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The Carrillo family had just returned from a vacation in Tahoe — the first since Fernando Carrillo’s release from ICE detention in March — when the family received unsettling news in a letter: the Department of Homeland Security appealed a judge’s decision to let him stay in the U.S., putting him at risk of deportation again.

On Tuesday, Carrillo, 33, found himself at ICE offices in San Francisco for his first check-in since the appeal was filed. His family gathered with supporters to rally on his behalf, fearing he’d be detained on the spot — what immigrant advocates say is an increasingly common tactic under the Trump administration.

“ICE doesn’t want to see families together no matter what,” said Carrillo, a San Jose cable installer whose wife and children are U.S. citizens. He is battling to stay in the country after three prior deportations and a DUI. “They just want to deport as many people as possible. My case is an example of that.”

But when Carrillo emerged back into the arms of his family after Tuesday’s brief check-in with ICE, his case had become an example of how immigrant advocates are churning up publicity as a way to protect immigrants during every step of the deportation process.

ICE spokesman Richard Rocha wasn’t able to say how often ICE detains people at check-in appointments. The agency didn’t comment on Carrillo’s case but said in a statement, “ICE routinely requires those who have been apprehended and subsequently released to check-in with their case officer.”

But immigration attorneys and advocates have noted a significant jump in the number of people — many with no criminal records — detained at these check-ins, so much so that some have stopped showing up altogether and have gone into hiding. It’s one of the many ways in which the Trump administration has ramped up its deportations under hardline policies that give immigration officers more latitude over who they can detain.

In one case, a Brazilian immigrant in Lawrence, Mass., was detained during a naturalization appointment with U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. His wife, a U.S. citizen, had tried to sponsor him for citizenship.

“The Trump administration is driving these folks into the underground because they’re afraid,” said immigration attorney Bill Hing. “The fear is reasonable because there are so many stories of folks that are showing up in good faith and being taken into custody.”

An immigration judge last month ruled that Carrillo — who was detained in October while dropping off his youngest daughter at daycare — can remain in the U.S. after proving it wouldn’t be safe to return to his native Mexico.

Carrillo established that he’d be persecuted in his home country because of his “blood relationship with a family member in Mexico who is involved in fighting a certain type of crime,” according to his attorney, Hedi Framm-Anton, who at the time said it was “unlikely” the Trump administration would appeal.

Under the decision, Carrillo is free to work and live permanently in the U.S. But the administration’s appeal has thrown Carrillo’s case back into immigration courts, and it could be years until the family learns of the outcome.

Carrillo on Tuesday said he’s not a criminal and hopes his story sheds light on other cases.

“We’re good people,” he said. “We’re here to support this country, to make this country as beautiful as it is and better.”

Carrillo’s wife, Lourdes Barraza, who rallied for her husband’s release during his time in detention, said the couple would fight to keep Carrillo in the country.

“We are not going away,” she said. “I have my partner back. We will fight together.”