A notable coffee farmer in Hawaii was granted an extension on his deportation after being defended by a federal judge, NBC News reported.
Andres Magana Ortiz had boarded his plane to Washington Thursday to turn himself in to immigration authorities to honor a removal order. But in a last-minute turn, federal officials granted him 30 more days in the country.
Officials argued that Magana Ortiz "successfully (built) a life and family in this country" and that deporting him would rip him apart from his three children, all U.S. citizens, as well as his wife.
U.S. & World
Magana Ortiz, now 43, came to America at 15 from Mexico. He became a coffee farmer and even gave the U.S. Department of Agriculture free access to his farm to study crop pests.