A family's painful split decision

[LaL 418]

See homesick_american, it's not all cut and dry

thats exactly what i think every time i see a post about anti-illegals or anti-deportee's for that matter. look how many times have we seen on this site someone submits an AR-11 and it never goes through? anything could be sent to the old location and you would THINK and organization as complicated as USCIS could handle a measly address change, but they can't. things go unreceived and denials occur as a result. its NOT only border crosser's here. its NOT all cut and dry.

[CountryBoy 0]

$1000 dollars a week .. how much to you suppose he paid in taxes?

Just a thought

Edited April 29, 2007 by CountryBoy

[kitkat1 5]

Thanks for the back-up rebeccajo and lal_brandow. It's hard enough to read the super harsh comments and judgements made about illegal immigrants since each story is about a real human being.

I have never posted the story of why my Mexican fiance had to file a waiver. Perhaps people just assume that he illegally crossed the border and that's all there is to it. In reality it could be any number of things . . . He could have been brought to the US illegally as a child and the returned to Mexico as an adult and now has to file a waiver to come back to marry me. He could have been in the US on a tourist visa visiting me when I was in a devastating car accident and stayed an extra 3 months to help me through the recovery. He could have been in the US on a tourist visa when I was diagnosed with cancer, had to undergo surgery and 6 + months of chemotherapy and radiation. It could have happened long before I ever knew him and now we are paying the price. Who knows? There are all kinds of reasons why these things happen, whether it's illegal entry, deportation, bans, etc. It's not always the fault of the person involved (as is often the case with children) and it's not always as simple as placing blame on the person going through it.

CountryBoy - most undocumented workers that I have known through my work have ITTNs to pay their taxes. Knowing that they are at risk every single day of being deported usually means they are extra careful.

[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.

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!

Hmm...Isn't not being able to live with you little children consider a little bit unfair? If not, explain what you mean? Or, maybe you're trying to say something that I don't understand.

I hope you had done well in literature in high school if you did understand, and can make inferences.

Edited April 30, 2007 by consolemaster

[kitkat1 5]

It is you who does not understand.

1) The parents were deported to Mexico and that is where they currently live.

2)The children are US Citizens and have the right to remain in the US. This family made the decision for the children to stay in the US to complete their education. The parents can bring them to Mexico at anytime they want - they do not have to petition for their own children to live in their own country legally with them.

3) Yes, not being able to live with their children is unfair, but the parents BROKE THE LAW and are now paying the price - they were deported. US Immigration law does consider or take into account if families are separated - that was perhaps one of the points of the story. Just because someone came to the country illegally and had children in the US, it does not give them the right to remain in the country.

4) Nobody has any idea what you were trying to say with this sentence: "Only a blind person do not notice that this article is asking for sympathy from somebody important"

Edited April 30, 2007 by kitkat1

[Caladan 19]

Here is my cookie theory of illegal immigration threads on VJ. If USCIS gave people a cookie for filing legally and said "What a good person you are", people'd feel better about themselves and wouldn't need their two minutes hate.

Feeling the need to stoke the outrage daily? Someone explain it to me. I literally don't get it. Why should I be jealous of an illegal worker? I didn't have to cross a desert or live in poverty, or live with the fear of deportation, or work in a low-paying job, or be a migrant farm worker. I don't have to file a waiver for C. for an overstay, and I don't need a pat on my head and a cookie because I'm doing it legally.

Being unable to feel compassion because you didn't get your cookie and a pat on the head? What the hell is wrong with you? I mean, really, man. You'd probably feel bad for a neighbor's kid if his dad got caught up on tax fraud, or if his mom was an alcoholic or addicted to pills, even if you paid your taxes and didn't drink or use prescription drugs. Probably would even make a casserole if his dad had to go to prison or his mom to rehab. Would you stand on your lawn and yell at your neighbor's kid that YOUR DAD SCREWED UP SO SUFFER, and tell the church ladies who come around to help that they're ENCOURAGING ILLEGAL BEHAVIOR because they're being nice?

You sure as hell feel compassion for people who have to file I-601s for substantial criminal pasts. Why you don't screech "YOU DID SOMETHING BAD NOW SUFFER!!!" I think it's right to feel compassion, and so do you, so... what makes illegals out of bounds for compassion? The fact that you filed a marriage-based visa? The fact that they get in the newspaper and you don't?

The government needs to fix the illegal immigration situation. I think everyone agrees on that. But I don't get why the fact that I filed a K-1 means that I should have extra-special hate dialed up daily.

[Niels Bohr 72]

Oh. I do hope you remember that it doesn't necessary need to ask for sympathy. In school, you learned that you can infer sympathy from reading as an audience. And, in College writing they taught you how to sway the emotions of the reader to favor you. I hope you also remember this.

[kitkat1 5]

Oh. I do hope you remember that it doesn't necessary need to ask for sympathy. In school, you learned that you can infer sympathy from reading as an audience. And, in College writing they taught you how to sway the emotions of the reader to favor you. I hope you also remember this.

Dude, WHAT are you trying to say? No one really needs a ninth grade English composition lesson here but you may want to think a bit more before you type.

The thread started by the OP saying she did not feel sympathy. Some of us do, some of us don't. That's what the thread is about.

You said: "Only a blind person do not notice that this article is asking for sympathy from somebody important"

What important person are you talking about and what is your point? ARRRGHHHHHH

Edited April 30, 2007 by kitkat1

[rebeccajo 14]

The government needs to fix the illegal immigration situation. I think everyone agrees on that. But I don't get why the fact that I filed a K-1 means that I should have extra-special hate dialed up daily.

Best. Post. Ever.

[Otto 83]

The government needs to fix the illegal immigration situation. I think everyone agrees on that. But I don't get why the fact that I filed a K-1 means that I should have extra-special hate dialed up daily.

Best. Post. Ever.

[homesick_american 1]

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.

I joined last year, and there's no way I can know every member's "story". Most people here don't seem to know mine despite the timeline in my signature.

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!

Well, that sucks. Looks like he fell into a crack as opposed to the people in the story, who lived in America as illegal aliens for over 20 years. Apples and oranges.

See homesick_american, it's not all cut and dry

Um...in this case, where the parents lived in America illegally for 20 years and had themselves some anchor babies...it is 100% cut and dried. These people committed a crime, they knew they were doing it, they did not get f*cked over by the system at all. They deserved to be deported. Period. End of.

[homesick_american 1]

Here is my cookie theory of illegal immigration threads on VJ. If USCIS gave people a cookie for filing legally and said "What a good person you are", people'd feel better about themselves and wouldn't need their two minutes hate.

Feeling the need to stoke the outrage daily? Someone explain it to me. I literally don't get it. Why should I be jealous of an illegal worker? I didn't have to cross a desert or live in poverty, or live with the fear of deportation, or work in a low-paying job, or be a migrant farm worker. I don't have to file a waiver for C. for an overstay, and I don't need a pat on my head and a cookie because I'm doing it legally.

They live in fear because they broke the law. They don't want to get caught because they know what they did was illegal. They're fugitives from the law. Illegals DO impact the US economy...negatively, might I add. Plus, I'm tired of my country being the release valve for the poor of a nation that ranks 15th in the world in terms of GDP. They are Mexico's problem, and I'm tired of Mexico trying to write the agenda for US immigration law. #### that. It's our country...we get to make the rules. Nuts to them.

Being unable to feel compassion because you didn't get your cookie and a pat on the head? What the hell is wrong with you? I mean, really, man. You'd probably feel bad for a neighbor's kid if his dad got caught up on tax fraud, or if his mom was an alcoholic or addicted to pills, even if you paid your taxes and didn't drink or use prescription drugs. Probably would even make a casserole if his dad had to go to prison or his mom to rehab. Would you stand on your lawn and yell at your neighbor's kid that YOUR DAD SCREWED UP SO SUFFER, and tell the church ladies who come around to help that they're ENCOURAGING ILLEGAL BEHAVIOR because they're being nice?

I don't feel sympathy for people who knowingly break the law, no. Why should I? Sure, I feel bad for their kids; but I blame the parents. Do you honestly think I would stand on my lawn and yell 'neener neener' at some kid whose dad just got hauled off to Stripe City for tax evasion? If you really think that, why are you even bothering to talk to me since I'm obviously a sociopath?

You sure as hell feel compassion for people who have to file I-601s for substantial criminal pasts. Why you don't screech "YOU DID SOMETHING BAD NOW SUFFER!!!" I think it's right to feel compassion, and so do you, so... what makes illegals out of bounds for compassion? The fact that you filed a marriage-based visa? The fact that they get in the newspaper and you don't?

Actually, I don't feel sorry for people with a 'substantial' criminal past. I think it's a bit sad that the US considers minor shoplifting offenses committed years ago to be crimes 'involving moral turpitude.' I think that's a tad harsh, but those laws are there for a reason, i.e. to protect American society from criminals and lawbreakers. I think it's good that they're not just let in, that they have to prove themselves. Some of them who are ultimately denied really do deserve to be denied.

The government needs to fix the illegal immigration situation. I think everyone agrees on that. But I don't get why the fact that I filed a K-1 means that I should have extra-special hate dialed up daily.

Who here is hating on you? I'm certainly not, and if you're taking anything I've said personally, that isn't my problem. This isn't directed at anybody...this is just my own personal opinion, an opinion that I have every right to. You being offended by it is your choice.

[Girona40 0]

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.

I joined last year, and there's no way I can know every member's "story". Most people here don't seem to know mine despite the timeline in my signature.

Nobody is expecting anyone on this board to know "every member's story", but if you post a question asking what happened to someone wouldn't it make sense to look at their profile/details first?

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!

Well, that sucks. Looks like he fell into a crack as opposed to the people in the story, who lived in America as illegal aliens for over 20 years. Apples and oranges.

Apples and Oranges to people like you and I, but not to the USCIS. My son is not entitled to stay here in their eyes, and subject to deportation! The issue I have is that in his case there is no law that he has broken, but a silence in the statute. I had an e-mail this morning from a USCIS Policy Director who tells me that there is nothing he can do and that the law needs changing. Great, but how does that help my son in the meantime? It doesn't - he is having to go through deportation proceedings, but has done nothing wrong! Why I get so upset is that all those that entered this country "illegally" are likely to get a change in the law allowing them all to stay, but my son may not. I have a sense of justice and when it is not applied to my own family I get pretty upset that those that broke the law (intentionally) are crying out for "justice".

See homesick_american, it's not all cut and dry

Um...in this case, where the parents lived in America illegally for 20 years and had themselves some anchor babies...it is 100% cut and dried. These people committed a crime, they knew they were doing it, they did not get f*cked over by the system at all. They deserved to be deported. Period. End of.

I do feel for the children who suffer because of their parents decisions, but I don't understand how any parent can leave a child to fend for itself just so that they can be used to gain immigration benefit themselves. In our case, if my son's deportation goes through, we won't hesitate to leave the US so that our family to remain together, and three of us are US citizens.

Edited April 30, 2007 by Girona40

[homesick_american 1]

Nobody is expecting anyone on this board to know "every member's story", but if you post a question asking what happened to someone wouldn't it make sense to look at their profile/details first?

To be honest, I don't have time to research everyones' background. It's easier to just ask.

Apples and Oranges to people like you and I, but not to the USCIS. My son is not entitled to stay here in their eyes, and subject to deportation! The issue I have is that in his case there is no law that he has broken, but a silence in the statute. I had an e-mail this morning from a USCIS Policy Director who tells me that there is nothing he can do and that the law needs changing. Great, but how does that help my son in the meantime? It doesn't - he is having to go through deportation proceedings, but has done nothing wrong! Why I get so upset is that all those that entered this country "illegally" are likely to get a change in the law allowing them all to stay, but my son may not. I have a sense of justice and when it is not applied to my own family I get pretty upset that those that broke the law (intentionally) are crying out for "justice".

This might shock you, but I agree that your son shouldn't be deported and I think it's bullsh!t that people are going to be out and about admitting to being illegal aliens while your son has to go through this. I agree that it's unfair.

I do feel for the children who suffer because of their parents decisions, but I don't understand how any parent can leave a child to fend for itself just so that they can be used to gain immigration benefit themselves. In our case, if my son's deportation goes through, we won't hesitate to leave the US so that our family to remain together, and three of us are US citizens.

Again, we are in agreement; I am wondering at this point precisely what the disagreement is supposed to be about. People are jumping all over me saying "see, see, you're wrong, it's not cut and dried." Who the hell said it was? In the LA Times story, the parents were illegals who deserved to be booted across the border. I don't think anyone's disputing that, so why all the finger-pointing and nanny boo-boos from everyone?

I still don't really get why your son is being deported; this is not an area I've looked at and there are several forums here that I rarely ever read, so I don't get what the problem is. I get that there IS a problem; the why is what's confusing me.

[rebeccajo 14]

HA, the 'why' in Girona's son's case was caused purely by administrative delays by USCIS.

He turned 21 before his AOS was adjudicated. But he was 21 before he filed it.

Now they want to deport him.

Simple. Simply stupid.