Ex-SoCal councilwoman could be deported

[Ban Hammer 13,352]

LOS ANGELES - All of her life, Zoila Meyer believed she was an American. She even won election to the City Council of Adelanto.

But now she is facing a threat of deportation for illegally voting, because she never became a citizen after being brought to this country from Cuba when she was 1 year old.

"To be honest with you, I'm scared. How can they just pluck me out of my family, my kids?" the 40-year-old mother of four said in a telephone interview Friday.

"If they can do this to me, they can do it to anybody," she said.

After Meyer was elected to the council in Adelanto in 2004, someone told officials that she was born in Cuba, prompting an investigation.

Eventually, "the police came to me and said, 'Zoila, you're not a citizen. You're a legal resident but you're not a citizen,'" said Meyer, who now lives in the San Bernardino County desert town of Apple Valley, near Adelanto.

She resigned after 10 weeks in office in Adelanto, a town of about 23,000.

Meyer, whose story was first reported in the Victorville Daily Press, applied to become a naturalized citizen and continued with her life: raising her children and attending two local colleges to earn degrees toward her goal of working in the justice system as a forensic nurse.

However, because she was not a citizen, Meyer faced a felony charge of illegally voting in the 2004 election.

In April 2006, she pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor charge of fraudulent voting and was placed on probation, fined and ordered to pay restitution.

What Meyer didn't realize is that fraudulently voting is a deportable offense.

On June 18, Meyer said, immigration officials showed up at her home and told her to appear at their San Bernardino office.

Her husband drove her to the office on Tuesday, "and they handcuffed me," Meyer said. "They put me in jail and they frisked me and processed me."

"I said 'You're doing this because I voted?"'

The case is unusual but immigration officials were just doing their job when they arrested Meyer, said Lori Haley, a spokeswoman for U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

"People are arrested on immigration charges from all walks of life," she said. "She can plead her case before an immigration judge, if she feels that she has reason to seek release for removal. ... Everybody has due process when they're arrested."

Meyer was released pending a July 18 appearance before an immigration judge who will determine whether she will be deported to Canada, the last point of entry into the U.S. recorded in her immigration record.

Meyer said she and her parents had visited Canada and she had gone many times to Mexico without anyone ever asking her to prove her citizenship.

Meyer said she does not support illegal immigration but she thinks immigration procedures should be changed to prevent misunderstandings.

"It makes me feel like we're all just numbers," she said of her case. "I see people writing 'this is my country.' It really isn't. It belongs to the government and they decide who stays and who goes .... You think you're free; you're really not."

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and she's was city councilwoman and she didn't know she should not vote?

[Alex+R 0]

and she's was city councilwoman and she didn't know she should not vote?

She didn't know she wasn't a citizen.

[SqdnGuns 21]

You would think that with her college education and interest in politics, she would have known that she was not a citizen. Guess common sense does not come with a degree.

[sparkofcreation 0]

I just don't understand how she's gotten through life without anyone ever asking her for proof of citizenship. I mean, most states require a birth certificate to attend school (including college) and get a driver license.

[trueimage 0]

So anyone can fill out a voter's registration form and receive a card? They don't check that information on the form before issuing the card? I'm appalled. Yeah, I know, I'm naive.

I refuse to believe that she didn't know she was LPR and not a citizen and anyone involved in politics should know that you have to be a citizen to vote in this country. Whate else is strange is that she didn't register to vote until she entered a political office (?) An afterthought maybe?

[natty bumppo 297]

So anyone can fill out a voter's registration form and receive a card? They don't check that information on the form before issuing the card? I'm appalled. Yeah, I know, I'm naive.

I refuse to believe that she didn't know she was LPR and not a citizen and anyone involved in politics should know that you have to be a citizen to vote in this country. Whate else is strange is that she didn't register to vote until she entered a political office (?) An afterthought maybe?

maybe after she entered office ... she thought she was above the law

[Ban Hammer 13,352]

and she's was city councilwoman and she didn't know she should not vote?

She didn't know she wasn't a citizen.

strange, i knew that back when i was about 8-10 years old

[peejay 327]

She's a "dry foot" Cuban. They'll never send her back to Fidel. It won't happen.

[natty bumppo 297]

She's a "dry foot" Cuban. They'll never send her back to Fidel. It won't happen.

He will have expired by then ...

[AnaAndDaniel 0]

She's a "dry foot" Cuban. They'll never send her back to Fidel. It won't happen.

He will have expired by then ...

read somewhere that they are sending her back to Canada, the country last listed in her immigration paperwork. Her family was quoted to the effect that they will sell their house and move to Canada if the feds deport her there. Dunno what the Canadian govt feels about that.

Daniel

:energetic:

[natty bumppo 297]

She's a "dry foot" Cuban. They'll never send her back to Fidel. It won't happen.

He will have expired by then ...

read somewhere that they are sending her back to Canada, the country last listed in her immigration paperwork. Her family was quoted to the effect that they will sell their house and move to Canada if the feds deport her there. Dunno what the Canadian govt feels about that.

Daniel

:energetic:

so .. she broke many laws ... and we are to feel sorry ?

She can take her money and run.

[Saddle Bronc 124]

You would think that with her college education and interest in politics, she would have known that she was not a citizen. Guess common sense does not come with a degree.

She may have thought that Cuban-born longtime refugees were auto-naturalised when their time came (as the US, until BillyBubba's time, was quite welcoming of Cuban refugees).

[Caladan 19]

The instructions on the I-485 have a category for Cubans to become permanent residents, so it wouldn't surprise me if she thought natualization was automatic. I'm inclined to believe her, only because it's ridiculous to think that she knew she was only a (LEGAL) permanent resident and thought she could vote. It's not like you need to be prepped on immigration law to serve on the city council of a town of 23,000.

She may have thought she had naturalized with her parents, and honestly, if she had a social security number, chances are she hasn't been asked for her birth certificate recently. I don't remember having to show it when I received my driver's license. I think I've only needed it for travel to Canada and this process, recently. But presumably she knew she was born in Cuba, so it wouldn't be all that surprising to her if she had a Cuban birth certificate.

[Alex+R 0]

Yes, I don't find it hard to believe that a small-town woman on the city council would be ignorant of a lot of things. I am confused about her being an LPR and not knowing. Clearly she's not in possession of a green card. Don't those need to be updated every 10 years? So that makes her illegally in the U.S. if she has just an expired green card from childhood right?

That said, this is ridiculous. She's just as American as anyone else, regardless of paperwork.

Edited June 25, 2007 by Alex+R

[Ban Hammer 13,352]

Yes, I don't find it hard to believe that a small-town woman on the city council would be ignorant of a lot of things. I am confused about her being an LPR and not knowing. Clearly she's not in possession of a green card. Don't those need to be updated every 10 years? So that makes her illegally in the U.S. if she has just an expired green card from childhood right?

That said, this is ridiculous. She's just as American as anyone else, regardless of paperwork.

so her being illegal makes her an american now?