Deportations breaking up S.F. family

[alp227]

(03-01) 18:31 PST SAN FRANCISCO -- Immigrants' rights advocates brought forth a family of five Monday to illustrate what they called the human consequences of San Francisco's deportation crackdown: a Muni driver, his Australian wife and three children soon to be separated because a 13-year-old boy punched a schoolmate and stole 46 cents.

"I feel like they've taken my right to have a family," Charles Washington, 42, said at a news conference in the San Francisco office of the Asian Law Caucus.

Beside him sat his wife of 11 months, Tracey Washington, holding her 5-year-old son. With them were Washington's 12-year-old daughter from a previous marriage and his 13-year-old stepson, his wife's child.

On Friday, Tracey Washington and her two children are scheduled to be deported to Australia for staying in the United States after their legal status expired in May. They applied for legal residence in December based on her marriage to a U.S. citizen, but a lawyer said those hopes were doomed by the 13-year-old's schoolyard folly and the city's crackdown.

Read more: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2010/03/01/BAMM1C98SC.DTL

[KamaAina]

1. Oh what a great progressive you are, Gavin

I haven't gotten a good night's sleep since your gubernatorial campaign collapsed. :sarcasm:

But the case never got that far, because city juvenile authorities referred the boy to immigration authorities under a policy ordered by Mayor Gavin Newsom in 2008 of reporting juveniles who are arrested on felony charges and are suspected of being illegal immigrants.

:grr: :banghead:

[alp227]

3. Here's an article clarifying why Newsom did it.

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2008/07/03/MNU911IPGK.DTL

After one of SF's most notorious murders involved an illegal immigrant gang member (Edwin Ramos) as a suspect, Newsom did that to appease critics of the sanctuary city policy.

The NY Times reported...
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/06/13/us/13sanctuary.html

"Under the policy, minors brought to juvenile hall on felony charges are questioned about their immigration status. And if they are suspected of being here illegally, they are reported to the Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency for deportation, regardless of whether they are eventually convicted of a crime."

Yep, there's no "innocent until proven guilty" here.

And Newsom also vetoed a proposed change by Supervisor David Campos (read an editorial he wrote about his proposal here) to allow SF to deport illegal immigrant juvenile felony suspects only after conviction. But the Board of Supervisors overrode the veto.

[upi402]

2. USCIS is under Homeland Security. They punish folks who follow rules

And they give a pass to employers who hire illegal labor, and make it easy for H1-B visa applicants. Technically you are free to marry whoever you want as an American. But you will be put through hell and charged thousands, and it will very likely take years. Under Bush the fees went up 380% and rules tightened - if you were to follow the rules.

This situation sucks. I'm bummed for the Charles and Tracey Washington family. I have a family member who had to appeal when his new wife's visa application was destroyed by an abusive ex husband. They don't mess around if you're trying to be legal and follow the rules at all.

If you're here illegally you can stand in front of HomeDepot or Lowes every day and wave you hand - nobody will touch you, you're immune as cheap exploitable labor.