Illegal immigrants argue selective deportation before U.S. board (Fort Mill Times)

Illegal immigrants argue selective deportation before U.S. board

By LAURA WIDES-MUNOZ
(Published April 08, 2008)

MIAMI — An Ecuadorean couple facing deportation are appealing an immigration judge's refusal to hear their claim that they were unfairly targeted because their daughter is an immigration activist.
The parents of Gabby Pacheco, 23, a Miami-Dade College student, say they were "selectively targeted" for deportation after Pacheco spoke out about rights for illegal immigrants. Pacheco is in the U.S. legally, but her parents and two adult sisters are in deportation proceedings because they overstayed their visas.
Attorney Geoffrey Hoffman filed the appeal Friday on behalf of the couple and their two older daughters. He said the case touches on several constitutional issues including Pacheco's First Amendment right to freedom of expression and, more directly, the alleged violation of the family's rights to due process and against unreasonable search and seizure.
U.S. Immigration Judge Carey Holliday had refused to hear their arguments. Pacheco "freely chose to draw unwanted attention to herself and her family," he wrote in a March 18 response. "People who live in glass houses should not throw stones."
Hoffman hopes the Board of Immigration Appeals will see things differently. Selective prosecution cases are difficult to prove but can be brought when government agents demonstrate "outrageous conduct," he argues.
Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials declined to comment on the case, citing the pending litigation. But they have said "those who are in violation of U.S. law should not be surprised if they are arrested."
Pacheco has long spoken out in favor of immigration changes, including one that would allow most students brought to the country illegally as young children to eventually become citizens.
The August 2006 raid of the Pacheco home came just months after a series of massive demonstrations across the country - many led by students - to protest an immigration bill that later failed in Congress.