The deportation of Witold K. from Connecticut was suspended at the very last moment and hours before his wife gave birth to their second child. 

"Unfortunately, Witold will not be able to be there when his child is born; however, we are hoping that he will be released in a couple of days," said Tomasz Kwiatkowski, an immigration lawyer who is handling Witold's case. 

Originally, Witold had a few days left before his deportation; however, immigration authorities decided to speed up the process.  A day and a half before the planned delivery of the baby (owing to pregnancy complications, Witold's wife, Bożena, was scheduled for a Caesarean Section on Tuesday morning), Witold was removed from the detention center in North Dartmouth, MA, where he had stayed from the moment he was arrested by ICE, and was transported to another immigration prison in Boston, MA. From there he was going to be taken to the airport in New York. 

The couple has lived in the United States out of status for over 10 years, and Witold had a prior deportation order. A couple of weeks ago he was arrested in their Connecticut home. Bożena was told she would also be deported, however owing to her being in an advanced stage of pregnancy, she was not detained with her husband and allowed to remain home. The couple also has a 5-year-old son. Bożena also suffers from a serious hearing defect.  

In order to lift the deportation order, Witold's lawyer first had to file a motion to open the original case. This wasn't possible until Monday though, the day before the scheduled c-section.  

"Then I was assured by the immigration officer that the deportation would be put on hold. Today (Tuesday morning) the officer told me that since we petitioned his release on humanitarian basis he forwarded it to his superior with a recommendation that Witold be let out. At this point, we still don't know whether he would indeed be allowed  to leave prison," said Mr. Kwiatkowski, who previously filed two humanitarian petitions, backed by the Polish Consulate in New York, on behalf of Witold asking the authorities to release him because of the family situation. 

For the time being, Witold has been brought back to the detention center in North Dartmouth and some distant relatives will help his wife in the days after the delivery.  

"I still cannot believe that all this is happening when I am having my child," said Bożena on Monday night, a couple of hours before the delivery. "I lack words to describe the stress I am going through right now," she added. 

Witold's and Bożen's story has met with a lot of interest among the readers of Nowy Dziennik, and many have offered help.