Arizona man dies attempting to return to his family after being deported

[Crazedclerkthe2nd]

http://www.nctimes.com/news/local/vi...c99d21eed.html

Summary: An Arizona man who has a wife and four kids and been in the U.S. illegally for quite a few years now was busted by Border Patrol and Deported to Tijuana. He attempted to cross the border illegally again through the Arizona desert to return to his family but died due to the intense heat and unforgiving environment in that part of the country.

As an immigrant myself, I find I am of two minds about this story: On the one hand I can understand why the man would attempt to get back to his family despite the danger. I actually consider that pretty honorable.

But on the other hand he was indeed here illegally and violating the law does have consequences.

It would not have been appropriate to simply grant him immigration status simply because he has a family here, but I'm not sure it was right to deport him so quickly.

In any event, a story like this highlights the need for comprehensive immigration reform from Washington.

[ngc_7331]

Is his wife legal? Because I always thought that if you were married to an American, it would help you get legal status easier or something like that.

[crashhelmet]

It's a sad turn of events for the family. The article says that the kids are all US born, but doesn't clarify if his wife is or not. It'll be even worse if it's later revealed that he was going through the process of naturalization.

[tropicsgoddess]

It'll be even worse if it's later revealed that he was going through the process of naturalization.

I doubt he would've be able to go through naturalization. In the applications, they ask when you entered the US, where you went as the port of entry along with proof of documentation that you entered there legally and how long you have legally been a permanent resident of the US (you have to be a legal permanent resident of the US for a minimum of 5 years). Aside from that they ask questions about things like your criminal background in your native country as well as the US. If they find that you lied, you can be stripped of your US Citizenship and deported.

[bara]

Yet another example of why I think it should be very easy to become a legal resident.

[kamn]

Yet another reason that I think we should stop preventing people to live where they want.

[Lace Neil Singer]

Sounds like the big issue over here; after Labour's "open door" policy, shitloads of immigrants came to the UK, not to work, but to get on benefit and take advantage of the free education and healthcare. The issue is not "preventing people to live where they want", but wanting the freebies to be available only to those who have paid taxes and contributed towards them. While some might be genuine asylum seekers, it's a bit hard to believe that they are when they've crossed several countries to get to the UK, rather than settling in the first country that lets them in.

[Crazedclerkthe2nd]

As I understand its more difficult to apply for status if you marry a US citizen after you enter the country. I got my status via marrying a US citizen but I had to file a bunch of paperwork, pay a fee and get a visa before I entered the US.

[lordlundar]

This does not surprise me.

Arizona Law Enforcement has a habit of ignoring extenuating circumstances and an approach of "no paperwork, no freedom" when it comes to their citizens. This has caused a lot of problems for legal residents who are of Hispanic decent (recent laws allow LEOs to racial profile people for no reason) who don't can't afford copies of the legal paperwork. Certain LEOs (Sheriff Joe Arpaio is the most publicly known but there are others) have a personal and processional policy of rapid deportation for Hispanics without verifying their status.

[wraiths_crono]

I can say I do feel bad that he died trying to return, but on the other hand: if he and his family (assumes that they had kids in the US because it makes them citizens instantly, which is a rant for a different day) had waited, done the paper work to get a green or brown card (brown I believe is the code for an agriculture/outdoor maintenance job class) then he wouldn't have been deported. The comment that AZ rapidly deports is false because we have to hand the illegals over to ICE for processing AFTER we catch them, usually takes 30-60 days (I will find the things to back this up asap as im at work) I will lastly say, if we did cut off illegal immigrants from getting any free education and healthcare, then that would cut down the problem, as well as the large number of these cases that come to light due to deaths..

[AdminAssistant]

The 'problem' is already being cut down.....there are crops rotting in the fields in the Southeast because the farmers can't hire enough help to harvest it. So, hope you don't like affordable American peaches or strawberries.