A family's painful split decision

[homesick_american 1]

I do not feel one shred of sympathy for these parents. They thieved from the system for 20 years and chose to become illegal immigrants. I'm seriously annoyed that the writer of this column expected me to feel sorry for them. It's outrageous.

http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-ki...ines-california

San Diego — EACH night, Leslie, 16, and Adilene Muñoz, 8, sleep restlessly in their parents' bed while their brother Marcos, 13, covers himself with a blanket on the floor beside them.

Across the border in Tijuana, their parents lie awake in their small third-story apartment, feeling anxious and helpless.

The family has been divided by the U.S.-Mexican border since Feb. 22, when immigration agents arrested and deported Abel Muñoz and Zulma Miranda. The couple decided to leave behind their three U.S.-born children after a relative agreed to watch over them.

"Being separated is very difficult, but why am I going to deprive them of their right to live there?" Miranda said in Spanish, sitting in the Tijuana apartment where she is living with her husband and her parents. "There is no future here. It's a very rough life here. I don't want that for my kids."

Leslie understands her parents' decision but said it's hard having to be a grown-up. Although their aunt lives with them, Leslie said most of the family's responsibilities fall to her. She makes sure Marcos and Adilene get to and from school, that they get dressed and fed, and that they do their homework.

[kitkat1 5]

I do not feel one shred of sympathy for these parents. They thieved from the system for 20 years and chose to become illegal immigrants. I'm seriously annoyed that the writer of this column expected me to feel sorry for them. It's outrageous.

I don't read it as the writer expecting anyone to feel sorry for them - just a story - a day in the life of the family after deportation. It's not like they didn't know what they did was illegal or that they are protesting their deportation like the woman holed up in the church in Chicago.

[Otto 83]

I don't read it as the writer expecting anyone to feel sorry for them - just a story - a day in the life of the family after deportation. It's not like they didn't know what they did was illegal or that they are protesting their deportation like the woman holed up in the church in Chicago.

It is clearly a sympathetic story - the poor mother and father separated from their children. Anxious yet heroic in that they decided to leave their children behind. Oh..when will this family be reunited?

There are at least a few sad realities to this story.

• The illegal acts performed by the parents (to come and live here the way they did/do) with children in tow.
  
• This becomes a way of life that is OK to the children (hence a generational practice)
  
• The fact that one day, this couple will be back in the US with their children
  There will be no follow-up story when they do - and no further 'day-in-the-life-of' stories
  

[LovinLiberia 0]

I do not feel one shred of sympathy for these parents. They thieved from the system for 20 years and chose to become illegal immigrants. I'm seriously annoyed that the writer of this column expected me to feel sorry for them. It's outrageous.

I don't read it as the writer expecting anyone to feel sorry for them - just a story - a day in the life of the family after deportation. It's not like they didn't know what they did was illegal or that they are protesting their deportation like the woman holed up in the church in Chicago.

right...I didn't read it as a plea for sympathy, also. Just another story in the lives of illegal aliens.

[kitkat1 5]

It is clearly a sympathetic story - the poor mother and father separated from their children. Anxious yet heroic in that they decided to leave their children behind. Oh..when will this family be reunited?

There are at least a few sad realities to this story.

• The illegal acts performed by the parents (to come and live here the way they did/do) with children in tow.
  
• This becomes a way of life that is OK to the children (hence a generational practice)
  
• The fact that one day, this couple will be back in the US with their children
  There will be no follow-up story when they do - and no further 'day-in-the-life-of' stories
  

But there is no way to tell from the story that the kids think it is OK. In fact I would think just the opposite - now they are living through the result of their parent's illegal actions - what better lesson than that? And it may be true that one day this couple will be back in the US with their children. The only option they now have is to wait until their children are 21 and have the right to petition for them and allow them to enter legally. By that time their ban will be over or they will have to go through the waiver process. Who knows? It might be a great follow-up story at that time - previous illegal immigrants who lived through the consequences and did it the right way the second time around. And at least they say "We give thanks for the life we have" instead of pretending like they did nothing wrong. The woman in the church in Chicago argues that it is unfair for her to be deported because her son is a USC - she refused to acknowledge that she broke the law not only once by entering illegally but again after she was deported. That story REALLY bothers me.

Edited April 29, 2007 by kitkat1

[Niels Bohr 72]

Only a blind person do not notice that this article is asking for sympathy from somebody important. The parents should be well aware of how to petition their children to live with them. Everyone needs to wait. No one is special. My wife also lives in a much worser country than Mexico. Trust me, it's much worse. I am doing everything legally. These parents are not! They should take responsibility of the punishment.

Edited April 29, 2007 by consolemaster

[Alex+R 0]

If the article asks for sympathy it is for the children--and don't they deserve our sympathy? Who you blame for the situation they are in (no parents) is up to you. Just like many people said, it's the parents' fault for being illegally in the US. Or else it's the government's fault for lacking the compassion to bend the rules in these cases.

[Girona40 0]

Nobody in the media feels any kind of compassion or even appreciation of our situation!

My son is in "Removal Proceedings" and neither he or any of the family have done anything wrong, as far as illegal entry is concerned. None of us have broken any laws since arriving here 5 years ago.

Funny how the media have no interest in a story where no laws have been broken!

Edited April 29, 2007 by Girona40

[meauxna 15]

Only a blind person do not notice that this article is asking for sympathy from somebody important. The parents should be well aware of how to petition their children to live with them. Everyone needs to wait. No one is special. My wife also lives in a much worser country than Mexico. Trust me, it's much worse. I am doing everything legally. These parents are not! They should take responsibility of the punishment.

The parents don't need to petition the kids--the kids can go live in Mexico if they choose. The parents aren't being punished or doing anything illegal right now. And who is the important person whose sympathy the article seeks?

In fact, I don't understand anything in your post other than you're doing everything legally!

[kitkat1 5]

Only a blind person do not notice that this article is asking for sympathy from somebody important. The parents should be well aware of how to petition their children to live with them. Everyone needs to wait. No one is special. My wife also lives in a much worser country than Mexico. Trust me, it's much worse. I am doing everything legally. These parents are not! They should take responsibility of the punishment.

The parents don't need to petition the kids--the kids can go live in Mexico if they choose. The parents aren't being punished or doing anything illegal right now. And who is the important person whose sympathy the article seeks?

In fact, I don't understand anything in your post other than you're doing everything legally!

I agree. Consolemaster I don't think you understand the story or the situation. How can an article ask for sympathy "from somebody important"? The parents have already been deported - nobody "important" can help them. And no one says they are special. They have already taken responsibility to some degree - they didn't fight their deportation and they left their US citizen children in the US in the care of someone else so they complete their education. What's your point exactly?

[homesick_american 1]

Nobody in the media feels any kind of compassion or even appreciation of our situation!

My son is in "Removal Proceedings" and neither he or any of the family have done anything wrong, as far as illegal entry is concerned. None of us have broken any laws since arriving here 5 years ago.

Funny how the media have no interest in a story where no laws have been broken!

Why's he being deported then, if he didn't break any laws?

[LaL 418]

Nobody in the media feels any kind of compassion or even appreciation of our situation!

My son is in "Removal Proceedings" and neither he or any of the family have done anything wrong, as far as illegal entry is concerned. None of us have broken any laws since arriving here 5 years ago.

Funny how the media have no interest in a story where no laws have been broken!

Why's he being deported then, if he didn't break any laws?

because the K2 & K4 visas have a major flaw in the process to AOS. ie: you can age out prior to being adjudicated, or in different terms - you can receive a K2 or K4 and then be deportable the next day, depending on your age.

Edited April 29, 2007 by lal_brandow

[Girona40 0]

Nobody in the media feels any kind of compassion or even appreciation of our situation!

My son is in "Removal Proceedings" and neither he or any of the family have done anything wrong, as far as illegal entry is concerned. None of us have broken any laws since arriving here 5 years ago.

Funny how the media have no interest in a story where no laws have been broken!

Why's he being deported then, if he didn't break any laws?

I am guessing that you are relatively new to this site, compared to me and my husband, as most people know the story behind our case.

Our family's "journey" has been a nightmare. My son entered as a K-2 and filed for AOS when he arrived back in 2003. I had married my USC husband (and have since become a USC, as has my daughter) within the 90 days, my son had applied for his AOS within the correct time, etc. Unfortunately, the USCIS did not expedite his application and he turned 21 during the time they had his file and had done nothing with it! They are now saying that he is deportable. That's how!

[kitkat1 5]

See homesick_american, it's not all cut and dry

[rebeccajo 14]

See homesick_american, it's not all cut and dry

No it isn't. And sooooo many people are quick to scream 'illegal' as if these people were felons.

Just what exactly horrible crime is it someone commits when they either try to come to the US and live or, worse yet, try to do what is right in the eyes of the law and then get caught in the system?

It nearly makes me sick that people refer to families like those in the article as if they were drug dealer or murderers. Breaking the law! Where is the sense of priorities, of laws worth enforcing?