Connecticut father of 2 gets emergency stay on deportation to Guatemala

NEW FAIRFIELD, Connecticut (WABC) -- A Connecticut family is celebrating after a father of two is granted an emergency stay on his deportation.

Joel Colindres entered the country illegally in 2004 -- but has no criminal record.

Immigration officials were going to send him back to his native country, Guatemala, Thursday, and he was ready to go.

It was quickly approaching Colindres' flight time and no officers showed up. Posting on Facebook, they "sat for over an hour."

Then they received the call. "Joel could leave and go home!!!"

"I spoke to his wife directly. There was a lot of exuberance and crying and just feeling of let's get out of here," Colindres' attorney Erin O'Neil-Baker said.

The second-circuit court of appeals granted an emergency stay.

Married to a U.S. citizen, Colindres applied for asylum and chose not to seek sanctuary - for fear it would impact his effort to gain U.S. citizenship.

They don't know how long they will have together.

"Even if it's a week or a month, he's thankful for those hours he can stay here with his family," O'Neil-Baker said.