Judge orders woman adopted as baby deported to Mexico

[one...two...tree 2,762]

by Mike Archbold -

McClatchy Newspapers

TACOMA, Wash. - A federal immigration judge has ordered a 38-year-old woman adopted by an American couple from Mexico when she was 5 months old to be deported back to her native country.

Tara Ammons Cohen, who has been in the Northwest Detention Center in Tacoma since July 8, 2009, has been fighting to stay in America ever since. She fears being deported to Mexico - where she hasn't lived since she was an infant, doesn't speak the language and knows no one - would place her in danger.

"Basically, the judge found her not eligible for withholding of removal (deportation) and found it more likely than not she wouldn't be persecuted" in Mexico, her attorney, Manuel Rios of Seattle, said Thursday.

Immigration laws do not recognize adoption as a special circumstance in deportations.

Judge Tammy Fitting's ruling essentially denied every aspect of Cohen's appeal except to agree that a drug conviction that led to her deportation problem was not a serious crime requiring her automatic removal.

Cohen's predicament was the subject of a News Tribune story in March that detailed her odyssey from adoption as a baby in a Mexico orphanage to her troubles with the law in 2008 that led to her detention in Tacoma by immigration officials.

The ruling this week stunned Cohen and Rios. After an October hearing, both had hoped she might be home with her husband and two young children in Omak for the holidays.

"I'm devastated," Cohen said Thursday in a telephone interview from the detention center. "My husband (Jay) is appalled by the system and angry the system says his wife is not going to be in danger if she goes back to Mexico.

"I know nothing about Mexico."

Cohen said that despite the immigration laws, she feels she is as American as anyone else is this country because she was brought here by her American parents and raised as an American.

Her parents didn't get her naturalized nor did she when she had the chance. By the time she tried to get citizenship as the spouse of an American, she was already in trouble with the law.

Cohen was arrested in 2008 on theft and drug-trafficking charges. She pleaded guilty to stealing a purse containing two bottles of prescription pills and to the trafficking charge, though she never sold a pill.

She served three months of a one-year-and-a-day sentence in prison and federal Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents took her into custody when she got out.

Because she was not considered a citizen or a legal resident, her drug charge made her an automatic candidate to be deported.

Cohen said she knows her immigration troubles are mostly of her own making but doesn't feel it is fair for her or other child adoptees. "I can't go back to Mexico," she said.

She said she plans to appeal the deportation decision again to the federal Bureau of Immigration Appeals. An earlier first appeal led to a hearing before Fitting.

The Mexican Consulate in Seattle thought enough of Cohen's case to ask Rios to be her attorney. The small fee he received came from the Mexican government through a program for Mexican nationals in the United States who need legal help.

Fitting initially ordered Cohen deported in October 2009. She appealed and the immigration appeals panel sent the case back to Fittings to review the seriousness of the drug charge.

At a hearing in October 2010, Fitting agreed the drug charge did not appear to be a "particularly serious" charge that would require her automatic deportation.

That verbal ruling and what Cohen and Rios felt was Fittings general sympathetic comments about the case gave them hope.

To stop the removal, however, Rios also argued that his client needed asylum because she would face persecution in Mexico.

Rios contended Cohen's particular circumstances - white, a woman, poor - would make her like an immigrant and subject to abuse and violence. She also suffers from a bipolar disorder and has been diagnosed with post traumatic stress disorder stemming from an assault when she was a teenager.

"Six out of 10 migrant women and girls experience sexual violence in Mexico and all such women face this serious risk of trafficking," Rios said in his legal brief. "... Kidnapping of migrants for ransom reached almost 10,000 in 2009. ...

"Additionally, there is documentary evidence that (Cohen) would be persecuted in Mexico on account of her mental illness."

Besides violence, Rios said Cohen's circumstances would make it impossible for her to make a living and support herself in what would be essentially a foreign country.

Cohen also told the judge her husband and children wouldn't be able to be with her in Mexico. They too fear a life there, she said.

In her lengthy ruling, Fitting examined each of Cohen's fears and ruled she had not established that it is "more likely than not that she would be persecuted because of her circumstances."

Fitting noted the Mexican government has criminal laws and rules about women's rights and pay in the workplace as well as medical treatment for its citizens.

Though Cohen hasn't been in Mexico since she was a baby, Fitting noted that there was no evidence showing Cohen was persecuted by the Mexican government in the past.

"Not every act of discrimination or harassment rises to the level of persecution," the judge said.

Read more: http://www.azcentral...l#ixzz17lrqA2f6

[luckytxn 2,264]

I thought only illegals were criminals but I guess it is in their DNA as they seem to be even criminals when they are raised here from birth.

[Deputy Purple 1,294]

Since the marriage was before her deportation proceedings, I guess a filing based on her marriage would require her to overcome the drug conviction? If that's not the impediment then I wonder why they didn't go that route which should be much simpler than the Asylum claim.

[Ban Hammer 13,355]

in other news, procrastination bites another one.

[Pooky 3,794]

Her parents didn't get her naturalized nor did she when she had the chance. By the time she tried to get citizenship as the spouse of an American, she was already in trouble with the law.

The sad part here is that, from the OP article, she had the chance to legally naturalize, either through her adoptive parents, or of her own accord, but didn't. This could have been a non-issue, if she and her adoptive family had just respected the law.

Now, her lack of respect for the law, combined with her trouble with the law, is leading to the law running its course. Really, she only has herself to blame for her predicament.

[_Simpson_ 250]

If only we just read headlines. The thread title should read "Judge orders woman drug trafficker adopted as baby deported to Mexico."

Edited December 11, 2010 by _Simpson_

[Peikko 1,575]

The sad part here is that, from the OP article, she had the chance to legally naturalize, either through her adoptive parents, or of her own accord, but didn't. This could have been a non-issue, if she and her adoptive family had just respected the law.

Now, her lack of respect for the law, combined with her trouble with the law, is leading to the law running its course. Really, she only has herself to blame for her predicament.

That may be true, but doesn't any aspect of the fact that deportation in this instance serves no one well disturb you? It does me, as does the case of a severely disabled man for being sentenced to 20+ years in jail for armed robbery when he stole $2,000 with a replica bb gun in an obvious cry for help as a result of learning the severity of his condition. Sometimes people do very odd and yes unlawful things were the consequences are totally disproportionate with the actions. Seems to me that justice isn't all that just in some instances.

Edited December 11, 2010 by Madame Cleo

[Pooky 3,794]

That may be true, but doesn't any aspect of the fact that deportation in this instance serves no one well disturb you? It does me, as does the case of a severely disabled man for being sentenced to 20+ years in jail for armed robbery when he stole $2,000 with a replica bb gun in an obvious cry for help as a result of learning the severity of his condition. Sometimes people do very odd and yes unlawful things were the consequences are totally disproportionate with the actions. Seems to me that justice isn't all that just in some instances.

His criminal activities may well have been a cry for attention. Hers were not.

She did not respect the law when she was not breaking it. From the tone of the OP article, it appears that she was at least aware of her status issue. So when she did break the law, what did she expect?

She really has no-one else to blame for her predicament. Her disrespect of the law has led to this. The consequences of her actions are on her own head.

One aspect of this case I find especially troubling. The Mexican government is paying for her legal representation, as a Mexican citizen, to plead her case for asylum for her from Mexico. Does anyone else think that is slightly twisted logic?

[Ban Hammer 13,355]

That may be true, but doesn't any aspect of the fact that deportation in this instance serves no one well disturb you? It does me, as does the case of a severely disabled man for being sentenced to 20+ years in jail for armed robbery when he stole $2,000 with a replica bb gun in an obvious cry for help as a result of learning the severity of his condition. Sometimes people do very odd and yes unlawful things were the consequences are totally disproportionate with the actions. Seems to me that justice isn't all that just in some instances.

armed robbery is armed robbery. even if it's with a fake gun, one is held liable if say, one of those being robbed has a heart attack and dies. then he's up on a murder charge with a fake gun. strange, i know, but while the robber knows it's a fake gun, his victims didn't - and that is what ultimately counts.

One aspect of this case I find especially troubling. The Mexican government is paying for her legal representation, as a Mexican citizen, to plead her case for asylum for her from Mexico. Does anyone else think that is slightly twisted logic?

it's not really surprising.

[Peikko 1,575]

armed robbery is armed robbery. even if it's with a fake gun, one is held liable if say, one of those being robbed has a heart attack and dies. then he's up on a murder charge with a fake gun. strange, i know, but while the robber knows it's a fake gun, his victims didn't - and that is what ultimately counts.

it's not really surprising.

No one was injured. No, it's not strange but it's not necessarily serving the best interests of society in all cases.

[Peikko 1,575]

His criminal activities may well have been a cry for attention. Hers were not.

She did not respect the law when she was not breaking it. From the tone of the OP article, it appears that she was at least aware of her status issue. So when she did break the law, what did she expect?

She really has no-one else to blame for her predicament. Her disrespect of the law has led to this. The consequences of her actions are on her own head.

One aspect of this case I find especially troubling. The Mexican government is paying for her legal representation, as a Mexican citizen, to plead her case for asylum for her from Mexico. Does anyone else think that is slightly twisted logic?

The consequences of disrespecting the law should fit the circumstances - in this case and the other one I raised it doesn't and that was the point I am making, again.

Why is the action of the Mexican gov troubling? She is technically a Mexican citizen. You are trying to insinuate that the Mexican government has a dubious agenda of supporting the illegal export of its citizens to the US. That's really very absurd.

Edited December 11, 2010 by Madame Cleo

[Pooky 3,794]

The consequences of disrespecting the law should fit the circumstances - in this case and the other one I raised it doesn't and that was the point I am making, again.

Why is the action of the Mexican gov troubling? She is technically a Mexican citizen. You are trying to insinuate that the Mexican government has a dubious agenda of supporting the illegal export of its citizens to the US. That's really very absurd.

The consequences of her disrespecting the law would not, by themselves, have left her in danger of deportation. Then she went and broke it, too. In combination, they make her fully deserving of a one-way ticket out of here.

Whether you agree with drawing the line at drug trafficking, a charge to which she pleaded guilty, by the way, is your choice. But we have to draw the line somewhere. Drug trafficking has the potential to lead to personal harm and therefore, in my opinion, is deserving of being on the deportation side of that hypothetical "line."

And if you don't think the Mexican government is supporting the illegal export of its citizens to the US, you really need to open your eyes to what is happening on our Southern border and further South.

[Peikko 1,575]

The consequences of her disrespecting the law would not, by themselves, have left her in danger of deportation. Then she went and broke it, too. In combination, they make her fully deserving of a one-way ticket out of here.

Whether you agree with drawing the line at drug trafficking, a charge to which she pleaded guilty, by the way, is your choice. But we have to draw the line somewhere. Drug trafficking has the potential to lead to personal harm and therefore, in my opinion, is deserving of being on the deportation side of that hypothetical "line."

And if you don't think the Mexican government is supporting the illegal export of its citizens to the US, you really need to open your eyes to what is happening on our Southern border and further South.

What article are you reading? She has not been accused of a serious drug change, let alone trafficking. She RISKS ending up as a pawn in the drug trade IF she is deported because she is bi-polar, can't speak spanish and has no social network to support her in Mexico .

[Peikko 1,575]

Yes, I do know that Mexico has some serious social problems to deal with, but this is certainly not an example of Mexico trying to shovel off its responsibilities elsewhere as part of some secret 'export our citizens next door because we don't want them' agenda.

[sara..... 371]

What strikes me as odd other than what is reported in this is.......where are her adoptive parents why didn't they naturalize her why are they not made accountable for the difficulties she is having with all of this she has mental problems that alone makes her particularly unaccountable for what she has done..her parents must have known that she has a mental problem she didn't just wake up one day and there it was with out some kind of clues her parents should have explored...but her adoptive family not getting her citizenship is really a serious issue. there is seriously something wrong with patents that bring kids here from another country thru adoption and do not naturalize them

just my opinion

sara