On April 15, 2025, Kasper Eriksen was attending what he believed to be a citizenship hearing, anticipating his dream of becoming an American citizen. He hailed from Sturgis, Mississippi, where he was a proud foreman by trade and a devoted family man, sharing his life with his wife, Savannah, and their four children. But the day took an unexpected turn when Eriksen, a native of Denmark, was suddenly arrested by ICE officials at the hearing – a day that began in hope, changed to despair inside a Memphis, Tennessee immigration office.
Kasper Eriksen’s life was normal; he lived with his wife and four children on a family farm in Sturgis, Mississippi, where he also led a team of welders. But that image of a serene family man was shattered in a moment, replaced by the harsh reality of him being a detainee bound in shackles, seated on the hard white benches of a detention vehicle headed towards an undisclosed location.
His destination was the Central Louisiana ICE Processing Center, also known as the LaSalle Detention Center, located in Jena, Louisiana. Accompanying him was a motley group of individuals – about a dozen detainees who, as him, had seen their lives change drastically and were now facing an uncertain future.
Kasper’s tale is distinct because he was not implicated in any unlawful activities. His history was spotless, the only issue being the absence of a key document, Form I-751, from his immigration file. Form I-751, a Petition to Remove Conditions on Residence, had not been filed due to a tragic event – the stillbirth of the Eriksens’ first child, the grief of which caused this essential form to slip past their attention, leading to the consequent legal complications.
Even after ten years of correspondence with immigration officials, during which the unfinished business of I-751 was never addressed, Kasper’s naturalization process continued unabated. He was blindsided when, out of nowhere, the immigration authorities issued a deportation order against him. The root cause turned out to be the missing I-751 and the 2019 removal order, which was issued without the Eriksens successfully being notified.
Now, Kasper’s wife Savannah, six months pregnant with their fifth child, faces the distressing uncertainty of not knowing when her husband will return, or if he will be deported. Their future hangs in balance, as they await news from the LaSalle Detention Center.
Inside the center, Kasper discovered a diverse group of detainees. He encountered people from various backgrounds who, like him, found themselves shackled due to technicalities like expired visas or mere bureaucratic miscommunication. Their dreams of becoming American citizens constantly thwarted by elusive paperwork or overlooked formalities.
This situation is by no means unique to Kasper, according to Austin Kocher, assistant professor at Syracuse University. He noted that the increase in such stories under the current administration had been precipitous. He further pointed out that private prison companies like GEO Group were mainly handling these cases, resulting in their stocks skyrocketing following the recent electoral victory.
The emotional toll of Kasper’s detention on his family is immeasurable, but there’s also a significant financial burden. The expenses related to his legal proceedings have already run into tens of thousands of dollars, an incredible strain on an ordinary family’s resources.
As an attempt to manage the crushing financial strain, the family initiated a GoFundMe campaign. Their plight struck a chord with the public, and they have managed to raise over $18,000 to date. They still struggle with the constant expense – even staying in touch with Kasper comes with a high cost, incurring additional pressure on their limited funds.
Slowly, the children are being drawn into the realities of their father’s situation, a reality that is slowly eroding their optimism. Their young minds are grappling how their father, who they knew as a loving family man, has now become a detainee, facing the uncertain prospect of deportation.
However, ICE spokesperson Lindsey Williams stressed that ICE only played a minimal part in the chain of events that led to Kasper Eriksen’s arrest and possible deportation. The convoluted incident began with a single missing document and unraveled into an order of arrest, with most developments in the situation being handled by USCIS. According to Williams, ICE came into the picture solely to effect a removal as mandated.
Williams further added that under the new administration, detentions and deportations of immigrants were likely to escalate drastically. The process that involves legal hearings before final deportations is laborious and slow, but it is an emerging trend on a national scale.