Posted on 04/08/2002 1:13:59 PM PDT by Fred Mertz
E'town family battles impending deportation
(AP) - An illegal immigrant who's been living in Kentucky for seven years says that the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks led to his family's impending deportation.
William Manalastas, 45, a native of the Phillipines, was one of 210 people across the nation tracked down and jailed following the U.S. crackdown on illegal immigrants that followed the attacks.
The Immigration and Naturalization Service specifically targeted men like Manalastas, who come from Middle Eastern and South Asian countries where terrorist activities have been linked to Osama bin Laden.
Manalastas, his wife and their four daughters, have been ordered to return to the Philippines, and the parents probably will be barred from returning to this country for 10 years under a 1996 law.
The daughters are affected even though they've attended public schools in Kentucky and thought that they were here legally.
"It all has to do with Sept. 11; I know that for a fact," Manalastas said. "I cannot blame the INS. They are following orders from Washington, but I'm not one of them.
"I'm not a terrorist, as God is my witness."
Manalastas is now being held at the Grayson County Detention Center in Leitchfield.
An immigration judge originally ordered Manalastas to leave the country when he lived in New Jersey in 1995. But Manalastas said the family was broke at the time and he felt that he had a better chance of finding work here than in the Phillipines.
"I thought I might see a chance to legalize my status later," he said.
The family came to the United States with tourist visas in the early 1990s, hoping to become legal residents. Manalastas said he paid a Filipino thousands of dollars to file paperwork with the INS he believed would allow him to stay in the country, but in fact the man ruined his chance to get a green card.
David Funke, a Crestwood lawyer and former INS employee who is representing Manalastas, thinks that his client probably would have qualified for a visa as a skilled laborer, because he had three years of engineering training. That, in turn, could have led to permanent status as a resident alien.
After the New Jersey judge's order Manalastas moved to Kentucky, thinking that he and his wife could safely and quietly pursue their dream of educating and rearing their four daughters in the United States.
It might have worked, but for the Sept. 11 attacks.
The Rev. Richard Sullivan of St. James Catholic Church in Elizabethtown, where Manalastas is a member, said he and others have a hard time understanding why Manalastas was arrested.
"Why is the INS clamping down and going after good people while sending (terrorist) pilots that are already dead their credentials? It just doesn't make sense," Sullivan said.
Manalastas has been jailed without bail for a month. He was first taken to the Floyd County Jail in New Albany, Ind., March 6 and was transferred to Grayson County Jail on March 26.
His oldest daughter Myleen, 23, said that as of that date, there were seven Kentuckians being held in Grayson County jail under the same charge.
As he sits waiting for travel documents from the Philippines and eventual deportation, his wife, Myrna, 43, and daughters, ages 17 to 23, have been permitted to stay in Elizabethtown to prepare for their departure.
They have made sworn statements to the INS and signed papers agreeing to leave the country soon. They must report to the INS office in Louisville each month until they leave.
None of the family has been permitted to work for the past 33 days. Friends have been bringing them food. The family has had to sell possessions to pay bills and raise money for airfare, about $575 per person.
The family members said they don't want to accept government assistance.
"We've never used food stamps or any kind of financial aid. We're not going to now," said Myleen, ,the leader of a campaign to tell the family's story through letters, e-mail and a Web site, www.deemangeez.com.
Myleen said she refuses to be angry with her father, because she thinks that he wanted what was best for his children. She said he realized that if he took the family back to the Phillippines, then the family would face serious financial hardship and perhaps never make it back to the United States.
"(My father) wasn't left with very many options," she said. "There's a long line to get in this country.
"Our family is stronger than ever. This is a time when we all need to stick together."
Myleen also has no anger toward the U.S. government, saying that she understands the need for better security.
"(The INS) knows we are not terrorists," she said. "They are just following orders."
The family has become a part of a community that includes about 250 Filipino-Americans who live in Elizabethtown, Radcliff or nearby.
"It's a tragic situation; it's sad," said U.S. Rep. Ron Lewis, R-Elizabethtown, whose office has been inundated with calls from people concerned about the Manalastas family. "Here's a family that from all indications from their neighbors, church, schools and everything is really a great family. They've come up against a law that doesn't have any ability to be flexible.
"You can't come into the United States on a tourist visa, stay, get employment and not apply for citizenship or a green card. Basically, he (William Manalastas) has been a good non-citizen - but still, this is the law."
Myleen said the family still has hope that it can remain here. Several days ago Kentucky Sen. Mitch McConnell's office contacted the family about trying to help.
Though acknowledging that her father broke an immigration law when he brought the family from New Jersey to Kentucky seven years ago, Myleen said his immigration problems beforehand forced him into having to make that decision.
"Anyone can be taken advantage of," she said. "What would you have done if you had been in that situation?"
Staff writer Greg Bartlett contributed to this story.
Not quite, my illegal alien friend. This ALL has to do with your ignoring the laws of this country.
Perhaps that will sink in some hot night back in Manilla…
Owl_Eagle
”Guns Before Butter.”
But I'll admit it looks bad when this guy is rousted but Muslim fanatics are allowed into the country for flight training.
If you are going to give forgiveness and be soft on criminals because they are catholic, then there is a load of priests who would like to stay at your house.
Adios, amigo.
And I think I shouldn't have to obey the law because I'm special, too.
If that logic won't suffice to evade taxes or traffic tickets, why should it be used in the area of immigration law?
We need to focus our attention and energies on how to shape up the lazy jerry Springer/Oprah sittin'-around-on-the-couch losers in our own society before we let in the rest of the 3rd World eager to take those lower-scale, entry-level jobs.
We should have an amnesty program, but it should be truly selective, with employers willing to bond sponsored immigrants. No need to ding our economy needlessly. But neither should we allow unions to turn this into a boondoggle for themselves, nor should we give illegals or their children citizenship. A green card is all they should get IF they are productively employed.
Wanting better for your family is noble. He was simply doing the best for them he knew how. I can't condemn him for that. It sounds like he was one of the good guys. Better than many who have citizenship.
Having said that, I will be sorry to see them go but we can't pick and choose. If the law is to have any meaning it must be applied to all equally. It sounds like they understand that. I for one, wish them well.
When you're kicked out of a foreign country, you sell your home, your goods, take the money and LEAVE.
And for those who cry "Hes just trying to improve his life and opportunities. The only law he broke was coming here illegaly", I have a question for you.
Since you seem to believe that his breaking of our immigration laws (and many employment laws, and other laws) is not all that bad and should be over looked, what law do I get to break without penalty or consequences? How about citizens get to break 2 laws. Since we are citizens we should get a bonus law to break.
So, what laws do I get to break?
Hmmmmm ... yes you are right there is a small distinction. I suppose that does make him worthy of scorn and redicule. Still, since all illegal aliens are technically not supposed to be here, I think I will overlook the differences as not very important.
Read my post again. No where did I say that the laws he broke should be overlooked. He broke the law and will have to pay.
"So, what laws do I get to break?"
I am curious, what laws are you so eager to break?
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