NEWTON, MASS. (WHDH) - A vigil was held Wednesday night in Newton for a man facing deportation.
Rigoberto Mendez’s future is unknown and could crumble in just six weeks. The Newton father is being deported from the country he has called home for 27 years, leaving behind his two boys and wife who is battling brain cancer.
“It’s very sad. I am going to leave my family behind, something I would never like to see in my life,” he said.
The Newton community came together for Mendez, who left Guatemala and entered the U.S. undocumented in 1991.
“I am so proud of my town,” he said. “Without them, I do not know how I can do this.”
Mendez’s attorney, Victor Maldonado, says they have exhausted every legal option, filing appeal after appeal, only to be denied.
“He is an amazing dad,” Maldonado said. “He is the guy that has three jobs, that barely sleeps, anchor to his wife. This is the guy you would like to have as your neighbor.”
The Horace Mann School community, where Mendez’s 9-year-old son goes to school, expressed their support, along with Newton residents.
Mendez’s oldest son, Roberto, has been helping his father support the family and taking his mother to her cancer treatments. The 18-year-old will be the first in his family to attend college in the fall, and he’ll do so on a full scholarship.
“If worse comes to worse (with) my dad, then I will drop out of school,” Roberto Felipe said. “I hope it does not come to that.”
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