April (West) Alvarenga, 36, says she grew up in New Lebanon and lives there today. She has been together with Antonio Alvarenga, 44, for several years, living in Dayton, Fairborn and now back in New Lebanon.
Legal documents from Montgomery County show the couple were married this past New Year’s Eve. But April says for years, Antonio has treated her four kids, age 11-19, as his own — getting them ready for school, letting them pick out something special at the store, celebrating birthdays and doing all the things a good father does.
April acknowledges Antonio came to the United States illegally in 2015 but says there was a strong reason for that, which she said could lead to an asylum claim. It’s related to the unique situation that helped put him in the feds’ spotlight last month, leading FBI and immigration agents to flood April and Antonio’s Perry Street home on March 3 to arrest him.
“I may never ever get the chance to talk to him again if he goes to El Salvador. How am I supposed to explain that to my kids?” April said. “Their hopes are still up that he’s going to come home to them. I don’t want to have to explain to them that he’s gone and we’re never going to see or hear from him again.”
A local Homeland Security Investigations agent learned Feb. 26 that Antonio Alvarenga was living in New Lebanon with April and her kids, despite an August 2012 deportation. A key note came along with it — Antonio was the subject of an Interpol “Red Notice” indicating that he is a fugitive from El Salvador connected to a 2001 homicide, according to a federal agent’s affidavit. Interpol is the International Criminal Police Organization.
Trump’s immigration czar Tom Homan said this year that the administration would begin deporting undocumented immigrants, starting with people who were threats to public safety and national security.
Here’s the twist: April says Antonio was arrested for that crime in El Salvador in 2012, and that a court proceeding cleared him. She showed the Dayton Daily News the large Spanish-language court file, along with notarized translations of El Salvadoran court records, calling his arrest a case of mistaken identity, because the person actually wanted for the crime shared Alvarenga’s name.
The court document translations that April presented say Antonio Alvarenga’s physical characteristics didn’t match the person wanted for the homicide, and that in 2012 he was ruled “free to go, without prejudice.”
But the Interpol website never took down the “Red Notice.”
Asked about the issue Monday, Interpol officials said from their headquarters in France that, “It is the member country requesting the Red Notice which is responsible for providing updates on any case.”
An Interpol spokesperson did say there is a process via which anyone who believes a Red Notice is in error can request correction or deletion of the information. Notified of that information Monday, April Alvarenga said she would follow that procedure.
Interpol officials may also seek clarification on the case from El Salvadoran officials.
The Dayton Daily News also asked ICE and Homeland Security officials whether they were aware of the questions about the Interpol notice.
An ICE spokesperson said they could only refer the questions to El Salvadoran authorities. ICE would not give a specific agency in El Salvador that they deal with, and the Dayton Daily News has not yet been able to reach the appropriate legal representatives for this case in that country.
Asked whether a change in the Interpol information would affect ICE’s handling of Alvarenga’s case, ICE officials said all aliens in violation of U.S. immigration law may be subject to removal from the country, and that Alvarenga is currently being prosecuted for illegal reentry after deportation.
Alvarenga’s family has not argued that he entered the country legally, but said he left El Salvador post-2012 in part because of continuing persecution because he had exactly the same name as the man wanted in the homicide case.
After Alvarenga was arrested, U.S. Magistrate Judge Caroline Gentry ruled that detention was warranted pending trial.
As of Monday, Antonio Alvarenga remained in the Butler County jail on a “Hold for Fed” charge description, according to the jail roster. The federal agent’s affidavit said Alvarenga violated Title 8, Section 1326(a) of U.S. Code regarding illegal aliens found in the U.S. after deportation.
April didn’t deny that Antonio was here illegally. She said he came back to the U.S. in part because of so much negative publicity in El Salvador since a fugitive for homicide shared his first, middle and last names.
She said he also came for the same reason so many others come to the United States — to try to make a better life for themselves. And like so many others, she said he did so without spending the money and waiting the years it can take to see if U.S. immigration officials will say yes.
Now April Alvarenga and her close friend Heather Gruber are trying to stop Antonio’s deportation — talking to public defenders and other immigration attorneys, contacting Interpol and others to try to clear up the “Red Notice” issue, raising money for attorneys … and just trying to hold it together.
It’s been three weeks since federal agents surrounded their home on Perry Street, handcuffed April and stuck her in a vehicle, refusing to tell her what was going on, while they grabbed Antonio.
April has been able to talk to Antonio on the phone in recent days and to visit him in the Butler County Jail. She said the frequently changing details of the legal proceeding make it hard to know what will happen from day to day. The court docket shows no action since March 7. April believes Antonio may have to serve six weeks before ICE will get more directly involved.
April says on their calls, Antonio frequently cries and keeps telling her he’s sorry and that he loves her. But Gruber said he says something else too — “don’t give up on this case.”
April Alvarenga says the irony of Antonio being detained and charged with illegal immigration is that he’s the reason she, an American citizen all her life, became a better person.
She admitted that some of her New Lebanon neighbors disliked her when she was younger and in wild, dramatic relationships. She said they like her more now, and that they love Antonio, who brought her stability — “the best thing that’s ever happened to me.”
Amid societal concerns about immigrants’ drain on American society, April says she and her children had been on food stamps, but were able to get off that program because Antonio, a roofer, made enough money to support them.
April is a state-tested nursing assistant (STNA), but is unable to work currently because she had a seizure while on the job. She said she’s now back on assistance as she cares for her children, two of whom have special needs.
Asked why Antonio deserves to stay in the United States given that appears to have violated immigration law to get here, April didn’t hesitate. She said he was fleeing persecution, pursuing a better life, couldn’t afford the money and years of time to attempt legal immigration channels, and proved once he got here that he would work hard, raise a family and contribute to society.
Others who take a harder line on immigration law will certainly disagree. And the Alvarengas' court case may be an uphill battle — illegally reentering the United States is a federal crime punishable by up to two years in prison.
April Alvarenga is not giving up.
“This is my man. When I found him, and I saw how my kids took to him, nothing else mattered,” she said. “… They could offer me a million dollars, or anything in the world. But all I would ask for is for them to let him come back to me and my kids.”
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