Holding out hope he’ll stay

By Denise Dick

Chip and his family spent time together without a glass partition for the first time since his arrest.

BOARDMAN — Family members of a Romanian immigrant jailed since December believe he will be on a plane today bound for his native country.

But during the first visit between Virgil Ciprian “Chip” Gilea and his family when they weren’t separated by glass, family members didn’t say goodbye.

“We didn’t say goodbye because maybe he won’t be” on a plane, said Minerva, Chip’s mother. “Maybe something is going to happen.”

Minerva, Chip’s father, Virgil; sister, Bianca; and fianc e, Cindy Zaborsky, made the roughly three-hour trip Saturday for the first “contact visit” with Chip since his Dec. 27, 2007, arrest.

“I kissed his hand and I hugged him, and we all stayed together,” Minerva said.

There were tears.

The family put more money into Chip’s account at the jail so he’ll have money when he arrives in Romania.

“He says he’s ready,” Minerva said of her only son.

He doesn’t want to leave the United States, but he doesn’t want to stay in jail either.

“He’s an educated guy,” his mother said. “He wants to do something. He doesn’t want to be there in jail.”

Virgil and Minerva came to the U.S. from Romania in 1990. In 1994, Chip, then 15, and Bianca, then 12, joined them.

Both children graduated from Boardman High School and Youngstown State University — Chip with a degree in electrical engineering, Bianca in international business.

Chip was at work at Energy Development Inc., Poland Township, when he was arrested by agents from the U.S. Bureau of Immigration and Customs Enforcement. The problem stemmed from a missed filing deadline by an attorney formerly retained by the family. Chip was ordered to leave the country, but both he and his family contend he was unaware of the order.

The previous attorney filed a statement with the court, attesting to his error, but ICE maintains that Chip has stayed in the U.S. longer than he was permitted, so he must go.

The Romanian Embassy in Washington, D.C., has taken interest in the case.

The embassy “offered prompt consular assistance to Mr. Gilea in accordance with the law and in compliance with the diplomatic mission’s competencies” upon learning about his situation, according to a statement. “The Embassy has maintained permanent dialogue with Mr. Gilea’s family and Ms. Cynthia Zaborsky, his fianc e ...”

The embassy has also been in contact with U.S. Sen. Sherrod Brown of Ohio’s office. Brown’s office requested that immigration officials “give full consideration to the Gilea family’s request to reopen the case by reviewing Mr. Gilea’s immigration history,” the statement said.

Still, Chip’s family interprets Saturday’s contact visit as an indication he’ll be leaving soon. ICE doesn’t inform detainees of deportation dates because of security.

If Chip doesn’t make his usual evening phone call today, the family will call the jail to try to ascertain if he’s still there. If he is deported, the family’s next step is to try to secure a waiver from the government to allow his return. Their latest attorney is pursuing that avenue.

“Chip said, ‘If God has it in his plan for me to go, I have to go.’” Minerva said. “We did everything in our power.”

denise_dick@vindy.com