Green Card Interview Arrest and the Old-Address Notice Trap

A Canadian-born dentist whose wife sponsored him walked into his green card interview in downtown Minneapolis on Friday and left in ICE custody, his wife and lawyer told WCCO-TV. The green card interview arrest of William Lizardo rests on a removal order the family says they never knew existed, entered after a notice to appear in immigration court was mailed to a Virginia address they had left more than two years earlier.

The case lands two days after the Board of Immigration Appeals ruled in Matter of Chamorro Castillo that immigration courts owe nothing more once a notice mailed to the only address in their file comes back undeliverable. Together they expose an easy trap for anyone with a case at both USCIS and an immigration court: the address one agency has is not necessarily the one the court uses.

What the family says happened

According to Lauren Lizardo and attorney David Whalen, she sponsored her husband. The first application was denied in January 2026 for reasons WCCO did not report, and the couple refiled. Meanwhile, the family says, a notice to appear went in February to the old Virginia address, Lizardo never appeared, and a removal order followed. Whalen said the officer conducting Friday’s interview left the room and came back with two ICE agents.

The detail that matters most legally is the one the family stresses: Lizardo had recently been fingerprinted by immigration officials, and USCIS mail was reaching the couple at their current home in Victoria, Minnesota. ICE had not responded to WCCO as of Friday night. Whalen said he would seek his client’s release on an emergency basis.

A January denial followed by a February notice to appear fits a Feb. 28, 2025 USCIS memo that widened the cases in which the agency itself sends removable applicants to immigration court, though the family has not said who issued the notice.

Two agencies, two address systems

A judge may order a person removed in absentia when written notice went to the most recent address the person provided, and no notice is required if the person never provided one. Noncitizens report a move to USCIS on Form AR-11 within 10 days, but once removal proceedings begin, the court keeps its own record, updated by Form EOIR-33.

Chamorro Castillo speaks to exactly this split. The Board said it is appropriate for DHS to alert the courts when it learns of a different address, but stressed that judges cannot see the DHS file and rely on what the parties give them. It did not say what happens when DHS, through USCIS, had a newer address the court never got. If the family’s account holds up, that is the question this case presents, and the answer is likely to turn on records not yet public: the address on the notice to appear, where DHS got it, and what the first green card filing listed.

How an in absentia order can be undone

A motion to reopen for exceptional circumstances must be filed within 180 days, a window that may have closed, depending on when the order was entered. The other route has no deadline: a person who shows he did not receive notice as the law requires may move to reopen at any time, and filing that motion automatically stays removal while the judge decides it. Release from custody is a separate fight, because a person held on a final order is detained under the post-order statute, where appeals courts have been tightening the rules ICE must follow.

In absentia orders keep climbing

Orders like the one the family describes are common. Immigration judges issued 311,130 in absentia removal orders in fiscal 2025, and 281,867 in the first three quarters of fiscal 2026, according to EOIR. This year’s monthly pace is about 21 percent above last year’s, based on EOIR’s figures. Neither USCIS nor ICE publishes a count of arrests at benefit interviews.

Fiscal year	In absentia removal orders	Average per month
2023	160,504	13,375
2024	223,502	18,625
2025	311,130	25,928
2026 (through June)	281,867	31,319

Source: EOIR Adjudication Statistics, In Absentia Removal Orders, data generated July 24, 2026. Fiscal 2026 covers October 2025 through June 2026.

For green card applicants who have moved, especially after a denial, the safeguard is to check whether an immigration court case exists in your name before the interview, not after. Many are already waiting without work permits, as recent USCIS denial figures show.

The address question that trips people up

If I file Form AR-11 with USCIS, does the immigration court get my new address?

No. Form AR-11 updates USCIS and DHS records only. A person in removal proceedings must also file Form EOIR-33 with the immigration court, or with the Board of Immigration Appeals if an appeal is pending, under 8 C.F.R. 1003.15(d) and 1003.38(e). Chamorro Castillo confirms the courts rely on the address in their own record.

This article is for general information and is not legal advice.

Sources

Vasanth Vaidyanathan, Esq.

Administrator

Vasanth Vaidyanathan is an immigration attorney with over 20 years of experience focused exclusively on U.S. immigration and nationality law. He holds a LL.M. from California Western School of Law, San Deigo and advises individuals and businesses on employment and family-based immigration matters, including H-1B, PERM, EB categories, and adjustment of status. He has also been a featured speaker at immigration seminars across the U.S. To reach Vasanth visit: https://www.vnathan.com/

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