A Chicago man who has lived in the United States for over 50 years lost his final appeal to remain in the country this week, as a federal court ruled his family’s personal and financial struggles do not meet the high legal bar required to stop his removal.
Bato Petrov, a “stateless” native of Germany who identifies as a Gypsy, was ordered deported after the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit denied his petitions for review on April 14, 2026.
The decision marks the end of a decade-long legal battle for Petrov, who first entered the U.S. illegally in 1974 at just one year old.
The core of the case rested on whether Petrov’s deportation would cause “exceptional and extremely unusual hardship” to his American citizen relatives. Petrov is the sole provider for his wife, Helen Owens, and their three children. He also helps care for his father, a U.S. citizen.
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While the court acknowledged the family’s financial dependence on Petrov, Circuit Judge Michael Yale Scudder Jr. noted that losing a breadwinner is a standard consequence of many deportations and does not automatically qualify as “exceptional” under federal law.
“Petrov had to show that his removal would cause hardship that is substantially different from, or beyond, that which would be normally expected from the deportation of an alien with close family members,” Scudder wrote in the court’s opinion.
In a 2021 motion to reopen his case, Petrov introduced new evidence regarding his family’s health, including:
- His wife’s struggles with anxiety, depression, and PTSD.
- A 2018 miscarriage suffered by his wife.
- Medical conditions affecting two of his children and his father.
- Reports of systemic racism against Gypsies in Germany.
However, the Board of Immigration Appeals (BIA) and the Seventh Circuit found that much of this information, such as records of his wife’s mental health dating back to 2011, was available during earlier hearings and should have been presented then.
Petrov argued that his wife had kept her mental health struggles secret due to “shame,” but the court ruled there was no evidentiary support to justify why the information was withheld for so long.
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Though Petrov identifies as stateless, the Department of Homeland Security designated Germany as his country of removal. Petrov expressed fear of European racism and a lack of economic opportunity abroad, but the court ruled those factors—while sympathetic—did not prove that his U.S.-based family would suffer the specific level of hardship required by the statute.
“We have deep sympathy for Ms. Owens and recognize how the sorrow of miscarriage may have added to her struggles,” the court stated, but ultimately concluded that the agency’s decision to deny relief was rational and legally sound.
The ruling effectively clears the way for Petrov’s removal from the only country he has known since infancy.
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