Updated: ICE Grants Germantown Family One-Year Reprieve

(Updated 1:36 p.m.) Jorge Steven Acuña-Mendez will be allowed to remain in the United States with his parents, Blanca Susana Mendez-Pinto and Jorge Acuña, and finish his studies at Montgomery College under a one-year "stay of a removal," a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement spokeswoman told Patch on Wednesday. 

The Germantown family was released from U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement custody on Tuesday, a decision made by an ICE field office in Baltimore, according to ICE spokeswoman Nicole Navas. 

The Acuñas were being held at  a federal detention center on the Eastern Shore, spurring an outpouring of support from politicians and local government leaders.

The family is expected to attend a rally 3:30 p.m. today in Rockville Town Square.

(original) A Germantown family has been released from a federal detention center on the Eastern Shore, where they were being held for possible immigration violations, officials from CASA de Maryland announced Tuesday evening.

Patch was unable to obtain further details about the nature of the Acuña family’s release. CASA spokeswoman Susana Flores could not be reached by phone Tuesday night.

Jorge Acuña was listed as “Not In Custody” in the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s online detainee locator system Tuesday night. A search for Jorge Steven Acuña and Blanca Acuña did not return results.

Montgomery College student Jorge Steven Acuña, 19, and his parents, Blanca and Jorge Acuña Sr., had been at a detention facility in Worcester County since late last week.

Acuña, a 2011 graduate of , was brought over to the United States from Colombia when he was a child. But it is unclear whether Acuña and his parents were residing in the United States legally.

When reached by phone Tuesday afternoon, a spokeswoman for the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement was unable to discuss the Acuña family’s case or what may have led to their detainment due to privacy laws and other legal limitations. CASA says the family was taken into custody after their years-long application for asylum was denied.

What began as an intention to spread awareness about the Acuñas’ detainment via #JSA-tagged tweets, Facebook fans and an online petition — which has gained more than 5,000 signatures as of Tuesday afternoon — transformed into a social media campaign that caught the attention of government officials. The Montgomery County Council issued a collective statement Monday in support of the family.

Now, the Acuñas are expected to participate in a rally that had been planned in their honor at Rockville Town Square at 3:30 p.m. today, Wednesday, March 14, according to CASA.

The focus of the rally will shift to the problems with the U.S. immigration system, organizers said Tuesday night.