30-year-old oversight may lead to deportation (Fresno Bee)

30-year-old oversight may lead to deportation
Woman failed to tell Immigration she was married

By Vanessa Colon, FRESNO BEE

Article Created: 04/27/2008 02:35:58 AM PDT

FRESNO — Margarita Mendoza of Fresno was excited last year about the prospects of becoming a U.S. citizen.
Now Mendoza, who has lived in the United States for 30 years, might be deported.
Her citizenship application was denied because of an omission that occurred 30 years ago: She failed to tell immigration officials that she had married between the time she applied for a visa and the time she received it. At the time, no one ever asked about it, she said.
Immigration advocates say cases like Mendoza's are relatively rare. But with last year's surge in citizenship applications, those advocates say more cases like it are likely to emerge. She's scheduled to attend a hearing at an immigration court in San Francisco on May 16.
"Immigration agents never asked if I was married or single ... I didn't know it was a problem until I tried to become a U.S. citizen," she said in Spanish. "If they would have asked me, I would have told them the truth."
Roxanne Hercules, a spokeswoman for U.S. Customs and Border Protection, said Mendoza should have updated her information regardless of whether officers asked her if she was married.
"It's her responsibility," Hercules said.
Hercules said officers will ask questions based on the information they have on the person coming into the United States, but the questions depend on the case.
But immigration advocates say Mendoza made a trivial mistake and she shouldn't be entirely held responsible for it.
"If I were a person living in a foreign country who was about to immigrate and not an immigration lawyer, I could have easily made that mistake," said Mark Silverman, a staff attorney at the San Francisco office of the Immigrant Legal Resource Center, an advocate for immigrant rights.
Rick Oltman, national media director of the Santa Barbara-based Californians for Population Stabilization, declined to comment specifically on Mendoza but said it's the kind of issue that the immigration court is set up to decide. The group favors eliminating illegal immigration and limiting legal immigration.
"The rules were written for a reason, and you have to abide by the rules," Oltman said. "If they've (applicants) violated a rule or law, it has to be looked at."
Usually, applicants for citizenship face deportation proceedings because of past criminal convictions, Silverman said. Overall, just over half of those deported in 2007 — including undocumented immigrants as well as green-card holders — had a criminal conviction, according to data from U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
Mendoza filed an application for naturalization in June. In November, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services informed Mendoza her naturalization application was denied. Two months later she was ordered to appear in court for a hearing that could lead to deportation.
Mendoza was issued a visa as an unmarried daughter of a legal permanent resident, her mother, on April 29, 1978.
But a Mexican marriage certificate shows she married Carlos Vega Hernandez March 9, 1978, and her son was born April 7, 1978, according to the letter from Citizenship and Immigration Services.
Sharon Rummery, an agency spokeswoman, said if someone marries before entering the country and uses a visa meant for an unmarried daughter or son, the visa becomes invalid.
"The law says a lawful permanent resident can only petition for an unmarried minor or adult child," Rummery said.
Now 53, Mendoza lives with three of her five grown children and has been separated from her husband for 10 years, she said.
Lazaro Salazar, Mendoza's attorney, said the law must be respected but he believes Mendoza has a chance of remaining in the United States. Salazar said her absence would create a hardship for her twin sons, who have special needs because of mental health issues.
Mendoza wishes she could go back in time.
"If this would have happened from the start, I would have returned to Mexico," she said.