Mississippi dad's 10-year-old mistake lands him in ICE detention after final citizenship interview
A Danish father living in Mississippi was detained by ICE during the final stage of his US citizenship process because of a decade-old paperwork error.
Kasper Juul Eriksen, 32, a father-of-four with another on the way, thought he was attending a routine citizenship appointment in Memphis, Tennessee on April 15.
Legally living in the US with his pregnant wife Savannah for more than 10 years, Kasper would have never imagined this meeting would end in misery.
Now, as his wife prepares to give birth to their fifth child, Erikson remains in legal limbo at an ICE detention center in Louisiana.
The welder first came to America as an exchange student in 2009, when he met the love of his life at a Starkville, Mississippi high school.
At the conclusion of his academic program, Kasper went back to Denmark for four years, maintaining a long-distance relationship with Savannah and planning to return to be with her.
In 2013, the young couple was reunited when Kasper got a welding job in Mississippi. The pair married the following year - finally getting the happily ever after they were patiently waiting for.
Since then, the green card holder has been working towards US naturalization for years - a process he and his wife believed was going flawlessly.
The US government sent Kasper a letter in September 2024, stating his application was being reviewed. No questions about his paperwork were asked, Savannah told Mississippi Today.
So when Kasper was swarmed by immigration agents at the April meeting, the couple was absolutely horrified.
Savannah was dismissed from the office with no explanation about why her husband was being taken into custody or where he was going, she claimed.
She spent the three-hour ride back to Sturgis, Mississippi panicked and afraid.
They were later informed 'Kasper was detained for a paperwork miscommunication from 2015,' Savannah told the outlet.
US Citizenship and Immigration Services found an error in Kasper's application for removal of conditions on his residency, which is a form immigrants fill out when marrying Americans.
Kasper, who has a clean record and steady job, was allegedly never told about any logistical discrepancies before he was torn away from his family last month.
'The next 24 hours would, without a doubt, (be) the most frightening and stressful I have ever experienced, as I pined for my husband and some kind of communication to confirm his safety and whereabouts,' the devastated wife said.
She later learned he was locked away at the LaSalle Detention Center in Jena, Louisiana.
Kasper's lawyers have been fiercely advocating for his release, arguing he was wrongfully detained.
'Kasper is a fully integrated, productive member of society,' Savannah told Mississippi Today.
'While Kasper embodies all the positive qualities of a hard-working man in pursuit of the American Dream, he never forgets his family and friends.
'He spends time with us and takes the time to give each of his children the attention and fatherly love they deserve.'
A judge must rule on the petition Kasper's lawyers filed for his freedom. But Savannah said there is no court date scheduled.
A GoFundMe created to support Kasper's family - as he his the household's sole provider - has raised more than $29,000 so far.
'As a homeschooling mother, we are completely dependent on Kasper's income. Legal fees are mounting as are living expenses with our sole provider being detained for over a month now,' Savannah wrote on the page.
During the first 100 days of Donald Trump's second presidential term, during which he vowed to crackdown on illegal immigration, more than 66,400 migrants have been arrested by ICE, the agency reports.
Roughly 65,700 have been removed from the country. The agency claims that three out of four arrests are criminals.
'The brave men and women of ICE protect our families, friends and neighbors by removing public safety and national security threats from our communities,' ICE acting Director Todd M. Lyons declared at the end of April.
'We're just 100 days into this administration and thanks to President Trump and Secretary Noem, ICE is using every tool at its disposal to enforce our country's immigration laws and protect our communities.'
United States Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem has championed Trump's crusade against illegal aliens, even warning migrants to leave the US before they are captured by ICE.
'President Trump has a clear message: if you are here illegally, we will find you and deport you,' she said in February.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Daily Mail
26 minutes ago
- Daily Mail
Long Island school nurse reassigned for wearing coat with three controversial letters during 'Superhero Day'
A New York nurse has been reassigned after allegedly dressing up as an ICE agent during a Superhero-themed fancy dress day at a largely Hispanic school. The employee, who has not been officially named, sparked fury among parents at Northwest Elementary School in Long Island by wearing a hat and jacket emblazoned with the controversial letters on Wednesday. Amityville Union Free School District said her outfit was 'perceived by some members of the school community as offensive or inappropriate in the educational setting'. 'The District takes all concerns related to the school environment seriously, particularly when they may impact students, staff, or families,' officials said. 'Upon learning of the situation, the staff member was immediately reassigned to a non-school setting pending a full review.' The district said it is investigating the 'personnel matter', and will not be providing any further details about the incident. Sixty percent of students enrolled at Northwest Elementary School for the 2023/2024 school year are Hispanic, according to the National Center for Education Statistics. Amityville residents and parents erupted in fury online, with several people calling the ICE costume 'disgusting', while others called for the nurse to be fired. 'I hope karma is swift and she loses her job,' one person said. 'This is so disgraceful on so many levels. I feel so broken.' Another woman said she was 'appalled' by the outfit. 'Her abhorrent behavior needs to be dealt with immediately,' she said of the nurse. 'Wow. Truly disgusting,' another woman wrote. 'Call the Amityville Superintendent's office and email the Board of Education to demand consequences for this school nurse - a disgrace to her profession.' It comes as tensions surrounding Donald Trump's sweeping immigration raids have reached a boiling point, with widespread unrest erupting across the country. Protests broke out in Los Angeles on Friday, in response to ICE agents allegedly detaining two truckloads of people at a manufacturing site in the California city. The demonstrations escalated into violence, looting and arson over the weekend, with several protesters also waving Mexican and Palestinian flags. Trump responded by mobilizing 4,000 National Guard members to quell the riots, along with 700 US Marines. LA Mayor Karen Bass also said a curfew had been put in place from 8pm until 6am in an effort to quell the unrest. 'If you drive through downtown LA, the graffiti is everywhere and has caused significant damages,' Bass said, adding that 29 businesses were looted on Monday night alone. Demonstrators have said that Trump's immigration raids are lacking due process, while breaking migrant families apart. The LA protests also inspired anti-ICE demonstrations in other cities including New York, Boston, Chicago, Dallas and Atlanta. Some rallies involved a few dozen people, while others attracted thousands.
Sky News
40 minutes ago
- Sky News
China strikes cautious tone after Trump claims trade deal is 'done'
China will "always honour its commitments" when it comes to negotiating trade disagreements with the US, according to a spokesperson for the Chinese government. But when pushed by Sky News, he refrained from confirming what those commitments are. The reluctance is at odds with President Trump, who declared on his Truth Social account that "our deal with China is done", while also claiming that China has agreed to supply rare earth metals to the US"upfront", and to a 55% tariff rate on its goods. The comments follow high-stakes talks between delegations from the two countries in London aimed at stabilising the relationship amid an escalating trade and supply chain war. China's refusal to confirm these details has raised speculation that, contrary to what the US side is claiming, there may still be significant disagreements and some details yet to be worked out. The continued silence comes after two days of negotiations between delegations from the US and China in the UK. While both sides confirmed that they had agreed a "framework" to implement the "consensus" reached at previous talks in Geneva last month, as well as during a phone call between President Xi and President Trump on 5 June, the delegations were supposed to be taking the agreement to their respective leaders for sign-off. When asked by Sky News if any of the details in Trump's Truth Social post reflected what China understood to be in the deal, Lin Jian, China's foreign ministry spokesperson said "the two sides achieved new progress in addressing the concerns on economic and trade issues". "We always honour our commitments. Since we've reached common understandings, the two sides need to follow them." 👉 Follow Trump100 on your podcast app 👈 When pushed by Sky News on whether China agrees with Trump's Truth Social assessment that the US-China relationship is "excellent", Lin declined to agree, saying simply: "Our position on relations with the United States has been consistent and clear". Such lukewarm language is not uncommon in China but there will likely be significant displeasure at the way Trump is unilaterally publishing details that may not yet have been officially signed off. It is in stark contrast to China's communication landscape which is highly scripted and controlled, and if it was designed to force China into an agreement it could well backfire. Indeed, if everything in Trump's Truth Social post is true it would represent quite a coup for the US, and that feels a little unlikely given the valuable bargaining chips China has, particularly over rare earth metals. 0:54 This will likely have been a crunch point in negotiations. China has the vast majority of the world's rare earth metals which are vital in the production of everything from cars to weaponry, and recent export controls imposed in response to Trump's tariffs have brought some production lines to the brink of standstill. In response, the Trump administration imposed extra export controls on high-tech chips, chip development technology and parts needed to make jet engines, as well as moving to revoke student visas for Chinese nationals. President Trump indicated in his Truth Social post that the measures to revoke visas will be rowed back. When pushed by Sky News, Lin refrained from commenting on whether Trump's communications on this matter have undermined the relationship more broadly, but the stakes remain enormously high, with the unfolding supply chain war set to do significant damage to the economies of both nations.
Daily Mail
40 minutes ago
- Daily Mail
Washington Spanish teacher fired by high school for saying n-word while reading To Kill A Mockingbird to class
A Spanish teacher has been fired after reading a passage from To Kill A Mockingbird to his class that included the n-word. Matthew Mastronardi, who worked at West Valley High School in Spokane, Washington, had overheard students discussing the classic Harper Lee novel in his classroom when he was asked to read a passage aloud, which included the n-word. His students, according to Mastronardi, said they skipped over the controversial slur within the text as per another teacher's instructions. 'I was astonished and expressed disagreement, saying, "That's silly; it undermines the book's historical context and disrespects the author's intent to use accurate language,"' the teacher wrote on X. To Kill A Mockingbird tells the story of a white lawyer defending a black man accused of raping a white woman in 1930s Alabama and deals heavily with racist abuse suffered by blacks in the south. After Mastronardi slated the students for censoring themselves, one spoke up to ask the teacher he would read every word, including the n-word. Mastronardi said he would. 'A male student immediately handed me the book and said, "Okay do it,"' he continued. 'I knew the situation was serious with 30 students watching...I saw it as a teachable moment about context and literary honesty in reading.' Mastronardi read the book out loud to his class, specifically a passage that included the n-word, but he had 'no idea' that he was being recorded by a student. While it remains unclear if the recording was reported to school officials or if it received any complaints, Mastronardi was pulled in to discuss the matter with Principal Ryan Mulvey. The Spanish teacher said in the meeting that he 'acted in good faith with the desire to serve students.' 'Furthermore, I believe what I read was not to stir trouble but to deliver value. My conscience is clean and as stated in policy, this is a free exchange of ideas, which is what I was trying to perpetuate,' Mastronardi said. 'Teaching kids they can interact with a text honestly and intimidation should not be used to prevent that. I was asked to read it and so I did.' Then, on April 28, he was given a letter with a verbal warning. Mulvey wrote that Mastronardi had engaged in 'unprofessional communication' with his students. He determined that Mastronardi had 'failed to communicate in a civil manner, failed to maintain an atmosphere conducive to learning by consistently maintaining professional boundaries, and did not maintain the highest professional standards.' The verbal warning declared that the teacher had violated the Districts Civility and Professional Staff Student Boundaries policy and ordered him to refrain from using the language again. On May 6, Mastronardi was called for a meeting with the Human Resources Director Sabre Dahl and Principal Mulvey during which he was informed he could 'either voluntarily resign or face the non-renewal' of his contract. Mastronardi, however, argued his case and wrote to rebuke the warning. 'This rebuttal is necessary because the actions taken against me are wholly unjustified... It is not uncivil, nor unprofessional to read a passage from a school approved novel,' he wrote. 'Words should not be skipped over simply because they make us uncomfortable, especially when the usage is essential to describe and understand the historical context.' Then, come May 8, Mastronardi was served with a non-renewal notice by Superintendent Kyle Rydell which claimed the teacher exercised 'poor judgement' and that the school had concerns for his 'ability to serve as a positive role model.' Mastronardi wrote on X that he requested evidence for the claims listed, 'but none was provided.' As the battle for his job continued, the Spanish teacher met with the superintendent to 'urge reconsideration.' 'During the meeting, they repeatedly stated the decision wasn't solely due to the TKAM incident,' he wrote. 'When I asked, "What other reasons contributed to my termination?" they provided no specifics.' Mastronardi further claimed there had been 'no parent complaints, no documented disciplinary actions, and I've passed every teaching evaluation.' 'The superintendent admitted relying on "hearsay" for part of his decision. Two union representatives, taking notes, attested to this.' Yet, it was still recommended his contract not be renewed. 'My students are very upset,' Mastronardi wrote. One freshman student even took it upon himself to create a petition in support of the teacher. 'He's a really good teacher,' the student, Payton Johnson, told Frontlines. 'He was just reading out of the book. He wasn't saying it to anyone or, like, in a rude manner.' The petition calls for the school to reinstate Mastronardi and said the 'beloved educator' is 'unjustly facing termination over a misunderstanding.' 'This decision strikes at the heart of educational integrity and the role educators play in exposing students to important historical contexts that foster critical thinking,' the petition said. 'We urge the administrative body of West Valley High School and the wider Spokane education authorities to reconsider this course of action. 'Not only is this decision detrimental to a well-regarded teacher's career, but it also diminishes the richness of the educational experience provided to students by limiting exposure to important, albeit challenging, literature.' The petition garnered a total of 654 signatures come Thursday morning. A GiveSendGo was created by the Spanish teacher to help his family through the transition period, with a large portion intended to be donated to support educational efforts toward free speech. Mastronardi, a husband and father of 'three beautiful children,' is set to plead his case at a board meeting on June 25. 'This is my final appeal to save my job,' he wrote.
