Immigration and Customs Enforcement detained the owner of a 154-year-old business in Kearney on March 11.
Carlos Godinez, the owner of Nick’s Gyros for the past 15 years, is currently at the Hall County Department of Corrections on an ICE hold.
“I came to this country on a plane at 10 years old, not knowing where we were going — only that I would see my father again,” Carlos Godinez said in a news release. “I was raised with the American belief that if you work hard, you earn your keep.”
He’s lived in the United States for the past 37 years and now faces the possibility of deportation to Guatemala. Carlos Godinez does not have a legal resident status. Court records indicate he had previously been on probation in Buffalo County last summer when he violated terms of a driver’s license revocation.
Along with owning Nick’s Gyros, Carlos Godinez’s community work includes the Beta Men Conference for middle school boys and the Nebraska Cultural Unity Conference. He was one of the founders of the NCUC during his time as a student at the University of Nebraska at Kearney.
Now, his younger sister Rose Godinez is working as an advocate for her brother ahead of his court hearing on March 31. She previously worked as an immigration and civil rights attorney for the American Civil Liberties Union.
“My legal degree and my experience has shown me all of the levers that I can pull, and one of those is being an advocate,” said Rose Godinez, who was born in the U.S. and is a citizen.
Most of the Godinez family lives in Nebraska. Carlos Godinez is the oldest of five and has two sons, ages 11 and 13. His youngest brother is pursuing a doctorate degree at Columbia University.
“I came to this country believing in hard work, responsibility, and giving back,” his mother, Maria Godinez said in a news release. “That’s the example I hoped to teach my children — and Carlos has lived it every day.”
Carlos Godinez will appear before Omaha immigration judge Abby Meyer at the end of the month. His legal representative is immigration attorney Rachel Yamamoto.