Posted on 06/22/2007 6:23:47 AM PDT by RDTF
Following a blistering barrage of protests from politicians, Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff said the wife of a missing hero soldier from Queens can stay in the United States and apply for permanent residency.
"The sacrifices made by our soldiers and their families deserve our greatest respect," Chertoff wrote to Democratic Sen. John Kerry, one of several pols who lobbied to keep officials from deporting Yaderlin Hiraldo Jimenez.
She illegally entered the country from the Dominican Republic in 2001.
Her husband, Army Spc. Alex Jimenez, 25, has been missing since his unit was ambushed by insurgents in Iraq on May 12.
"Thank God!" shouted Jimenez's aunt, Rosa Duran.
"It's the right thing to do and we're very happy about it."
After marrying Yaderlin in 2004, Jimenez applied to get her a green card so she could be a legal permanent resident.
The move backfired when U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement began deportation proceedings.
(Excerpt) Read more at nypost.com ...
She never was going to be deported IMO.
Why did this even happen at all?
Why is Chertoff still employed?
“She never was going to be deported IMO.”
My opinion as well. According to the strict letter of the law, she could have been and the media ran with that. The purpose was evident.
People from Lawrence who have been attending the vigils with his family are calling in to WRKO wondering where the wife came from. No one seems to know who she is or when or if they are really married.
People have also stated that the “wife” has gone into hiding because she knows she’s ILLEGAL and is hiding out so she cannot be deported.
I am glad she is able to stay. I don’t want this to be an excuse for amnesty or an precendence for “an exception here, an exception there...”, and although I want our borders strictly enforced and fenced, I am glad she was spared deportation. Her husband is missing in Iraq, and I can’t imagine her pain and sacrafice. It would be unfair to deport her, while millions of criminals in our prison system and on welfare remain.
yep
The fact that she married a service member is superfluous. The fact that he’s dead is inconsequential. If she is married to him she should receive his SGLI and other benefits associated as a spouse of a deceased service member, no more, no less. She can collect this money in her country of origin as well. Automatic citizenship, preferential treatment by the INS...... is not part of the deal.
She broke the law. She’s illegal and if her husband were still alive he potentially could be in trouble and she likely would get deported. Pleas to emotion are no argument. The reason why the media picked up on this is obvious. It's the Anne Frank story that is supposed to sway public opinion on a policy. If we grant her special "bleeding heart" amnesty, we should also do it with all those seeking sanctuary in churches......... While at it, just open the boarder and forget we even have any laws and an INS.
Extending an exception to the wife is in honor of Army Spc. Alex Jimenez and is a small gesture that this country can make out of respect for him. It’s about him, not her.
you get it, some here don’t
This was all a setup by the Administration to show how our immigration laws are broken and need to be fixed. The case had all the elements of a soap opera tugging at everyone’s feelings and emotions. We all knew that the good Secretary Chertoff would step in to save the day.
Damn lie spread by her attorney!
I have the same sentiment.
You totally nailed it.
And yes, the agency I work for is throwing your tax money down the garbage chute, but thats another story...
This has been another left-wing smoke and mirrors to garner support for the failing non-amnesty/amnesty bill.
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,284832,00.html
“Procedures that could lead to her deportation began in 2006, but U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials alongside the Jimenez family attorney halted those proceedings before a deportation order could be issued, ICE spokeswoman Jamie Zuieback told FOXNews.com.”
“Yaderlin Jimenez’s lawyer says she could still face deportation because ICE could reopen the case, but the case is in an inactive status in a New York immigration court, Zuieback said.”
“”There would have to be a proactive effort to reopen it, and that’s not something that’s been done in the last year and a half,” and there are no plans to do so, Zuieback said.”
have you checked to see if your heart is still beating lately?
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