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The Guatemalan seafood worker detained by immigration agents last week in New Bedford has begun receiving dialysis treatment while in federal custody, his lawyer confirmed.
Marvin Yobani Chitic Us, 30, an undocumented worker with no criminal record in Massachusetts, was taken into custody early on May 12 before his shift at Oceans Fleet, where he processed scallops. He has been awaiting a kidney transplant for three years and requires dialysis three times a week.
Justo Rufino Chitic Us, who also worked at Oceans Fleet, was arrested alongside Marvin. His current whereabouts remain unclear.
Marvin’s lawyer, Stephen Lagana, said his client was initially held in Boston and was recently transferred to the Buffalo Federal Detention Facility in Batavia, N.Y. Lagana said he spoke with Marvin by phone this week and confirmed that he is now receiving dialysis.
Lagana did not specify what charges Marvin is facing, but confirmed that he is not being prosecuted for re-entry.
“We have requested a credible fear hearing and he will be applying for asylum,” he said. “He doesn’t have a hearing date yet.”
A credible fear hearing is an early step in the asylum process that helps decide whether someone has a real reason to fear going back to their country of origin and therefore should be allowed to apply for protection in the U.S.
Lagana said he also filed a request for Marvin’s release on medical grounds while Marvin was detained in Boston and refiled the request after his transfer to Batavia. He expects a response next week.
The arrest has sparked concern among family members, coworkers, and immigrant advocates, who spent days trying to locate the two men.
Corinn Williams, executive director of New Bedford’s Community Economic Development Center, expressed concern about the facility where Marvin is being held.
“I remember working with other people who had been sent there. It’s an awful detention facility,” she said. “The reality is he needs to be closer to his medical providers.”
Marvin’s family continues to advocate for his release so he can recover at home with his wife and 3-month-old daughter.
One of Marvin’s brothers, Pedro Chitic Us, said the family is deeply concerned about Marvin’s health.
Pedro also expressed concern about Marvin being moved from one facility to another.
“He told me yesterday afternoon that they were going to move him again,” he said. “We can’t do anything — just wait and see what happens.”
Marvin and Justo are among at least 25 immigrants confirmed by The Light to have been arrested in immigration operations in New Bedford since the beginning of President Donald Trump’s second term.
Email Eleonora Bianchi at ebianchi@newbedfordlight.org
The cruelty is the point. Instead of focusing on real human concerns, instead of focusing on the fact that housing costs are through the roof, the fact that we have a mental health crisis, where folks are more atomized and lonelier than ever, the politicians at the very top — backed by extremist special interests — would rather have you believe that folks like Marvin Yobani Chitic Us are to blame for this. They blame the poor foreigner over there instead of the billions monopolized by their elite donors.