RUSK, Texas — An East Texas veteran and pastor, who was at risk of being deported to Mexico after visiting family in June, has been released from U.S. Customs.
Julio Torres had been detained at the Prairieland Detention Facility in Alvarado, 150 miles away from home in Rusk, since June 27.
After almost a week in the facility, Torres was released Wednesday evening and CBS19 was there for the emotional reunion with his family. The Torres family was beyond grateful to be back together again.
"Something that I've been asking for. It's answered prayers, right there in action," he said.
Now, he's ecstatic to to spend this Fourth of July with his family back home in Rusk.
"Don't take the Fourth of July for granted. It is a day of freedom and there's so many people behind bars that don't have that," he said.
Torres, a Marine veteran who was honorably discharged in 2003 after serving for more than three years, said it felt amazing to see all the support he received, especially from his wife.
"Amazing. It's incredible because I got to we were sitting in the in the jail, and I got to see the news," he said. "Everybody was like, 'is that you? Is that you?' And I'm like, Yeah, that's me. That's my wife. The best support I saw was my wife."
His wife, Maria Renteria Torres, said he received his green card in the mail a few days before the trip. He went to Mexico to see family he wanted to get to know. In early June, he received a letter along with his green card from the Department of Security thinking everything was squared away for their trip.
She was in shock when she got a phone call from her husband, saying "come get me."
"I'm like, No, you're kidding me. He's like, 'no, come get me.' So he hung up. And I'm like, he's free his way," she said. "You know, and everybody just started yelling a joy and just happiness and thanking God."
Julio Torres said he didn't know he was breaking the law when he left the country. Currently, he is on parole and plans to fight that parole outside of the detention center now and be an advocate for himself and for many others who are in the same situation.