Man scheduled for deportation gets temporary stay (Pocono Record)

Man scheduled for deportation gets temporary stay

By Andrew Scott
Pocono Record Writer
October 15, 2008

The U.S. Immigration Board of Appeals may be tough, but it does have a heart. Courtney Rhoden of East Stroudsburg was scheduled to be deported to Jamaica, the island of his birth, this Saturday. But the board noted Rhoden has a wife in the hospital and a stepson, 15, and son, 9, who need a parent at home.

Rhoden, 37, who had been in York County Jail awaiting deportation, on Tuesday was granted a temporary reprieve staying his deportation and was allowed to return home for now to be with his family.

Rhoden has not been back to Jamaica since leaving there with his mother at age 4 in 1975. He was raised in America and considers this his home.

Like many other immigrants with permanent residence, he never applied to become naturalized.

No one ever asked him if he had or suggested he do so. Not even when his former job as a mover sometimes took him inside the U.S. Immigration & Citizenship Services building in New York, where he had clearance to enter despite not being naturalized.

Rhoden has not been in any more trouble with the law since 1994, when Immigration officials sought to deport him upon his conviction on a robbery charge. Viewing Rhoden's troubled childhood, sincere remorse for his role in the crime and the fact that he was a permanent resident who had never left America since coming here as a child, a New York immigration judge gave him a second chance, letting him stay in the country and ordering him to turn his life around.

Rhoden took full advantage of that second chance, getting a job and attending church after serving his sentence. He met and married an American, Darlene Rhoden, and helped raise Brandon, her son from a previous marriage, and the couple's son, Quincy.

Years went by, with the Rhodens facing the same challenges and sharing the same ups and downs as do other struggling, working-class families in America. Having had no positive male role models in his own childhood, Courtney Rhoden worked to set a better example for his sons to keep them away from the mistakes he had made in his younger days.

A fateful incident this year is what led to his current situation. In late June, the family had recently relocated from New York to a Washington Street apartment in East Stroudsburg. Quincy Rhoden was outside his home when a dog running loose came over and bit him. The family called police, who came and took a report while Quincy was treated at Pocono Medical Center and released. Since it's not unusual for police to run checks on the names of people who report or are involved or suspected of being involved in incidents, officers ran checks on the Rhodens after taking the dog bite report. Police later that night returned to the Rhoden residence and summoned Courtney Rhoden out of bed.

"The police had run Courtney's name and found a court ruling saying he can't be allowed to stay in the country," Darlene Rhoden said Friday, two days before going into the hospital for severe chest pains. "We asked ourselves how that could be when the judge had recognized his permanent residency status and allowed him to stay."

It turned out that Courtney Rhoden's case was appealed in 1996 before the Immigration Board of Appeals, which reversed the initial judge's 1994 decision. The Rhodens didn't know this because attorney Terry Edwards, who was representing Courtney Rhoden at the time and was supposed to inform him of any further developments with his case, never made them aware.

"So, all that time goes by and here we are, thinking everything is fine until this situation happens," Darlene Rhoden said.

The police on that June night took Courtney Rhoden into custody. "It was like waking up to a nightmare," Darlene Rhoden said. "Courtney asked the police to at least take him outside where our sons couldn't see him being handcuffed. They just took him and turned him over to Immigration and that was it."

A few days after her husband was taken, Darlene Rhoden suffered congestive heart failure and is now unable to work. In August, the family was evicted from their East Stroudsburg apartment after falling behind on the rent.

"The Salvation Army told us they had no room for us and couldn't help us," Rhoden said. "So I called a friend and told her we had nowhere to go. She took us in."

Rhoden and her sons have been staying with that friend in Middle Smithfield Township since then and Philadelphia attorney Beth Henderson is now working on her husband's case.

Courtney Rhoden was scheduled to be deported this Saturday. Henderson has filed motions before the Board of Appeals to stay the deportation and reopen Rhoden's case. The board decided Tuesday to stay the deportation, but has not yet decided whether to reopen Rhoden's case.

"Had the board not made any decision prior to the deportation date, our motions would have died, Courtney would have been deported as scheduled and there would have been nothing more we could do at that point," Henderson said. "This gives us a fighting chance. Even if the board were to deny the motion to reopen his case, we could appeal it to the federal level.

"This is a unique case that deserves public attention," Henderson said. "Because of an attorney's failure to do her duty, her client still faces being taken away from his wife and children who need him. This man and this family do not deserve such a fate."

Henderson added that unless the Board of Appeals decides to reopen his case and grant him continued permanent residence, Rhoden cannot seek naturalization. Meanwhile, Henderson wants to file a civil complaint against Edwards, who she said is not in good standing with the New York Bar Association and is nowhere to be found.

While glad for the temporary reprieve, all the Rhodens want at this point is for their husband and father to be allowed to stay with them permanently.

"Since this happened, Brandon has suffered bouts of depression," Darlene Rhoden said prior to the temporary reprieve being granted. "And Quincy has been having nightmares. This has really taken a toll on us."

Sitting with his mother and brother in their friend's living room, Brandon Rhoden said, "It's unfair. My father did nothing wrong. All he did was try to protect us. They broke up a happy family."

Henderson said Tuesday, "At least, Courtney can now be with his family for the time being. There's still hope that we can win this and keep this family together."