Canfield's Chip Gilea begins new chapter in America

CANFIELD

After living in this country for 22 years — 11 months of which he was jailed under threat of deportation — Virgil Ciprian “Chip” Gilea is finally a U.S. citizen.

It became official at a Jan. 29 ceremony at the Mahoning County Courthouse.

“It was a good feeling,” he said. “I feel like that chapter is closed. Now I can participate in anything, travel outside of the U.S. without fear of not being allowed back into the U.S.”

This also is the first year he’ll be able to vote.

Gilea and his younger sister, Bianca, emigrated from Romania to the U.S. as teenagers in 1994, four years after their parents, Virgil and Minerva. Both of the children learned English while attending Boardman High School where they graduated. They also earned degrees at Youngstown State University.

In December 2007, Gilea was arrested while at work by agents from the U.S. Bureau of Immigration and Customs Enforcement. The agency said he had stayed in the U.S. longer than he was authorized and would be deported. A New York attorney formerly retained by the family had missed a filing deadline regarding his residence and didn’t inform the family about a 2003 order requiring him to leave the country.

He was incarcerated for 11 months in jails throughout Ohio while his family tried to secure his release. Immigration authorities reopened his case after coverage by The Vindicator and intervention by a new attorney, U.S. Sen. Sherrod Brown’s office and the Romanian Embassy in Washington, D.C. He was released Nov. 21, 2008.

Read more of his story in Sunday's Vindicator or on Vindy.com.