BLAINE, Wash. -- A wrong turn on I-5 in Whatcom County may lead to a man's deportation.
But that wrong turn is also bringing Jorge-Alonso Chehade attention and praise from Washington State's congressional delegation.
In March, the 22-year-old college graduate was visiting friends at Western Washington University.
On the way back, he drove northbound instead of southbound on the I-5, missed the last exit in Blaine and had to clear U.S. customs.
Chehade was arrested and sent to the Immigration Detention Center in Tacoma and later released on bail.
Brought here on a visa from Peru, Chehade stayed on illegally since his teen years.
Congressman Jim McDermott and senators Patty Murray and Maria Cantwell have all written letters of support for Chehade.
His lawyers have advised him to stay in the U.S. while he continues his fight, instead of voluntarily leaving as he originally planned, but now that authorities have issued an order of removal, Chehade could be arrested any day.
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