Rep. Tom Lantos delays deportation of Bay Area couple

Oakland Tribune ^ | December 27, 2003 | T.S. Mills-Faraudo

[yonif]

SAN BRUNO -- A San Bruno couple facing deportation to Mexico and separation from their four American-born children were given another six months to stay in the country, thanks to Rep. Tom Lantos.

Because of a change in immigration laws, Maria and Alfredo Plascencia were scheduled to be deported to Mexico on Jan. 6 and taken away from their four school-age children, who were born and raised in the United States.

Moved by the Plascencias' 15-year struggle to stay in the country, Lantos, D-San Mateo, decided to give the family an early Christmas gift.

After Lantos wrote to the director of detention and removal at the Bureau of Immigration and Customs Enforcement in Washington, D.C., the couple received a six-month reprieve.

This buys the couple some time to work with their lawyers and the federal government to resolve their complex case.

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It also allows Lantos time to introduce a private bill when Congress resumes on Jan. 20 that would permanently prevent the Plascencias from being deported.

The bill must be introduced in a subcommittee and then passed by both the House and Senate.

"The family can now have a happy holiday, secure in the knowledge that everything possible is being done to keep them together," Lantos said.

This isn't the first time Lantos has come to the Plascencias' aid. He wrote to immigration authorities in November 2002 that the family "would suffer economically and emotionally if either parent was deported."

The Plascencias' problems began in 1996 when they applied for permanent residency.

Their attorney advised them to seek asylum, but that was the same year President Clinton signed the Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act, which raised the number of years to qualify for residency from seven to 10.

It also required asylum applicants to prove an extreme hardship.

While they did apply for asylum before the new law went into effect, the INS didn't look at their case until that September. As a result, it was denied.

The Plascencia family could not be reached for comment Wednesday.

"These are the kind of people that this country has opened its heart to," Lantos said. "It's a hard-working couple with four young children who are doing well in school."

[LaraCroft]

No, MOST illegals do not. MOST illegals, something to the tune of 80% make so little that they get more money back in earned income credit than they pay every year, this on top of me schooling their children, and paying for their birth to death health care.

Some do, but so what? They are still ILLEGAL and should still be deported, regardless.

[breakem]

If I may add, it was the LA Times, yest THE Times, that showed that illegals are holding down the poor amongst the US citizenry because they work for less and this drives the value of the labor down, holding pay down for poorer americans.

[speekinout]

You must live in CA. That's the only state I've heard of where people say that illegals can claim EIC.

AFIK, illegals can't get SSNs. That keeps them from getting EIC most places.

[LaraCroft]

More commonly known as "the peoples republic of california".

I'm working to change it, but I've got my bag packed for a quick get away if need be.

[nmh]

Sure, sneak over as an illegal, have kids here and when caught up with, well stay and forget the laws you've broken. It's okay. Instead they need to deport the ENTIRE family.

[William Tell]

RussianConservative said: "Germany, England, France, Italy, Russia and most Europe."

I will have to tell my daughter that she has been wasting her time attempting to get her Italian citizenship. She only needs to go to Italy and she can take up permanent residence. She thought that she wouldn't be able to get permission to work.

[texastoo]

It looks like they came 2 years after Reagan's one time amnesty. Evidently, they didn't belive Reagan.

This is a good examply of how any amnesty works. It Doesn't.