Posted on 04/26/2005 8:00:37 AM PDT by Osage Orange
Governor's Intervention Requested In Deportation
By Judy Gibbs Robinson
The Oklahoman
An advisory commission voted Monday to ask Gov. Brad Henry to intervene in the case of a Mexican woman facing deportation because she was quoted in a Tulsa newspaper.
Federal Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents arrested Gloria Rubio, a stay-at-home mother of three, last week at her Tulsa home.
In March, Rubio was featured in a Tulsa World article about a local program that helps undocumented workers pay their federal income taxes.
"A mother did the right thing and paid her taxes and now she's going to be deported. That's ridiculous," said Guillermo Rojas, a member of the Governor's Advisory Council on Latin American and Hispanic Affairs.
Federal agency spokesman Carl Rusnok in Dallas said anyone in the United States illegally faces the risk of arrest. Asked if Rubio was specifically targeted because she had been quoted in the newspaper, he answered:
"If people are going to flout their illegal status by allowing themselves to be published on the front page of a local newspaper, that's something we're going to take notice of."
Rubio and her husband came to the United States legally in 2001 but overstayed their tourist visas and have been trying to legalize their status since, according to an article in this week's La Semana del Sur, a Spanish-language weekly newspaper published in Tulsa. Rojas is the paper's editor.
That newspaper reported Rubio believed her family's chances of becoming legal would improve if they complied with other laws, including paying their federal income tax.
The Internal Revenue Service encourages undocumented workers to pay taxes using a taxpayer identification number in lieu of a Social Security number.
In a March 16 article about the taxpayer program, the Tulsa World identified Rubio by name. A photo of her and her youngest child, a 3-year-old daughter born in the United States, accompanied the article.
In a second article after Rubio's arrest, the World said Rubio consented to the photo and to be identified by name. That did not placate freelance journalist Judith Hernandez, who spoke at Monday's meeting.
"Something is missing here and that is the responsibility of the newspaper," Hernandez said. "They should pay her lawyers and make other media aware of the situation and the consequences for the whole community."
Precedent being set
The commission unanimously approved Rojas' motion to ask the governor to use whatever influence he may have to come to Rubio's aid. However, commissioners acknowledged the governor may have little sway in a federal immigration case.
"What state action can there be that we can question?" asked commission vice chairman Giovanni Perry, a lawyer. "It all was federal."
"It is a federal case, no doubt," responded Rojas. "But it happened here in Oklahoma."
Although there have been previous cases of undocumented people being deported after being featured in newspaper stories, this is the first case in which an immigrant identified as a participant in the IRS taxpayer program was deported, said Commissioner Nancy Galvan of Oklahoma City.
"This is a precedent," Galvan said.
Rubio's arrest is representative of a growing anti-immigrant mood in Oklahoma and beyond, said Ed Romo, president of the Oklahoma chapter of the League of United Latin American Citizens, addressing the commission.
"There is a mass hysteria in this state that's hurting Latinos in particular but minorities in general," Romo said. "We have legal residents who could be hurt by this."
Your insightful correction is appreciated.
Agreed..!!
I wonder why? Not!
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