Q&A: A Canadian Awaiting Deportation Reflects on Life, Loss and Starting Over
After 25 years in the U.S. and raising a family here, Donald B. faces an ICE process no one seems to understand.
 by Nathan Gray September 16, 2025
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Photo Illustration by Prison Journalism Project. Photos from Adobe Stock
Now more than ever, the immigration and deportation process can be a confusing, if not terrifying, maze. That’s something that Donald B., a man at my prison, learned firsthand earlier this year. After seven years of incarceration, Donald B. was preparing to be deported back to his home country, Canada.
In May 2025, two months before his release, I interviewed Donald B., who requested that I not use his full name, in the dayroom of our unit at Oshkosh Correctional Institution in Wisconsin.
His release date should have been a time he was looking forward to, but instead it stirred up feelings of loss and anxiety about starting anew. Still, Donald B. said he’s hopeful for his future.
The interview has been edited for length and clarity.
Q: Tell me a little bit about your history in the United States.
Donald: I moved here on Feb. 14, 2000, to get married. I was 25 years old when I came over. Well, I turned 25 ten days after I came here. For most people, you have to wait for a visa when you get married, but because I’m a Canadian citizen, I got to come over right away. We cleared it with the various embassies to make sure everything was legal.
When you come over on a visitor visa, you cannot work. After 90 days of being married, I applied for conditional residence. Once you get that, you can work, travel. Two years after that, you can apply for permanent resident status.
Throughout it all, we had interviews with immigration people to prove it wasn’t a fake marriage. It all cost a substantial amount of money. Once I was able to work, I worked at a gas station — you take whatever you can get. I worked for a company fixing computers, I was self-employed, I worked as a network administrator. Later, I worked at a Kwik Trip and a hotel. I was arrested in July of 2018 and have been incarcerated for seven years.
Q: What is going to happen to you once your prison time is over?
Donald: If you would have asked me that question two years ago, I may not have even been deported.
Nowadays Trump is deporting everybody. I’ll be turned over to ICE custody. I’ll go in front of an immigration judge. Then they’ll give me an order of removal. They’ll then drive or fly me to the border. Hopefully, they will drive me since it’s so close.
I’m scared s–tless. I don’t even know if they will send me north. For all I know they’ll send me to El Salvador or some other country.
Q: Has anybody in a position of authority talked with you about what you can expect?
Donald: Not really. I’ve talked to the Canadian consulate. Even they don’t have much information because nothing is being done the way it’s meant to be done. I would usually be picked up, go to the immigration judge, get a deportation order, then get sent out. That was before the Trump presidency.
Based on what I read in the news, I think America is moving people around the country to keep them away from their consulates and lawyers.
Q: How do you feel about being deported?
Donald: I’m fine with it. I don’t want to do 15 years of probation in the States. The only reason I’m even here [in the U.S.] is because I could easily move for my job while my now-ex-wife couldn’t. She was a teacher while I worked with computers.
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Outside of my fears of the deportation process stateside, I’m going to be starting from scratch. I have no family up there. I have a best friend.
I’ll have to live in a homeless shelter. Unemployment is at 7%. I won’t have a car. Rents are insane.
Q: How long do you expect the deportation process to take?
Donald: From doors to Canada, hopefully less than a month. Depends on how long it takes for a judge. I think there’s millions of immigration cases backlogged. That will take a while.
I don’t plan to fight it — that may speed it up. I also can’t find an attorney. Immigration law is really, really, really complex. I recommend you have an attorney with a background in immigration law. My grandma was born in New York. I have two anchor kids. I could fight it, but I won’t.
Q: What do you feel like you are leaving behind in the U.S.?
Donald: My kids. My connections. My son is 21. My daughter is 20. I built a life here. The people I know are here. I won’t be able to come visit my daughter. I won’t be able to go to her wedding unless she gets married in Canada. My son has severe autism. He lives with his mother. If something happens to her, getting him to me will be a challenge.
Q: What’s waiting for you in Canada?
Donald: Snow. But honestly, nothing. I have my best friend. I’ve known him since grade 6, so when we were 11 or 12. I’ve known him for almost 40 years. God, I’m old.
It’s a lot of work to restart life. I don’t have any plans. There is no way to pre-plan anything. I don’t know when I will get there. I don’t know where I will cross the border. I don’t know where I will live. I only have some basic information. There’s a group in Canada that helps to repatriate people. My friend has reached out to them for me. It’s really hard to plan anything.
Q: Do you have any advice for other people who may be leaving a U.S. prison to ICE custody and deportation?
Donald: Don’t get arrested. But seriously, the first mistake I made was at the jail when they didn’t have me booked in as a Canadian, so the consulate didn’t get involved. My lawyer gave me advice: “Don’t tell anybody, maybe they won’t notice.”
Reach out to your consulate right away. They can help you reach out to attorneys. I know that I had the option of having my penalty moved to Canada. I could have been spending the past seven years on what I will be doing after release, instead of having to make it up as I go along.
Postscript
Donald left our institution July 2, 2025. Prison administrators summoned him over the speakers and put him on a bus to the Racine Correctional Institution, where he awaited would await transfer to ICE. The last time I spoke with him, he was still in custody and did not know when he would be deported. |
