http://forums.musculardevelopment.com/showthread.php/125210-Decision-Day-for-Victor!
Tomorrow is Friday, April 27. For most of us, it's just another day. But for Victor Martinez, it's a day of reckoning that will determine the course of the rest of his life. Tomorrow, a judge decides whether to allow Victor to remain in the United States of America, or to deport him back to the nation of his citizenship, the Dominican Republic - never to be allowed back into America for the rest of his days.
For Victor, his family, and friends; at least one positive outcome is sure. His incarceration at the Hudson County Correctional Facility in Kearny, NJ will come to an end after over seven months sitting in limbo awaiting his fate in front of a U.S. Immigration judge.
Martinez's nightmare began, ironically enough, immediately after one of his greatest triumphs. After a season where he had been disappointed to take third place at the Arnold Classic and then fourth at both the Mr. Olympia and the Sheru Classic, Victor traveled to Madrid, Spain and became the first-ever Arnold Classic Europe Champion on October 8, 2011.
His celebration was to be quite short-lived. Upon his return home, Victor was detained at JFK International Airport and taken into custody. His green card as a resident legal alien had expired some time before, and had been denied renewal. Martinez knew it was only a matter of time before his case came up for review and he would be taken to a correctional facility, but of course he could never have known it would happen so closely on the heels of one of his career highlights as an IFBB Pro.
"I should have known," he told me shortly after arriving at Hudson County. "My life is a roller coaster - something good happens, then something bad, over and over again."
With access to neither weights or quality food behind bars, Victor has watched his mighty physique scale down to more average proportions. His own estimate is that he's dropped about 60 pounds of muscle in the seven months in lockup. Much has been made of this on message board as both speculations and shameless gloating have spread online like a viral shadenfraude.
Ironically, in none of my many conversations with Victor did he seem overly preoccupied with the fact that his enormous musculature was wasting away day by day. Really, it was the least of his problems. "I have four kids, and if I get deported I will hardly ever see them again," he emphasized. "I've also lost my restaurant and my home while I've been in here."
Should Victor be allowed to stay in the USA, he has a long road ahead of him rebuilding not only his physique, but his very life. In a sense it will be like starting all over from scratch as he gradually outs the pieces of his life - personal and professional - back together again.
We at MD sincerely wish Victor the very best tomorrow and every day thereafter, and we will continue to keep you updated as tomorrow's events unfold.
