Stuck between life, death and deportation (Deseret News)

Stuck between life, death and deportation
Boy faces battle with leukemia while father could be sent away from U.S.
Published: Monday, Sept. 27, 2010 1:11 a.m. MDT
By Reinaldo Escobar, Deseret News

SALT LAKE CITY — A great responsibility lies in the hands of 4-year-old Johnathan. In a desperate race, he fights against time for his life and for his family. Two dark obstacles loom — leukemia and Immigration & Customs Enforcement. The first wants to take his life — and the second, his father.

In the same week that Johnathan's father, Javier's, case for deportation was opened, the little boy was diagnosed with leukemia. Johnathan has three siblings who also would be deprived of their father if he were removed from the country. Their mother, Claudia, and the other children pray that little Johnathan triumphs, not only because of their love for the littlest of the family but also because the suspension of the deportation of their father and husband depends on it.

If Johnathan passes away before the judicial decision, he and his three siblings will lose their father, says Aaron Tarin, the attorney who is representing the case.

"Because Javier has lived in the United States for the past 10 years without committing any crimes, has three children that are American citizens, and because his family is undergoing an exceptional and extremely painful event, Javier has a fighting chance to overturn the deportation," Tarin said.

The situation of Johnathan's family, aside from showing the effects of deportation on families, serves to shatter two myths that circulate among the public.

Several elements have been used to promote reform of the 14th Amendment of the Constitution, to abolish the citizenship of the U.S.-born children of undocumented immigrants.

The "anchor baby" theory dominates rhetoric, making the public believe that if an undocumented person has a child who is a citizen, the parent is entitled to American citizenship through them. This is false.

Immigration law does not transfer citizenship to the parents of American citizens; therefore, giving birth to a child in the United States does not facilitate American citizenship. And only if the child of an undocumented immigrant suffers an exceptional, and extremely painful, circumstance can suspending deportation be considered, and only then can residency become a possibility.

"Even if all the conditions present themselves, it is hard because the exceptional suffering must be proven before the court," says Tarin. Unscrupulous lawyers often take advantage of the undocumented immigrants' fear of being deported and separated from their children. They are forced to believe that there is a path to citizenship if they have a child who is a citizen.

Many attorneys and others who help with immigration documents knowingly offer to assist and even promise they can obtain a visa by these means and later inform the client they lost the case.

In reality, citizenship is obtained by different means. If the parent is a citizen, he or she can transfer their citizenship to a child who is not.

This situation opens the door to an even more serious problem that comes when children are lost due to deportation.

Although normally the children can leave along with their parents, there is a growing tendency of the court's decisions to remove children from custody of their parents, based on the immigration status of the parents, and the children are then left behind.

University of South Carolina law professor Marcia Yablong-Zug has identified three methods the courts use to decide whether it is in the "best interest" of children to be removed from their parents: The negative impact of being sent to the country of origin of the parents, the benefits of living in the U.S. versus any other place, and the growing demand from childless American families wanting to adopt. Yablong-Zug said that in some cases, it is even argued that the children are at risk because the parents speak Spanish.

Javier is in the process of deportation because on July 24, while he was depositing some waste at a dump in Saratoga Springs, a police officer arrested him for an alleged infraction.

Javier apparently needed a special permit from the city to use the dump for recycling purposes. The charge against him was third-degree felony theft.

Most striking is, that the following week at the court hearing in Provo, "the inconsistency shined through when the prosecutor did not even have the police report," Javier said.

After paying his bond, he was released from jail, but he is still awaiting a decision on his deportation.

Thanks to the help of his church and neighbors, he has been able to make ends meet, since as a result of his detention he lost his job.

He also lost his truck and his personal belongings, which were seized at the dump. A couple of days later he received the news about his son's terrible disease.

But the family's misfortune in health has become a lifeline for them, who now embrace the hope of not being separated.