Valdez said that he would "climb the walls" to get some criminal immigrants deported but that he wasn't too worried about Vanian, in part because the detainee had a supportive family and a job lined up.
Vanian was released Oct. 20. He said he saw several fellow detainees deported and thought he would be too.
He was relieved when he found out that Armenia wouldn't take him, and said he understood why.
"They already have enough headaches with their citizens," he said from the detention facility in San Pedro just before being released. "You're not a citizen. Why do they want to keep you, especially if you screwed up?"
Now, Vanian said he feels that he has another chance to make up for his mistakes and prove himself to the U.S.
"I was always thinking I was going to be deported," he said. "Now it's just like, wow."
His attorney, Bezman, said she wants to continue fighting for Vanian to stay here permanently.
Now on supervised release, Vanian cannot leave the country.
"He has gotten a short-term reprieve," said Kice, the immigration agency spokeswoman. "But the final order is still in place, and the effort to remove him will continue."
