Immigration limbo for Col. wife of Georgia state senator

Georgia Legislator’s Wife Battles Deportation Order

By BRENDA GOODMAN, NY TIMES

Published: December 3, 2006

ATLANTA, Dec. 1 — The wife of a Georgia legislator known for his strong support of immigrants’ rights is in hiding after federal agents came to their home on Tuesday with an order to deport her to her native Colombia, her lawyer said.

In a written statement issued on Wednesday, State Senator Curt Thompson, 37, a Democrat, said his wife, Sascha Herrera, 28, missed an immigration-related court hearing in February 2005. Mr. Thompson said notices about an asylum application that had been mistakenly filed on her behalf had been sent to the wrong address, causing her to miss the hearing.

Because Ms. Herrera did not appear in court, a federal judge issued a deportation order in February 2005, Charles H. Kuck, Ms. Herrera’s immigration lawyer, said on Friday.

Mr. Kuck said Mr. Thompson told him that his wife was not at the couple’s home when Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents arrived on Tuesday to take her into custody. Mr. Kuck would say only that Ms. Herrera was in a safe place.

“We’re making an arrangement, we hope, for her to come in Monday morning,�? Mr. Kuck said, adding that he would try to persuade an immigration judge to reopen Ms. Herrera’s case.

It is usually difficult to get an immigration case reopened, several experts said.

Advocates of immigrants’ rights say Ms. Herrera’s situation is another indication of how byzantine is the system for applying for legal residency in this country.

“It’s a very, very onerous system,�? said State Senator Sam Zamarripa, a Democrat who was the first Hispanic elected to the Georgia Senate. “If the wife of a state senator can’t handle it, how can we expect people who are working in our labor force to handle the bureaucracy?�?

“This is going to take a U.S. congressman or a senator to step in,�? Mr. Zamarripa said. “To say, let’s wait a minute. Let’s think about this. This is a good person who deserves to be in this country.�?

Marc Raimondi, a spokesman for Immigration and Customs Enforcement in Washington, said he could not comment on the specifics of Ms. Herrera’s case. Generally, Mr. Raimondi said, “People who are here legally are very, very careful about their immigration status.�? Of the couple’s claims of ignorance about the notices, he said, “It sounds like a lot of song and dance.�?

In his statement, Mr. Thompson also said his wife was the victim of an unscrupulous “notario.�? In some Spanish-speaking countries, a “notario publico�? is a highly regarded lawyer with special power to negotiate with the government. In the United States, however, a “notario�? is often a notary public with no special expertise in immigration law. Some notaries, however, advertise themselves within Latino communities and take advantage of the similarity between the two titles to charge high fees to file immigration paperwork with the government.

Mr. Kuck said Ms. Herrera originally paid $1,300 to the notary, whom he identified as Tomas Vilela, to help her file paperwork to extend her visitor’s visa so she could take classes at Kennesaw State University, just north of Atlanta.

Mr. Vilela recommended that she apply for asylum, Mr. Kuck said, and had her sign the last page of an application. But after she received an F-1 student visa, for which university officials had helped her apply, Ms. Herrera instructed Mr. Vilela not to file the application, Mr. Kuck said.

Mr. Kuck said that Mr. Vilela filed the forms anyway, and that because the paperwork listed the address of his business, all subsequent letters from immigration officials were sent there, not to Ms. Herrera’s home. Mr. Thompson’s statement said the notary did not forward the letters to Ms. Herrera.

She did not know about the filing and never received notices about the hearing, Mr. Kuck said, adding that the deportation order “hit the couple completely out of the blue.�?

Mr. Vilela did not return several messages left at his office.

Though Ms. Herrera was in the country legally on the student visa, once she missed the date for the asylum hearing and the deportation order was issued, “it trumped all other legal status,�? Mr. Kuck said.

Mr. Thompson represents parts of DeKalb and Gwinnett Counties, in a district where about one in four residents is foreign born.

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution quoted him as saying that he asked immigration officials about Ms. Herrera’s status before their marriage in April 2006 — more than a year after the deportation order was issued — and was told that she was in the country legally. Because her husband is a United States citizen, after their marriage, Ms. Herrera also applied for an adjustment of her status to become a permanent resident and obtain a green card. But the approval process is lengthy, Mr. Kuck said.

If she is deported, Ms. Herrera could be barred from re-entering the United States for 10 years, Mr. Kuck said, “so we have to work with extreme speed to try to fix this.�?

By Tinto (Moderator) on Dec 2, 2006, 20:18 in Visa & paperwork.

goin_south says on Dec 2, 2006, 20:52:

I imagine they'll let her stay if the notice was really sent to the wrong address.

..... leavin louisiana in the broad day light

0 funny, 0 helpful.

utopiacowboy says on Dec 2, 2006, 21:01:

I hope they don't treat her any differently than any other immigrant in the same situation.

Disclaimer: any comment I make is inane and is not to be taken seriously, and is so patently ridiculous that no one should take it seriously, even as an insult.

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aztec says on Dec 3, 2006, 12:42:

Tinto I live in Georgia... ...and non of us have even heard of this case. I don't understand if he has followed the immigration law like we did there would be no problem.

“It’s a very, very onerous system,�? said State Senator Sam Zamarripa. BS, we had no problem reading the instructions. It does take a long time but it is straight forward. We processed all of the paper work ourselves without a lawyer.

In addition, we have personally filed for two brothers and a sister. After 11 years of LEGAL procedures they now have a visa waiting for them. We did not need someone in the government to intercede on our behalf.

This clown now expects the rules to be waived for him because he is the first Democrat Hispanic elected to the Georgia Senate. To hell with that!

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jay1234 says on Dec 3, 2006, 16:59:

Unless they treat her differently, she likely goes There are two points I pull from this article. First, our immigration system is arbitrary and a dangerous place for a petitioner. The situation is so bad that Attorney General Gonzales sent two very critical memos to the Board of Immigration Appeals and to US Immigration judges last January. The judges have been accused of deporting petitioners improperly. The second point is the danger that notarios pose. I understand that in most of Latin America they are legitimate and neccesary to accomplish most legal actions. However, here, I think they are risky to use. (To be fair though, I don't think it is just "notarios," that are risky, paralegals, tax advisor without credentials, are just as bad). It is safer to use a reputable attorney. Why? Because there is some recourse if they screw up. They usually have malpractice insurance, and even if they don't, most states have State Bar Committee funds to compensate for attorney misconduct. (Though it may not be of much comfort if you are still deported and can't come back for 10 yrs.).
Aztec- I think for some the sytem is complicated. For others, they can just read the forms and fill them out (or use visajourney.com for help/advice). I think the article leapt from the point that it is complicated for some without making the connection that in this case, the real culprit (assuming the facts are correct) was that the notario had the notices sent to his office and never forwarded them or notified Ms. Herrera.
BTW, today in the NYT Sunday magazine section there was an article making the case that crime rates are lower in areas with high immigrant communities (despite perceptions to the contrary). I thought is was interesting. They also said, though, that the decreased crime fell off in subsequent generations.

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jay1234 says on Dec 3, 2006, 17:04:

Print article spells Colombia wrong Another thing, I thought they would catch it, but the print edition of the paper spells it "Columbia."

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Miguel_Clavo says on Dec 3, 2006, 21:00:

Kiss her goodbye, Mr Senator! C'YA in 10 years! and if He abuses his office and tries to pull some strings, they should make it public information and hook'em'up for aiding and abetting (hiding her), and obstruction of justice, and for being stupid in public as well! with all his legal help available, the retard still F's up.....pobrecitosssssssssssssss.............

Just my opinion...

Miguel_Clavo...Listo!! Libertad!!!...Colombia es pasión!

"F.A.R.C..S.U.C.K.S"

"I would rather die living life, than to live a dying life."........ Oh, and my PM is always ON. Great Bumper Sticker: "Home of the Free, Because of the Brave"

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jay1234 says on Dec 5, 2006, 17:27:

She stays Today the AP reported that an immigration judge lifted the deportation order. Not hating on them, just think that the husband's status influenced the outcome.

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Miguel_Clavo says on Dec 5, 2006, 18:03:

Now if she had been Mrs Nobody, how long would you think it would take to get the deportation order lifted?

Just my opinion...

Miguel_Clavo...Listo!! Libertad!!!...Colombia es pasión!

"F.A.R.C..S.U.C.K.S"

"I would rather die living life, than to live a dying life."........ Oh, and my PM is always ON. Great Bumper Sticker: "Home of the Free, Because of the Brave"

0 funny, 0 helpful.

JMCana says on Dec 14, 2006, 14:39:

Highlight problems I just hope the case highlights the many problems in the immigration system of the USA and changes are made. While I cannot speak for all offices, I have been in a few in California and they treated the people more like cattle. I found the immigration office in Bogota filled with much friendlier and more helpful people.

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