Posted on 05/22/2007 11:25:20 AM PDT by Behind Liberal Lines
PENN YAN NY- A routine traffic stop last December changed the lives of Sadie and Fernando Garcia forever.
Fernando is a Mexican national who has lived in the U.S. for about 15 years, and he was on his way to Christmas shop at Eastview Mall in Victor when a trooper pulled him over for a burned-out taillight. Fernando wound up sitting in a Batavia holding cell because his immigration papers weren't in order. Bail was set at $10,000.
Now, he's looking at possible deportation - and leaving American-born Sadie alone to raise four young children.
“It's just ridiculous. It seems petty,” she said. “We're just trying to work hard and do the right thing and this is what happens.”
Their lawyer, Allen Farabee of Buffalo, is arguing in immigration court that Garcia should be allowed to leave voluntarily, which could cut the time he's gone from 10 years or more to a minimum of 18 months. With voluntary removal, Sadie could apply for a visa for him; but if he's deported, that process can't even begin for a decade.
A court decision is due May 30.
Regardless of the outcome, Fernando will have somewhere between 30 and 120 days to leave the country.
“I'm very worried,” Fernando said, with Sadie interpreting for him. “I keep thinking about what's going to happen to my family."
BROKEN SYSTEM
The Garcias' situation is emblematic of what many consider a broken immigration system, one that may be on the verge of reform as the Senate mulls over the White House-backed plan to allow undocumented workers to stay here while applying for a visa. But, it is facing stiff resistance from hard-liners in both parties.
“What people need to understand is that the children of these migrant workers may well be American. This creates a moral dilemma because the children won't be deported, but their parents may well be,” said Mark James, director the Finger Lakes office of the New York State Farm Bureau, which has lobbied for more permissive immigration laws because of the impact the current situation is having on area crops.
Farm owners are caught in a bind, with the government granting fewer temporary visas for migrant workers, James said.
The Garcias, both 28, got married three years ago and live in a small duplex in Penn Yan with Sadie's three children, Tyler, 12, Bailey, 8, and Elijah, 5. They also have a child together, Anna, 2. Both work - Sadie as a customer service representative at American Home Patient; and Fernando, leading a field crew at Hemdale Farms in Seneca Castle.
Fernando had been stopped for speeding several times before without incident, but this time the trooper gave him a hard time, he said.
When the trooper asked for identification, Fernando tried to explain to his passenger what was happening. That fact that he did so in Spanish aroused suspicion.
The trooper called in Border Patrol agents, who took Fernando first to Batavia in Genesee County and then to Ontario County Jail. Sadie managed to come up with the bail, borrowing from family, friends and Hemdale Farms; then, she said, law enforcement personnel made racist remarks when she went to get him. She filed grievances with the State Police but hasn't heard anything about it.
Fernando maintains that he came here legally and thought he'd done everything required. His parents, who live in rural Pennsylvania, started the citizenship process for their six children soon after coming to the U.S. in the mid-1990s. Garcia lived with his family in Pennsylvania for a few years before moving to New York. He has a legal New York state driver's license and documents that state that his status was approved for review so he thought the citizenship process was still under way.
His parents recently became citizens after seven years in the system, but the paperwork they started for their children was nullified as each turned 21, Sadie said.
But no one ever told him that, he said.
ON THE JOB
All of Fernando's paperwork, including resident alien and Social Security cards, were in order when he applied at Hemdale Farms, said manager Joe Clement.
He's still working there, 60 to 70 hours a week, and Clement said he's known for his pleasant demeanor, tireless work ethic and leadership skills.
“I really enjoy having him here, and I'll be sorry to lose him,” he said.
The farm considers Fernando and Sadie part of the family, he noted. The business chipped in some money to get him out of jail, and Clement and his family attended Anna's baptism.
The couple's lawyer, Farabee, said that citizen benefits for immigrants' children are among “the most complicated aspects of law” and differ in every case.
“Generally speaking, though, a child of a citizen or legal resident can age out of certain privileges and have to go out on their own,” he said.
If Fernando had pursued citizenship as a result of marrying an American, he still would have had to wait five years to get a green card; and they would face numerous interviews to determine whether they married for love or citizenship.
Noting that the Garcias' situation is fairly common, Farabee said he's working on about eight or 10 similar cases.
Norma Silva, who works at the Ontario County Agribusiness Child Development school, said her husband of two years, Ciro, returned to Mexico in February 2006 when authorities discovered that he'd come here illegally.
“I think that we need to be humane,” she said. “It's 2007 and we shouldn't treat people like this. It's sad.”
Even in the best-case scenario, the Garcias would have to jump through numerous hoops to get Fernando back in the country, Sadie said.
He'd have to return to the village where he grew, with no family and few job prospects. Then Sadie would have apply for a visa for him, specific to those whose spouses are U.S. citizens or permanent residents, paying a $190 processing fee and finding a sponsor who'd have to pay a $300 fee. She would also have to travel to the American consulate in Mexico for visa interviews.
Getting that application approved could take up to a year and a half; then they'd have to pursue legal residency.
“All this while I'm a single mother with four kids,” she said.
As the court date draws nearer, Sadie is planning for life without Fernando. She's looking for a smaller apartment and wants to get a passport for each of the kids so they can visit him in Mexico. They'll cost more than $100 each, so she expects to apply for one a month.
The experience has left her frustrated and angry at the system, which she said they've tried to live within.
“We understand that people can't be allowed to break the law to come into this country, but something has to be done to help the people who want to work, work,” she said. “We don't want to be rich, we don't want to live off of the system. We just want to be happy with our kids.”
He claims to have been here since he was a child, and he still hasn't learned how to speak English?
There are so many ways to go “prucol” with the INS it ain’t even funny. He hasn’t learned English, so deport him!
To generate a media sob story so we will agree to make around 20 million of his compatriots citizens with an asinine piece of amnesty legislation.
It is sort of like when the taxpayers revolt against city hall and the city reacts, not by trimming back the employment of do-nothing city workers and junkets for bureaucrats, but by closing public swimming pools and police stations.
3 of my 4 great grandmothers never learned English. Then again, they came in their late teens/early twenties, and their husband’s at least had a rudimentary understanding of the language.
Sounds as if Sadie started her family at 15-16, she got a jump start on the system...
He knew the risks when he knowingly broke our laws. The laws were in place BEFORE he came over. This is his problem.
-your daughter’s friend is lucky, this guy not so much. Sad.
And all you I-dare-you illegal immigrant protesters , you better take note, cause we are coming after you next.
why doesn’t he just use his real ID and get a life?
Fernando's been here for 15 YEARS...and he still can't speak English?
He's been here for 15 FRICKING YEARS..and he still cannot speak English.
Good lord...Garcia failed to follow-up on citizenship papers that were started FOR HIM BY HIS PARENTS !!!
If it mattered to him then he should have followed up on his citizenship status on his own after he became 21. You snooze...you lose.
Fernando, who came here legally as a teenager and after over a decade still hasn’t managed to learn enough English to converse without an interpreter, was simply too cheap and too lazy to make sure his immigration status was kept up to date. He is now an illegal immigrant and has no one to blame but himself.
Fernando maintains that he came here legally and thought he'd done everything required. His parents, who live in rural Pennsylvania, started the citizenship process for their six children soon after coming to the U.S. in the mid-1990s. Garcia lived with his family in Pennsylvania for a few years before moving to New York. He has a legal New York state driver's license and documents that state that his status was approved for review so he thought the citizenship process was still under way.
His parents recently became citizens after seven years in the system, but the paperwork they started for their children was nullified as each turned 21, Sadie said.
But no one ever told him that, he said.
He entered the country legally with his parents when he was a child. His parents applied for citizenship for him and he has the paperwork to prove it.
He is a victim of "timing out." That's when a dependent's turns 21 before their case is processed. At that point, he is no longer considered a dependent and USCIS drops his case due to ineligibility.
In other words, even though the family did everything right, the immigration bureaucracy took too long so they cancelled his application. And the government did not notify him!
So he thought he was legal and that's why he never had his wife sponsor him.
This case is a real example of how the current immigration system is broken. With most other visas, the date is based on when you file, not when Immigration gets to your case.
He and his family do have my sympathies for this plight.
Legal immigration takes a very long time. I'm in the middle of the process and I've been here, legally, for over 12 years! I still have 1-2 years to go based on current USCIS processing times. So if I had any kids 9 years of age or older when I came here, they would not be allowed to be in the country because they would have gotten too old because of processing times!
The problem is that there is no enforement efforts against illegals. It people who are doing it legally that USCIS goes after. Legal immigrants are on USCIS's radar screen so they can be carefully scrutinized. The illegals are not. Since USCIS doesn't know who they are, the illegals have little to worry about.
Immigration might be a time consuming process, but Fernando's story is BS.
Garcia is 28. His parent brought him into the country in “the mid 90’s”. So let’s say 12 years ago. That means he was around 16 when he came into the country. 5 years to go from an “off the radar screen” illegal, to a naturalized citizen isn’t a whole lot of time.
It also appears that Mr. Garcia doesn’t speak English well enough to converse with the reporter sans interpreter. We only have their word that they were attempting to “get legal”. I rather doubt it.
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This guys whose family came here illegally or overstayed visas like a bunch of wise guys. His parents were able to game the system and get legal residence then citizenship. Looks like he screwed up. Either way he is an illegal alien who jumped the lines of those waiting to legally immigrate. His whole family did. I have no sympathy.
Well, well. The age of miracles is not past! Even more miraculous, the Feds seemed to have shown up! And taken the prisoner!
He entered the country legally with his parents when he was a child. His parents applied for citizenship for him and he has the paperwork to prove it.
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I doubt that’s true. They seem like visa overstayers
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