- Erick Leonel Cristal Cumes waived his right to appeal an asylum rejection, potentially speeding up his deportation process.
- A federal judge ordered a bond hearing by July eighteen, twenty twenty-six, despite the looming removal order.
- The thirty-one-year-old Guatemalan national remains in detention in Pennsylvania following a May twenty-eighth enforcement operation.
Erick Leonel Cristal Cumes reportedly waived his appeal after an immigration judge rejected his asylum claim on July 7. His appeal is gone.
The decision could make the deportation order to Guatemala final once the waiver takes effect. Lauren Cristal, his wife, said the couple believes removal is imminent, although they do not know when it may occur.
He remains at the Moshannon Valley Detention Center in Philipsburg, Pennsylvania. The facility is roughly four hours from the couple’s West Virginia home, a trip Lauren Cristal has described as “disconcerting” and “wrong.”
“An appeal is the only thing preventing ICE from carrying out the deportation right now,” she said.
Cumes had 30 days to challenge the immigration judge’s ruling. By waiving that right, he may allow the order to become final sooner than it would if the appeal period ran out.
A bond hearing could come before removal
The appeal decision follows a separate federal court ruling on detention. On July 13, Chief Judge Thomas S. Kleeh of the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of West Virginia ordered the government to provide Cumes with a bond hearing within five days.
Kleeh did not order his immediate release. The deadline is July 18.
“Absent this showing [of flight risk or danger], petitioner’s continued detention would be unlawful,” Kleeh wrote.
The case is Leonel Cristal Cumes v. Acting Director, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement et al., Case No. 1:26-cv-00056-TSK. The ruling addressed whether the government could continue holding Cumes without a bond hearing, not whether he should receive asylum.
Jonathan Sidney, an attorney with the Climate Defense Project, said the legal team questioned whether Cumes could receive a fair hearing in immigration court. Sidney also said Cumes was neither a flight risk nor a danger to the community.
The federal order and the immigration judge’s removal decision now place two proceedings on separate tracks. One concerns continued detention. The other concerns whether Cumes will be removed to Guatemala.
The case began with a May arrest in West Virginia
Immigration officers arrested Cumes on May 28 at Don Patron Mexican Grill in Weston, West Virginia, during an enforcement operation. He is 31 years old and a Guatemalan national who had lived in West Virginia for years.
The operation also involved employees at Don Patron locations in Weston and Bridgeport. His case drew local support, with more than 50 community members attending a June 25 hearing in Clarksburg to testify about his character and community ties.
Lauren Cristal is a U.S. citizen. The couple married in April 2026.
She has said her husband has no criminal history and was a productive member of the West Virginia community. In earlier comments, she described waking each day hoping for a call saying he had been released.
“Every day, I have woken up hoping it would be the day I got the phone call saying he was being released. West Virginia is his home”
She made that statement on July 13.
The detention dispute involved two immigration statutes
Cumes’s lawyers argued that his continued detention violated the Due Process Clause of the Fifth Amendment. The litigation also raised competing readings of 8 U.S.C. § 1226(a) and 8 U.S.C. § 1225(b)(2).
Section 1226(a) allows bond hearings for some people already present in the United States. The government argued that Section 1225(b)(2) requires detention for people who entered without inspection.
The federal court’s order required a bond hearing. It did not decide that Cumes must be released.
The listed respondents include Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche, Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem, John Rife, the Philadelphia Field Office director for ICE Enforcement and Removal Operations, and Marcos Charles, the agency’s executive associate director for Enforcement and Removal Operations.
Final orders can move removal closer, but timing still varies
A waiver generally ends the appeal path sooner than waiting for the full 30-day period. Once a removal order becomes final, ICE may move toward carrying it out.
The agency’s timing can depend on detention logistics and travel arrangements. A separate stay request, motion to reopen, or other relief could also affect the schedule.
The waiver does not erase the federal bond hearing order. Cumes could still receive a hearing by July 18, while the immigration case proceeds toward a final removal order.
The court dispute also leaves the family watching two deadlines at once: the waiver’s effect on removal and the federal court’s bond-hearing deadline. His wife said the couple does not know the date of any deportation flight.
This article provides general information and is not legal advice. Consult a qualified immigration attorney about your specific case.
