New Study: 88,000 U.S. Citizen Children Lost Parent to Deportation

[AlphaCentauri]

Source: UC Davis

The United States government deported the lawful immigrant parents of nearly 88,000 citizen children between 1997 and 2007, most for relatively minor crimes, according to a new report released today by the University of California, Davis, and University of California, Berkeley, law schools. The deportations often resulted in psychological harm, behavioral changes and problems in school for the children left behind.

The report, "In the Child’s Best Interest?" is based on analysis of data provided by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, interviews with affected families and comparisons of U.S. and international human rights standards. The study was a joint project of the Immigration Law Clinic at the UC Davis School of Law, and the International Human Rights Law Clinic and the Chief Justice Earl Warren Institute on Race, Ethnicity and Diversity at the UC Berkeley School of Law. It is available on the Web at http://www.law.ucdavis.edu/news/images/childsbestinterest.pdf.

Drastic revisions to U.S. immigration laws in 1996 led to large numbers of deported lawful permanent residents (green card holders), who now make up nearly 10 percent of immigrants deported from the U.S., according to the report. More than 68 percent of the deported green card holders were deported for minor crimes, including driving under the influence, simple assault and nonviolent drug offenses, it found.

"It is often the children in these families who suffer the most," said Raha Jorjani, a clinical professor of law at UC Davis and supervising attorney for the UC Davis Immigration Law Clinic. "This nation should take into consideration the impact on families of uprooting individuals with such strong ties to the U.S.”

Current immigration laws severely restrict the ability of judges to consider the impact of deportation on children, the report notes. The authors recommend restoring judicial discretion in all cases involving the deportation of lawful permanent residents with U.S. citizen children.

“As Congress considers immigration reform, it’s time to focus on how the current system tears apart families and threatens the health and education of tens of thousands of children,” said Aarti Kohli, director of immigration policy at Berkeley Law’s Warren Institute. “This report makes a strong case for restoring judicial discretion so immigration judges can weigh the best interests of children when deciding whether to deport a parent.”

The report examined deportation records between April 1997 and August 2007. The nearly 88,000 legal residents who were deported during this decade had lived in the U.S. an average of 10 years, and more than half had at least one child living at home, the study found. About half of the children were under age 5 when their parent was deported.


Read more: http://www.news.ucdavis.edu/search/news_detail.lasso?id=9447

[IndianaJoe]

1. The Criminal Provisions of the Immigration Laws Suck

A good example is the law concerning "aggravated felonies" under the Immigration and Nationality Act. A Green Card holder who, at any time after getting his or her Green Card, is convicted of an "aggravated felony" is deportable. An example of an "aggravated felony" is a "theft offense" where the term of imprisonment imposed is one year or more. Thus a Green Card holder who is nailed shoplifting a jar of pistachios in a supermarket who cops a plea to a misdemeanor criminal conversion offense and gets a suspended sentence of 365 days suddenly becomes deportable. It doesn't matter if he has a U.S. citizen wife or kids. Sayonara.

I find this a tad draconian.

[cosmicone]

4. How can he be deported if he cops a plea to a misdemeanor?

He is then not convicted of a felony correct?

[IndianaJoe]

19. The Immigration Laws are wierd.

"Aggravated Felonies" are specifically defined at Sec. 101(a)(43) of the INA. They don't have to be felonies in most cases to fill the bill. Sec. 101(a)(43(G) makes an "aggravated felony" any "theft offense (including receipt of stolen property) or burglary offense for which the term of imprisonment (is) at least one year." Misdemeanor offenses in most states carry maximum penalties of one year. Felonies, in most states, carry penalties of more than one year. Thus, if my alien cops a plea to Criminal Conversion and is sentenced to one year (that's his "term of imprisonment" under the INA whether he has to serve it or not) suspended, he becomes deportable under INA Sec. 237(a)(2)(A)(iii) because he "has committed an aggravated felony at any time after admission (i.e. any time after obtaining his Green Card). That makes him deportable. Believe me, this kind of thing happens all the time. Ask any immigration attorney (which I am).

[cosmicone]

20. Thank you. You're obviously a master of your craft :) n/t

[LeighAnn]

2. Kicked

& Recommended

[Odin2005]

3. This is horrific.

:grr:

[EFerrari]

5. Family values on parade.

[EJSTES2005]

6. This also happens.....

"When a police officer in this Long Island suburb found a marijuana cigarette in Jerry Lemaine’s pocket one night in January 2007, a Legal Aid lawyer counseled him to plead guilty........


Immigration authorities flew him in shackles to Texas, where he spent three years behind bars, including 10 months in solitary confinement, as he fought deportation to Haiti, the country he had left at age 3."


http://www.nytimes.com/2010/03/31/nyregion/31drug.html

[progressoid]

7. They're mostly brown people so lets not get all worked up over this.

Needless to say: :sarcasm:

[kurtzapril4]

8. These are minor crimes?

driving under the influence and simple assault?

No matter what colour you are in my neck of the woods...these "minor crimes" are prosecuted pretty heavy.

[onpatrol98]

11. Minor

These sound like major crimes to me. I'm a bit conflicted on this one. I mean, if I enter a country illegally, I'm not sure I'd be surprised if I'm later expelled for any offense, minor or otherwise.

But, driving under the influence is horrible. Legal, illegal, or otherwise. So many people lose loved ones because of this offense.

[Name removed]

17. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[MellowDem]

10. It has nothing to do with them being "brown"...

and everything to do with dysfunctional immigration policy. Most of the illegal immigrants who are in this country are being exploited by corporations, which is exactly why immigration law is like it is.

[Bette Noir]

13. We're not talking "illegal immigrants."

The article specified that the people they were studying were here legally.

[MellowDem]

15. Well, to me they are linked...

A lot of our immigration policy is based on illegal immigration, and it generally screws over legal immigrants in one way or another. Part of the reason it is hard to become a full citizen and all of the draconian measures involved is because the whole purpose is not to provide a path to citizenship but rather to provide cheap labor to corporations. As for people who want to immigrate the legal way, well, they are just screwed over by the draconian process. Hence the push for immigration reform.

[defendandprotect]

9. Another really sick GOP "family value" . . .

[Zoeisright]

12. That is disgusting and immoral.

God, this country is backward.

[Libertas1776]

14. Well, at least they didn't deport the kids

In jus sanguinis countries, they kick out the whole family, kids and all, regardless if they were born there.

[earcandle]

16. This is mean, demeaning us and them.

[WilmywoodNCparalegal]

18. Before and while you are getting a green card you are told

about the consequences of any crime, from misdemeanors to felonies, on your lawful permanent status. Generally speaking, 1 or 2 minor misdemeanors won't get you deported, but 2 or more serious misdemeanors and/or felonies certainly will, as will so-called 'crimes of moral turpitude.'

DUI can be a misdemeanor in some states and a more serious charge if it wasn't the first DUI and/or if damage to people or property occurred.

I disagree with whoever said DUI is a victimless crime. No, it isn't. People get hurt or killed by drunk drivers on a regular basis.

Regardless of that, it seems only fair that a green card holder uphold the conditions upon which lawful permanent residence was acquired, one of which is your criminal record.

As for the deportation of lawful permanent residents who have US-born children, yet again I fail to see why the U.S. government should be blamed for enforcing immigration laws of which anyone with an IQ of 2 who has a green card should be aware. If you commit a crime as a green card holder, you need to think about the ramifications your actions will have on your family.

While it's sad and tragic that so many of the deportees have young children left in the U.S., what should we do instead? Keep these parents in U.S. jails until they complete their sentences and then deport them? After all, they have committed two violations of the law, in essence: (1) when they were charged and sentenced; and (2) violation of U.S. immigration laws by not upholding the standards in order to retain lawful permanent residence.

The alternative is to do what many other countries do and deport an entire family, which in my view is a bit more cruel. Yet, something must be done. I worked on quite a few deportation cases where the deportee was a legal permanent resident who had U.S.-born children. In some cases, the deportee had a couple of domestic violence misdemeanors. In another one, a guy had been busted selling cocaine out of his truck. Yet another one was pimping out his own teenage U.S.-born daughter and got caught by undercover police.

So, while these people all were lawful permanent residents, they all had U.S.-born kids and spouses. The DV case had a newborn and three young kids at home, as well as a wife and extended family. The guy pimping his daughter had a few other younger kids as well. The daughter had a kid too.

I am a green card holder. I know that the consequences of committing a crime of any sort would probably have a negative effect on my green card as well as my family and friends who live in the U.S.

Obtaining and retaining lawful permanent residence in the U.S. are not rights, but privileges. Privileges can and should be taken away. I don't have a right to live in the U.S. I am a guest of the U.S. and I know there are conditions to my guest privileges.

[IndianaJoe]

21. Lots of aliens are unfamiliar with the Immigration Laws.

So are lots of lawyers. I take issue with your statement that all aliens, upon obtaining their Green Cards, are apprised of the fact that that criminal convictions will render them forfeit. USCIS simply sends a Green Card in the mail to an alien once the alien demonstrates he qualifies for it. There aren't any cautionary mailings that come with the Green Card.

Also, my experience is that immigrants generally get a very raw deal in our criminal legal system. A good example are deferral agreements for first offenders. Some states only make these available to U.S. citizens. If you commit, for example, a cocaine possession offense in these sorts of places and you're a citizen, then you do some community service, attend a few classes, and then your proceeding is dismissed. If you are Jose Gonzales, a Green Card holder from Guatemala, you can't participate -- you either try to get the best plea agreement you can (and become deportable as a result of the conviction) or you take your chances in a trial (where, if you are convicted, you are still deportable). I find this highly unfair.

Also, lots of innocent aliens cop to plea agreements just to avoid the risk of trial because their public defenders tell them doing so won't have any consequences on their immigration status. These aliens often find out later they got bad advice and that, after the conviction, even though their sentence was suspended, they've nevertheless been convicted of an aggravated felony or a "crime involving moral turpitude" within 5 years of getting their Green Card and they thus became deportable. Adios a la familia when that happens.

[robcon]

22. My former daughter-in-law is in this situation.

Her marriage to my son was annulled (she had a "green-card" marriage that was never terminated) and was a bigamist when she married my son. She won't be able to see my granddaughter, who is four, until she is almost a teenager.

[WinkyDink]

23. Yet we can't manage to deport the ILLEGAL ones.

[Lance_Boyle]

24. Deportation for DUI and assault? Sounds OK to me.

Play by the rules, or play elsewhere.