Michigan Doctor Detained By ICE Given $10,000 Bail

A Michigan doctor arrested by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) was approved for release on a $10,000 bail Wednesday. The man who has been in the U.S. since he was a child and who his family said is a legal permanent resident faces deportation over a set of crimes dating back to 1992.

Lukasz Niec, 43, was arrested by ICE Jan. 16 on suspicion of administrative immigration violations. People who aren’t yet naturalized citizens are still eligible for deportation for crimes of “moral perpitude.”

“[Niec is] amenable to removal proceedings as a result of two 1992 state convictions for malicious destruction of property and receiving stolen property, both of which are crimes involving moral turpitude,” ICE told CNN in a statement.

Crimes of moral turpitude are crimes against other people, according to ICE, including things like assault and fraud.

Niec’s family has said those crimes, committed when he was 17, have been expunged from his record after completing a rehabilitation program. Niec entered the country legally at age 5.

Niec also has two drunk driving incidents on his record. He was convicted of driving while intoxicated in 1999 and served a probation term for a similar incident in 2008. Part of Niec’s bail release is that he is forbidden from drinking alcohol. Niec and his wife were investigated for child abuse in 2017, but state police did not turn up enough evidence to warrant a case, according to CNN.

Niec of Kalamazoo, Michigan, has been a physician for Bronson Healthcare for over ten years, according to Michigan Live.

Niec’s arrest comes amid increased immigration enforcement under the Trump administration. President Donald Trump has made border security and immigration policies a point of emphasis during his first year in office.

ICE did not respond to multiple requests for comment from International Business Times.

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