One Year Later, Villatoro's Deportation Still Resonates

[Dakine10 5,452]

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.

I'm not excusing his actions. He put himself in that position. Even if all he had done was violated immigration law, he'd still be here as weird as that sounds. DUI dug a deeper hole, and fake papers - doesn't set him apart from anyone else here illegally, but probably was strike three.

The more I think about it, ICE probably just had a list, and the things he did got him high enough on that list to get noticed.

[Expat1 971]

A clarification on the situation I was talking about yesterday:

The man and woman are not married but have been living in the US for many years. Neither are here legally.

They have three young children (two in CA , the other in ID) All were born in the US.

As I understand it.. She will be getting a U visa - it does not require the person committing the crime to be an LPR or citizen, it only requires the crime to have been committed on US soil. There is some paperwork required by law enforcement that tends to be difficult to get stating that the person is cooperating fully on helping prosecute the crime.

In this case the violence committed by the boyfriend was done in California which has a new law came into effect in January 2016 that makes the paperwork much easier to obtain which in turn makes the U visa easier to obtain. The U visa also gives the immediate ability to work - even before the visa is granted.

The U Visa is a non-immigrant visa and does not have a direct path to permanent residency - there is however a clause to allow for a green card path to "preserve family unity."

So: The crime (boyfriend beating up the girlfriend) qualified for the U visa. The fact it occurred in California made the form from the police more easily obtainable. The Children she is responsible for will allow for converting the non-immigrant visa to something more permanent.

Qualifying for a U Visa: https://www.uscis.gov/humanitarian/victims-human-trafficking-other-crimes/victims-criminal-activity-u-nonimmigrant-status/victims-criminal-activity-u-nonimmigrant-status

Story on the CA law: http://www.reuters.com/article/us-immigration-california-idUSKCN0S40N920151010

Fact sheet on the new CA law (SB 674): http://www.ilrc.org/files/documents/sb_674_fact_sheet.pdf

Converting the U visa for permanent residence: https://www.uscis.gov/green-card/other-ways-get-green-card/green-card-victim-crime-u-nonimmigrant

You just do what your wife says and good luck to that family

[Expat1 971]

I'm not excusing his actions. He put himself in that position. Even if all he had done was violated immigration law, he'd still be here as weird as that sounds. DUI dug a deeper hole, and fake papers - doesn't set him apart from anyone else here illegally, but probably was strike three.

The more I think about it, ICE probably just had a list, and the things he did got him high enough on that list to get noticed.

One article i read on this case said exactly the above. He was put on a list because of those past convictions and they picked him up.

[Transborderwife 4,666]

One article i read on this case said exactly the above. He was put on a list because of those past convictions and they picked him up.

So if he was say a law abiding (other than immigration) soccer mom, he likely could have lived out his days?

[OnMyWayID 1,489]

So if he was say a law abiding (other than immigration) soccer mom, he likely could have lived out his days?

in 2015 there were 235,000 people deported.

Of those 235,000 people deported 166,000 of them were from the point if entry or very near the border - they never made it in (nearly half of those stopped at the borders trying to get in already had past criminal records in the US)

That leaves 69,000 that were deported from the interior of the country.. Of those 63,500 (91%) were previously convicted of a crime.

That leaves 5,500. Another 1000+ were removed because they were suspected gang members for drug cartels

That leaves 4,500 - out of the 12,000,000 living here - that were removed for some unknown reason.

Don't break the law and there is almost no chance of being deported.

https://www.ice.gov/removal-statistics

Edited March 21, 2016 by OnMyWayID

[Expat1 971]

So if he was say a law abiding (other than immigration) soccer mom, he likely could have lived out his days?

Thats what the numbers seem to indicate yes

[OnMyWayID 1,489]

One interesting stat - We hear over and over again how deportations have gone way up in the Obama administration.. The actual people *within the country* being deported has been going way down the last few years. These are the ones the administration has the most control over..

Nearly 224,000 in 2011 and down to 69,500 last year.. Clearly somebody is dragging their feet... Or maybe they have gotten rid of the bulk of criminals in that group?

Edited March 21, 2016 by OnMyWayID

[OriZ 3,157]

An elequent summary that should be applied to Palestinians. You're pretty generous with our resources, it would be good to see you advocate application of these values in your former country.

As to our laws, if you had been found guilty of a crime of that put you in an excluded category you wouldnt be in the US either. Nobody's calling for the mother to be picked up and deported but if the law was applied to her she would be on the bus too. This family has stretched the limits of what I believe they should be entitled to and should be thankful, not complaining that they feel they are above the law. Dude conciously made more than one bad choice. "Finding Jesus" later is not actually written into the law as an exception.

You're mixing two completely different issues that have nothing to do with one another. And I don't always agree with everything Israel does, either.

Wording it as "our resources" makes it sound like you're talking to an outsider who doesn't care. I live here, they are my resources too. Believe me since we've been here we paid ALOT in taxes. Not to mention the ones my wife has paid all her life.

My point is if they wanted to deport him they should have done this years ago. If they did not, boohoo for them. He can still pay in other ways as mentioned by me and others, community service, fines, etc. Deportation is not always the answer.

Edited March 21, 2016 by OriZ

[Umka36 781]

I never understood why the blame is only one sided when we talk about breaking up family, which is always the US government's fault. I would have more sympathy if the parent(s) breaking the law took ownership of their mistake or stop continuing to break other local/federal laws (this is where most get into trouble). More often than not, they play the innocent card and go to the media for sympathy.

As some have said, no one stops the parents from from bringing their children with them. The US really should amend the 14th amendment, so the issue of breaking up family is a moot point (when involving children born in the US). The law is outdated, but it's not going to change in my lifetime and I've accepted it.

[OriZ 3,157]

There are 40 million immigrants here now, we seem to be adding as many as can be realistically absorbed. Currently you can immigrate through: Family, Job, Refugee, lottery, large investment, and of course illegally.

If we are going to limit the number coming in by how many can be absorbed without creating undue hardship then adding an additional route will strain other routes. The outcome is crazy long queues for those routes not "high priority." which I believe exist now for some that have to wait a decade or more in some cases.

The basic equation would be: The easier and more inclusive the process for letting a person in, the longer the wait that person will have to get the visa.

Of course if we removed the illegal immigrants (12 million - so 25% of the total) that would free up a lot of space

The lottery(diversity visa) is really the only way today where people can come in without the job, family, refugee or investment. I'm not saying we should take anyone who wants to come in for whatever reason. I just think there are sometimes circumstances where people don't fall under any of those criterias where it should at the very least be considered, if it would benefit both them and the country. Usually some of those people end up coming in anyway(illegally) and then you don't even get taxes out of them.

[Boiler 45,715]

The lottery(diversity visa) is really the only way today where people can come in without the job, family, refugee or investment. I'm not saying we should take anyone who wants to come in for whatever reason. I just think there are sometimes circumstances where people don't fall under any of those criterias where it should at the very least be considered, if it would benefit both them and the country. Usually some of those people end up coming in anyway(illegally) and then you don't even get taxes out of them.

So you want to expand the lottery? Most people want it gone.

[OriZ 3,157]

So you want to expand the lottery? Most people want it gone.

No, it has to be a completely different process.

I don't understand why most people want it gone. It has gotten alot of skilled people in the country. But then again maybe that's why?(taking jobs away)...in the end it helps the economy. If the FED and the government weren't so reckless, there would be plenty more jobs.

[Boiler 45,715]

No, it has to be a completely different process.

I don't understand why most people want it gone. It has gotten alot of skilled people in the country. But then again maybe that's why?(taking jobs away)...in the end it helps the economy. If the FED and the government weren't so reckless, there would be plenty more jobs.

You seem to want a Lottery but not excluding Mexico, India, UK etc.

If I have misunderstood what you want you need to be clearer.

Mainly the DV is pointless, if it was not there you could use the visa's for other categories that are backlogged.

[OnMyWayID 1,489]

The lottery(diversity visa) is really the only way today where people can come in without the job, family, refugee or investment. I'm not saying we should take anyone who wants to come in for whatever reason. I just think there are sometimes circumstances where people don't fall under any of those criterias where it should at the very least be considered, if it would benefit both them and the country. Usually some of those people end up coming in anyway(illegally) and then you don't even get taxes out of them.

I've heard one suggestion I like: 16 of the top 20 universities in the world are in the US and there are many foreign students that attend. If a foreign student attends a major school and has a 3.5 or greater GPA the diploma should come with a green card stapled to it since these are the people that will be job creators in the future. .

We could also do freedom of movement/immigration for those in countries where the flow would be about equal in both directions and the effect is minimal culturally: Canada, UK/EU, Australia, etc.. and take them out of the counting numbers - Assuming an agreement could be made with those countries.

But say we pick a number of new additions per year.. Say 300,000.. Presumably Family visas get priority, then Refugees and other special cases, then investment, etc, etc.. Until you get to those that just want to come for some random reason. They would get whatever is left over of the 300,000 each year assuming there were empty spots. What can be done besides a lottery system to fill those last spots to whittle down the field? Or do people just get placed in a queue and wait forever? I have no idea what the answer is - What do other western countries do?

Edited March 21, 2016 by OnMyWayID

[Boiler 45,715]

US is only country with a lottery.