Baird ISD stands by employee detained by immigration officials

BAIRD, Texas (KTAB/KRBC) – Baird ISD employee Waldo Rodriquez is now facing deportation even though his employer says he was meeting the conditions set out for him by U.S. Immigration.

Rodriquez is a Baird ISD employee who was detained earlier this month during a routine check-in with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement and could be deported to a country where he has never had residency.

Rodriquez came to the U.S. illegally from Cuba roughly 20 years ago and was arrested in the early 2000s for that offence. Due to the U.S.’s policies at the time, Rodriquez was allowed by U.S. Immigration to stay in America to live and work so long as he adhered to strict conditions, including yearly check-ins with U.S. Immigration regarding his status. However, at his most recent annual check-in, Rodriquez found himself detained by ICE and scheduled for deportation.

For the last three years, Rodriquez has been working for Baird ISD as a member of their maintenance team. Baird Superintendent, Dr. Tim Little, relayed information he received from Rodriquez’s wife regarding her husband’s incarceration.

“He was held for several days in a mass detention area, sleeping on a concrete floor. I’m told he has been asked to sign a permission letter to allow him to be sent to Mexico, which he is refusing to do. Because he has no connection or knows no one in Mexico,” Little said.

In an effort to bring clarity to the situation, Little said that he and other school staff attempted to contact the proper channels regarding Rodriquez’s incarceration but have been met with little success for answers.

“We have reached out to our federal representatives. They did not respond at all or declined to intervene,” Little added.

A potentially concerning element of Waldo Rodriquez’s past was a charge he received when he was initially arrested for being in the country illegally. According to the information provided by Superintendent Little, Rodriquez had been charged with human trafficking many years ago and said that those particular charges stem from Rodriquez’s involvement in helping bring others like himself into the U.S. from Cuba.

Little also explained the background behind Rodriquez’s employment at the school despite his criminal history and shared that for the last three years, Rodriquez has been an essential asset for the school.

“When we hire someone, we try to look at the whole context. If you’ve got drug convictions selling drugs, if you’ve abused children, or done anything that would make you unfit to be around children. If you’ve committed sex crimes, we’re never going to hire you in Baird,” Little assured. “Waldo didn’t fit that. Yes, he committed a crime, and he did pay for it. He’s been on probation for it. He’s done what he’s supposed to do.”

While Baird ISD isn’t certain of Rodriquez’s future, or even exactly sure which detention center he is currently being held at, they are hopeful for a positive outcome and are holding Waldo Rodriquez’s position with their school for him until his return. KTAB/KRBC has reached out to the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement Field Office in Dallas, where Rodriquez was recently detained, but has not heard back.