A Livermore man who has lived in the Bay Area his entire adult life and raised three children here remains in Mexico, where he has no family, after being deported, while his wife and family here await his next immigration hearing.

"He tells me, 'You've got to promise me you are not going to cry anymore,' but it's impossible," says Rosa Lopez, the wife of Miguel Angel Lopez Luvian, who was detained on May 27 at a routine immigration appointment in SF, and is now staying in Mexico City. Rosa Lopez spoke to KTVU this week, saying she has now been to visit her husband twice, but she can't easily afford the travel. And the couple has a three-year-old grandchild whom he can only interact with on video calls.

Miguel Lopez, 47, has lived in the Livermore area for 29 years, and worked as a welder and at a Livermore winery. He married his wife, a US citizen, in 2001, and at one point held a green card, but that was revoked. They have three children, ages 25, 24, and 17.

Rosa Lopez tells KTVU, "Getting status here in the United States is not as easy as filling out an application, like getting a job. It's not. It's all a process. We’ve spent a lot of money on this."

In contrast to many similar cases in which the Trump administration has directed the extralegal detention and deportation of immigrants who have lived here peacefully for years and attempted to gain citizenship through all legal channels, Lopez's case has gained wide attention here in the Bay Area, which may help in the end.

Congressman Eric Swalwell posted a video to Instagram last week of a meeting he had with Rosa Lopez.

"He's a friend, a neighbor, a Livermore resident, who was unlawfully removed by ICE after doing everything you're supposed to do," Swalwell said of Miguel Lopez.

Swalwell reportedly helped to get Lopez's passport back from ICE, but there is no immediate change in his case.

A federal judge already ruled in early June, issuing a temporary restraining order against the government halting Lopez's deportation, but they went ahead and deported him anyway. US District Court Judge Trina Thompson wrote in her decision that the government's case for deportation was one of the flimsier she had seen, and "The inequities seep from the pages, staining every word."

Rosa Lopez says she hopes to go visit her husband again in Mexico City next month, and he is now sceduled for his next immigration hearing in October.

His attorney, Saad Admad, tells KTVU in a statement, "We believe there would be a gross miscarriage of justice if Mr. Lopez's green card is taken away without him getting the opportunity to seek review of that decision. We have a long battle ahead of us. It's going to be a difficult case, no question about it."

Previously: Trump Administration Deports Livermore Man to Mexico, Even After Federal Judge Ordered Him to Be Kept Here