajapati has no appeal rights.

"You have 30 days after the judge gives his orders to file an appeal and if you don't do it in those 30 days, you waive those rights," Phillips said.

Phillips said that it seems that Prajapati's deportation is imminent, "but it's good that he's got an immigration lawyer so if there's something they can do, they'll do it."

Prajapati's wife has refused to comment on the issue, citing advice from their lawyer that it could cause possible complications with the case.

However, she did say that she appreciates the community's concern during this time.

"You can call anybody in the phone book, and they'd be supportive of him. He treated everybody like family," Kent said. "The community is behind him, and he needs to know that. Because Pragna's here, she sees the concern. He doesn't get to see it."

Contact Emily Hunkler at 891-2600 ext. 24 or ehunkler@adirondackdaily

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