Ravi Ragbir has accompanied thousands of immigrants in New York City at their check-ins with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, the federal agency known as ICE that oversees undocumented immigration.
Soon he must face his own fateful appointment with ICE.
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“The stress and anxiety of not knowing my future will not abate, and I know that I will only get through this with the support of my community, and particularly of the faith leaders who have walked with me for so many years, and have committed to do so throughout this long journey,” Ragbir said.
Ragbir came to the U.S. from Trinidad and Tobago in 1991 in his 20s and became a lawful permanent resident in 1994. After Ragbir was convicted for mortgage fraud and served a 30-month sentence, an immigration judge ordered that he be deported in 2006 without a hearing. Ragbir has been seeking ever since to vacate his felony conviction.
Ragbir spent two years in immigration detention after his time in prison. The experiences, which he describes as “harsh,” led him to work for Families for Freedom, which fights deportation orders.
In 2007, Ragbir co-founded the New Sanctuary Coalition, which partners with Judson Memorial Church in Manhattan’s Greenwich Village to pair Americans with immigrants who are afraid to go to their ICE check-ins alone. He has since testified for the New York City Council and met with congressional representatives about immigrants’ needs.
Not everyone facing a deportation order will have to leave the country, but they also never know when they may have to leave. Daily life becomes uncertain. When Ragbir needed a new office computer, he decided not to buy one until after his check-in with ICE officials. He didn’t know if he’d be allowed to stay.
It’s especially tough for an immigration activist who has frequently criticized ICE. In 2017, ICE banned New Sanctuary Coalition volunteers from accompanying immigrants to their check-ins.
Then in 2018, Ragbir was arrested and detained at his own check-in. After much public outcry, he was released and not deported. He successfully argued his arrest was in retaliation for his anti-ICE comments and that the agency violated the First Amendment by arresting him. Ragbir won a three-year stay of the deportation order, which ended on Dec. 16, 2024.
His next ICE check-in was initially scheduled for Monday (Jan. 13), but he was granted an extension until March. ICE did not respond to a reporter’s email seeking comment for this story.
“This reprieve allows me to breathe a bit easier, at least for the moment,” Ragbir said. “It also gives me more time to continue fighting to stay here with my community and my family, and to continue fighting for other people living with the same level of uncertainty.”
Ragbir’s activism led him to his now wife, Amy Gottlieb, who is the U.S. migration director of the American Friends Service Committee. Their honeymoon was in the Rockaways, a part of Queens, because Ragbir’s parole required him at that time to stay within New York City limits. He also has an American daughter in the U.S. from a previous relationship.
“We have created a life together, and the idea of living that life without my husband is devastating,” Gottlieb said in a statement.
Before 1996, when the most recent immigration legislation passed, immigration officials had more discretion to consider an immigrant’s situation — like marriage to a U.S. citizen — and assign green cards. But Ragbir’s marriage has not been considered for his case.
“A lot of the safety valves were taken away” in 1996, said one of Ragbir’s lawyers, Alina Das, who is the co-director of the Immigrants Rights Clinic at the New York University School of Law. “Now the only safety valve left is a presidential pardon.”
It’s unlikely President Joe Biden will pardon Ragbir before President-elect Donald Trump assumes office Jan. 20.
Ragbir asked for his case to be reconsidered after his marriage to Gottlieb, but the federal government declined to hear his appeal. His supporters are worried that because he faced retaliation for his activism during the first Trump administration, he will face similar retaliation during the second one. Trump has said the first mass deportations should prioritize criminals, without specifying which crimes.
Ragbir’s lawyers have been trying to secure him a pardon since 2016. Last year, they appealed directly to the White House instead of the Department of Justice.
“We’re hoping that since the president has done some really important pardons, that he doesn’t forget about Ravi before he leaves office on the 20th,” said the Rev. Cece Jones-Davis, a Disciples of Christ minister and activist who has been involved with his case.
Ragbir’s work has been closely tied to his faith.
He was awarded the Bishop’s Cross by the Rt. Rev. Lawrence Provenzano, the Episcopal bishop of Long Island, in 2018 for his service to the community. Provenzano also made Ragbir an honorary canon of the Diocese of Long Island, which makes him an honorary member of the cathedral chapter that advises the bishop.
“Through his sanctuary work as Ecumenical Canon for Immigration, he has helped thousands and forged a vital connection between the immigrant rights movement and our mission to preach the Gospel,” Provenzano said in a statement. “His ministry is a living testament to our Baptismal Covenant: to seek Christ in all, love our neighbors, and strive for justice and dignity for every human being.”
Judge William Bassler, who sentenced Ragbir to prison, wrote to the Office of the Pardon Attorney, who assists the president in writing pardons, that Ragbir “has fully paid the price for his actions, and deserves not only to do invaluable work, but to care for his wife and daughter, free from the threat of deportation.”
Ragbir has also received support from 16 members of Congress, retired Presiding Bishop of the Episcopal Church Michael Curry, the Rev. Al Sharpton, and the Rev. William Barber.
