One Year Later, Villatoro's Deportation Still Resonates

[Transborderwife 4,666]

I'm sorry I guess I find illegal immigrants to be a huge slap in the face to families who go through the process the right way and either have to wait many years to be with their family or families that get right out denied. I also find it to be adding salt to the wound when women come right over the border to have kids....from any place it's not just Latin countries. I know an old man from my town who used to live a very simple life (he was here legally from the Philippines) he wanted to bring his wife here to be treated for cancer....well she died during the 12 year wait...he died alone. If you break the law by coming here one should not be rewarded by given legalization. If we don't hold up the law than what is the point of the visa process? Just let anyone in. I don't blame this family for the whole thing....we have a very flawed system. Very flawed. I am all for legal immigration from any place! I am all for brining refugees here....just don't come here illegally and expect people to feel sorry when something happens. I mean it was a law that was broken. Normally when you break major laws you go to jail...consequences come in every form.

Right, but you don't go to jail for civil matters which immigration is. I'm not familiar with what happened with his other matters or what kind of penalty he faced. I think that everyone can agree that our system is broken. We need a better system in place that allows immigration for the average joe so that these things aren't as prevalent.

There are definitely kids who believe themselves to be citizens only to find out that they were brought as infants. If deported to their country of origin I can empathize with their plight as they're going to a country that they've never known or seen and possibly don't speak the language. Deport them all? I think that we know that's no send that would bankrupt the country. Abide by the guidelines in place? Certainly.

[Dakine10 5,452]

Right, but you don't go to jail for civil matters which immigration is. I'm not familiar with what happened with his other matters or what kind of penalty he faced. I think that everyone can agree that our system is broken. We need a better system in place that allows immigration for the average joe so that these things aren't as prevalent.

There are definitely kids who believe themselves to be citizens only to find out that they were brought as infants. If deported to their country of origin I can empathize with their plight as they're going to a country that they've never known or seen and possibly don't speak the language. Deport them all? I think that we know that's no send that would bankrupt the country. Abide by the guidelines in place? Certainly.

They will target people with DUI's for removal, but it's unusual they are targeting a guy from so far back and who seems to have had contact with USCIS in the interim. As far as I can see, he hasn't had any contact with law enforcement since that time, but these stories are sometimes lacking in details.

ICE did have a quota of 1000 people. Maybe they were looking for some easy targets. That's all I can think of really.

[OriZ 3,157]

I'm sorry I guess I find illegal immigrants to be a huge slap in the face to families who go through the process the right way and either have to wait many years to be with their family or families that get right out denied. I also find it to be adding salt to the wound when women come right over the border to have kids....from any place it's not just Latin countries. I know an old man from my town who used to live a very simple life (he was here legally from the Philippines) he wanted to bring his wife here to be treated for cancer....well she died during the 12 year wait...he died alone. If you break the law by coming here one should not be rewarded by given legalization. If we don't hold up the law than what is the point of the visa process? Just let anyone in. I don't blame this family for the whole thing....we have a very flawed system. Very flawed. I am all for legal immigration from any place! I am all for brining refugees here....just don't come here illegally and expect people to feel sorry when something happens. I mean it was a law that was broken. Normally when you break major laws you go to jail...consequences come in every form.

Right, but you don't go to jail for civil matters which immigration is. I'm not familiar with what happened with his other matters or what kind of penalty he faced. I think that everyone can agree that our system is broken. We need a better system in place that allows immigration for the average joe so that these things aren't as prevalent.

There are definitely kids who believe themselves to be citizens only to find out that they were brought as infants. If deported to their country of origin I can empathize with their plight as they're going to a country that they've never known or seen and possibly don't speak the language. Deport them all? I think that we know that's no send that would bankrupt the country. Abide by the guidelines in place? Certainly.

This reminds me of a story I saw once on TV...it was several years ago, this kid's parents brought her to the US illegally when she was little, I don't remember how young, nor do I remember the precise details so I might be wrong on one or two things, but anyway some 30 years later after she's a grown up, spent all her life in the US, has a husband and kids, she was told in order to be legal she would have to leave and come back through some kind of process, she was told she could come back right away. So she leaves and basically they wouldn't let her back. The whole life she knew for 30 years - gone, now she has to pay for her parents' mistakes.

I don't care how you look at it that is just plain wrong.

Yes illegal actions should have consequences, but if the system couldn't find them or deport them yet, they shouldn't have to pay for the system's incompetence. Build the wall I don't care. Declare that anyone who comes in illegally from now on will be deported immediately, anyone who came in illegally in the last 5 years deported immediately. Anyone who's been here longer than that can pay in other ways - fines, community service, etc.

[Expat1 971]

They will target people with DUI's for removal, but it's unusual they are targeting a guy from so far back and who seems to have had contact with USCIS in the interim. As far as I can see, he hasn't had any contact with law enforcement since that time, but these stories are sometimes lacking in details.

ICE did have a quota of 1000 people. Maybe they were looking for some easy targets. That's all I can think of really.

DUI and illegal papers, 2 separate incidents, either of which are listed exclusions (fraud being a moral terpitude category) did him in. Hate to see this happen to a family but if I get caught with fake papers depending on what i'm using them or i'm risking being separated from my family as well. We have laws and when those laws are broken the consequences are bigger than expected sometimes.

[Transborderwife 4,666]

DUI and illegal papers, 2 separate incidents, either of which are listed exclusions (fraud being a moral terpitude category) did him in. Hate to see this happen to a family but if I get caught with fake papers depending on what i'm using them or i'm risking being separated from my family as well. We have laws and when those laws are broken the consequences are bigger than expected sometimes.

Fake papers are a big deal breaker to me. Especially if claiming to be a citizen.

[Webdevman 93]

Kind of harsh to deport someone after all this time for fairly miner crimes committed over 15 years ago. Yes crimes have consequences but should someone have to pay their entire life for miner, non violent crimes? There are probably much worse people that should be deported.

Building a wall is just a republican talking point. Realistically a wall the length of the border would be nearly impossible and would not work. There are rivers and terrain that just make a wall impossible and people will dig under it or go over to get in anyways. More wasted tax payer money when the truth is more Mexican people are leaving the US now than coming in.

Let us not forget how the USA came into existence and who was there first.. and let us not forget the words on the Statue of Liberty.

"Give me your tired, your poor,
Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free,
The wretched refuse of your teeming shore.
Send these, the homeless, tempest-tossed to me,
I lift my lamp beside the golden door!"

Edited March 21, 2016 by Webdevman

[Transborderwife 4,666]

There's a little known fact that in the fine print it includes "but come so legally" on Lady Liberty ?

Edited March 21, 2016 by Transborderwife

[Transborderwife 4,666]

☺️

[yuna628 9,686]

Here's the thing, actions have consequences... except when our laws and procedures make the consequences an actual joke. If we follow the law, the man should have been deported a long time ago, before he managed to procreate. However, since he's been here a long time and has now brought life (along with the wife) into the world, his kids will suffer his burdens. That's the part that angers me the most, it's pure selfishness and stupidity, as the children now are caught up in the actions of their parents.

There needs to be a serious overhaul of our system, but we as Americans also need to figure out what we want to do. We need to start caring about immigration, instead of absorbing every stupid and angry nonsense talking-point, and make it fair and workable for all. Either we start making the law have consequences like it's supposed to, or we don't and keep the status quo, or we start thinking outside the box and change it.

Like a few people here I think it starts getting silly that we waited 15 years to let this man hang around. But now that we've done so willfully, it starts looking mighty hypocritical. It's hard not to have sympathy, but the reality is I don't have sympathy for this man - his children is where my sympathy is placed. If things were more fair perhaps we either kick him out of the country and allow him to re-enter after paying a heavy penalty or we allow him to stay and still require a heavy penalty. Penalties can involve money but it can also involve other further consequences too.

It's easy to keep saying ''there's worse people in the world to deport'', and that's of course true. But what good is the rule of law if it is not enforced fairly for all?

[Boiler 45,715]

Obviously as in this case if you can afford the legal fees and there are no shortage of morally disadvantaged lawyers you can drag out these cases for a very long time.

So the suggestion here is:

Enter illegally.

Drag out any process as long as possible

Pay a fine and you are good o go

Now how much of a fine, well the nearest equivalent I can think of is the EB5, minimum investment of $500,000 buys you and your family a GC. Or are we looking at some cut price offer?

[Transborderwife 4,666]

Well said Yuna. Unfortunately I believe that if the USA were to completely overhaul the system they'd have to suspend all immigration activity for some time. Somehow I don't think that that would go over very well.

[eieio 1,594]

Build the wall,get control over the borders, crack down on those who hire illegals, and then decide what should be done with illegals.

All the failed changes done in the past were all backwards. The best way to describe it would be having a leak in a boat. Do you just keep bailing out the water or do you find the leak and stop it?

[N and J 88]

Right, but you don't go to jail for civil matters which immigration is. I'm not familiar with what happened with his other matters or what kind of penalty he faced. I think that everyone can agree that our system is broken. We need a better system in place that allows immigration for the average joe so that these things aren't as prevalent.

There are definitely kids who believe themselves to be citizens only to find out that they were brought as infants. If deported to their country of origin I can empathize with their plight as they're going to a country that they've never known or seen and possibly don't speak the language. Deport them all? I think that we know that's no send that would bankrupt the country. Abide by the guidelines in place? Certainly.

Excuse me but I never said anything about kids. Kids are innocent in a whole illegal immigration process. I also do not feel that a family should be broken up. I just don't believe in breaking the law by jumping the border or jumping a visa. It is not an easy problem to fix and I don't believe in building a wall like Trump. I don't believe we should deport them all. So please don't confuse my statement.

[yuna628 9,686]

Obviously as in this case if you can afford the legal fees and there are no shortage of morally disadvantaged lawyers you can drag out these cases for a very long time.

So the suggestion here is:

Enter illegally.

Drag out any process as long as possible

Pay a fine and you are good o go

Now how much of a fine, well the nearest equivalent I can think of is the EB5, minimum investment of $500,000 buys you and your family a GC. Or are we looking at some cut price offer?

How much of a fine indeed. Well, what was the current proposed fine that lawmakers were talking about when they were last yelling about ''amnesty''?

Questions we'd need to ask is: has the person paid taxes? If no, they're going to have to pay them.

Have they committed a crime while inside the US? Automatic deportation and no way of getting back in for many different crimes. Too bad, so sad.

The fine is the real question though and of course how we'd expect a person to pay it. Lump sum or installments? A high fine is only going to be good unless the person is able to pay for it you know?

Other consequences: make the fine of any employer that has hired an illegal immigrant very high that it becomes quite painful to 'business'.

No citizenship period (the kids are citizens under the law and kids that have been smuggled in and have been living and identifying as Americans for years should be allowed to stay without penalty unless they have committed a crime. it was through no fault of their own).

How about some sort of mandatory community service?

I'm sure there's some other ideas..

Well said Yuna. Unfortunately I believe that if the USA were to completely overhaul the system they'd have to suspend all immigration activity for some time. Somehow I don't think that that would go over very well.

Possibly yes. But nothing involving immigration ever does seem to go over well. I went through weeks of bashing my head against the wall every time I read or heard a talking point about K1 visas during the San Bernardino attack. Every politician and news man was suddenly an expert, when they cared nothing about the program before, and half of the things they were saying were false. Americans don't even understand how our own system works, but yet everyone has an opinion about it.

Build the wall,get control over the borders, crack down on those who hire illegals, and then decide what should be done with illegals.

All the failed changes done in the past were all backwards. The best way to describe it would be having a leak in a boat. Do you just keep bailing out the water or do you find the leak and stop it?

Cracking down on those who hire them is something we can agree on, but the wall isn't going to do a thing. A wall is an expensive physical object. People must like things they can physically see because they can't be bothered to take the time to understand immigration law as it is now or actually... you know fix what we've got. If you fix what we've got, suddenly the need for objects disappears.

[Transborderwife 4,666]

Excuse me but I never said anything about kids. Kids are innocent in a whole illegal immigration process. I also do not feel that a family should be broken up. I just don't believe in breaking the law by jumping the border or jumping a visa. It is not an easy problem to fix and I don't believe in building a wall like Trump. I don't believe we should deport them all. So please don't confuse my statement.

Understood.