Last‑Minute Court Stay Stops Dallas Father's Deportation, Reopens Case — Family Gets a Second Chance

On a humid Saturday evening in North Texas, Samantha Surovtsev scrolled through her phone with tears in her eyes and hurriedly ordered Eastern European power adapters. Despite the 80‑degree heat, she drove to a store and bought two heavy winter coats. When the adapters arrived the next day, she packed them with the coats and wool socks and took the suitcase to the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) detention center in Alvarado.

Inside the facility was her husband, Roman Surovtsev, 41, who had been held for 109 days after an unexpected arrest during a routine ICE check‑in in August. Roman faced removal to Ukraine and had once been convicted as a teenager of armed carjacking — a conviction that cost him his permanent resident status after he was released from prison in 2014 and spent time in ICE custody.

Last‑minute reprieve

On Sunday night, using a tablet at the detention center, Roman called his wife, family and in‑laws to say what he feared were final goodbyes. Immigration officials did not tell Roman, his lawyers or Samantha when or where he would be removed, citing security concerns, she said.

Monday passed in agonizing silence. At 3:29 p.m., Samantha’s immigration attorney called: a court had granted a stay of removal and agreed to reopen Roman’s case. The deportation flight to Ukraine would still depart, but Roman would not be on it.

Background and legal developments

Roman was born in 1984 in the former Soviet Union and came to the United States legally at age four with his mother and two siblings. After growing up in poverty and instability, he was involved in an armed carjacking at 19 and began serving a 13‑year sentence in 2003. While incarcerated he was baptized, an experience his wife says transformed him.

He met Samantha in 2017. The couple married, bought a home outside Dallas, launched a painting business and raised two daughters. After his 2014 release, an immigration judge ordered him deported and he lost his green card. Efforts to secure travel documents stalled: Russia said it had no record of him and Ukraine could not confirm his citizenship because he was from a conflict‑affected region, lawyers say. He was later released on an order of supervision with work authorization and periodic ICE check‑ins.

Roman’s detention during a routine check‑in on Aug. 1 prompted Samantha to assemble a legal team. His counsel successfully vacated the 2003 carjacking conviction on the ground of ineffective assistance of counsel in 2014. That vacatur allowed his attorneys to file a motion, on Nov. 4, to reopen the underlying criminal case and seek dismissal.

Court order and next steps

In the 11th hour on Monday, a California court agreed to hear the reopened matter and issued a stay of removal, temporarily blocking the government from deporting Roman. The court’s order states that he demonstrated new, material evidence sufficient to reopen the proceedings and that his convictions were vacated under California Penal Code 1473.7(a)(1) because of constitutional defects in the earlier proceedings. The judge concluded the new evidence was likely to change the result.

Roman will remain in ICE custody while the court proceeds. Samantha described the family’s relief: "We’re thankful the plane left without him and that the judge gave us time to be heard." Roman wept and told his wife, "God’s timing is perfect." He and his daughters spoke by tablet that night, promising future projects such as a large Barbie dollhouse for their attic playroom.

Wider impact

Roman’s narrow reprieve comes amid a broader push by federal immigration authorities to detain and remove noncitizens, including arrests at workplaces, courthouses and other public spaces, according to his attorneys. Some detainees did board Monday’s flight and have since arrived in Ukraine; their families remain unable to reach them, lawyers and relatives say.

Eric Lee, one of Roman’s attorneys, said the team’s next priority is ensuring other detainees are not returned to dangerous or unstable conditions. Another attorney noted a separate detainee who narrowly avoided deportation is the primary caregiver for a paralyzed Marine Corps veteran, underscoring the human consequences of removal decisions.

As legal proceedings continue, Samantha and her family are holding on to hope. She has been leaning on the Bible verse Romans 8:31 — "If God is for us, who can be against us?" — as they wait for the next hearing.

Note: Officials were contacted for comment but did not provide a statement by the time this article was prepared.