The U.S. honors Confederate traitors by naming roads & military bases for them.
NY & other states have had tax amnesties. Cheats & thieves who paid up & agreed to behave were in the clear.
Another amnesty: “statute of limitations.” In NY, if you commit arson, armed robbery, or burglary, & you are not indicted within five years, you are home free. Forever.
But a resident foreigner who admits to a couple of marijuana possessions, even if not convicted, will be deported from the U.S. No matter how good you are, whether you understood the law, how many American kids you support, whether you served in the U.S. military, or how long you had your green card. Out. Forever.
Ditto for foreigners who do agricultural work for subsistence pay. The penalty for falsely checking the “citizen” box on an I-9 form to get a job to feed your American kid is banishment for life.
Some Americans admire & forgive bloody-handed Confederates & take advantage of tax & toll amnesties without a second thought.
Yet they seethe if a legal resident ex-Marine is deported forever when he applies for citizenship or returns from a vacation abroad & his teenage drug offense comes to light.
Under U.S. law, Carlos was entitled to be heard by a judge. That right is worthless without a lawyer’s help. The judge decided that Carlos, who had paid for his crimes, proved his case and is entitled by law to remain here with his family, the same right enjoyed by a U.S. born traitor, burglar or tax cheat.
20
They have a right to legal representation
but they have no right to have the government provide it.
The pro-open-borders crowd can busy itself with coughing up their own money or drumming up private donations from fellow sympathizers for legal representation for their darlings --
or maybe badgering sanctuary states for the money
-- if the taxpayers of the sanctuary states are willing to cough up the money for it.
Any right to legal representation at government expense
-- in this case the federal government --
is limited to situations where the defendant can be sentenced to imprisonment.
But Mexico (or other countries outside the USA)
is not prison.
It is obviously absurd to argue
that Mexico (or other countries) are "prison".
That argument is the same as arguing that 7 billion people living outside the USA now are in "prison" -- obviously an absurd argument.
Likewise,
detention pending deportation is not "prison".
In contrast to a real prison,
detainees have the "jailhouse keys"
in their own hands --
they can leave anytime they want --
straight out from the USA,
to the big wide world outside the USA,
where 7 billion people manage to live today.
Sure, maybe not as good a life as in the USA,
but not the life of prisoners.
The USA has zero obligation to provide its own level of living to the rest of the world.
Despite that, the American government, along with private American citizens and private American companies and organizations, provide tens of billions of dollars.
10
Overall, many of the comments on this article and the reaction to Carlos are shocking in their bitterness, small-mindedness, and what appears to be pure spite. Perhaps some commenters would reconsider their venom if they re-read the article and realize they misunderstood or missed or completely ignored or recast facts for the convenience of supporting jaundiced worldviews. How many descendants of all the immigrants who came before us actually know the facts of their own ancestors' journeys to and in America? Or what unexpected detours into the legal system those journeys might have taken (but which have been lost to time and buried family secrets)? How many even truly know the facts of their own parents' or grandparents' lives? How many have looked at US census records from decades past to find out that their immigrant ancestors lived in the US perhaps for decades without ever learning to speak, read, or write English? Or reported themselves as unemployed for months at a time in the year leading up to the census? Or how many have done DNA tests and learned their biological parents weren't who they thought they were or that they have unexpected ethnicity that casts shadows on family history? My point isn't to shame or judge, but to encourage self-education, empathy, and above all, compassion, for our fellow human beings whose journies are probably far more similar than not to the commenters' lives and histories.
21
As a legal immigrant and a citizen now, let me tell you that the entire immigration process is designed for lawyers to make money. I spent about 15 years dealing with US Immigration arriving here on a student visa, then onto an H1B visa, Green Card and finally Citizenship, at each stage you need a lawyer because there are requirements to fulfill and forms to fill out and any tiny misstep can cost you dearly. US Immigration is not designed to seek out the best and the brightest, it is designed to seek out the most tenacious and the patient who are willing to deal with a faceless bureaucracy with arcane rules that make no sense in the real world without throwing up their hands.
17
Someone convicted of assault and burglary is not welcome into the country. There are many others without criminal histories who could take their place. I can only imagine that Carlos lied on his previous applications to make it this far, as those criminal convictions should have disqualified him.
Carlos should have been deported.
12
Ashamed yet again.
Is Trump running a police state? Our parents and our grandparents, Trump's centerfold wife #3, no to mention her adorable parents, are all white immigrants. Think about that.
White. Intollerant?
7
@S B Lewis Yes, we should absolutely treat current migrants as the migrants of our ancestor's day were treated. The common sentence for a horse thief in that day and age was hanging without much of a trial. That would definitely speed up the legal proceedings and eliminate the need for any pesky immigration proceedings in the first place!
Obviously I jest - somewhat - but comparing these very different waves of immigration is patently absurd. Our ancestors came to settle a wild, unpopulated frontier. There were no entitlement programs regardless of status. Everyone came in legally via Ellis Island. If you couldn't afford a doctor, no one gave your illegal self free healthcare, your immune system either kicked it or you died. At that point in time, virtually all jobs were blue collar hard labor. Corporations didn't even exist much less computers. The "skilled" professions were things like tailors, shoe makers, and gun smiths.
That's why we venerate those who carved wilderness forests into farms, who built towns, established tradeposts, mapped the frontier, and connected the two coasts of this country.
The world is different now. Our country has 321 million people with most of our major cities (where the jobs are) being overcrowded. Today, someone sneaks into our country, pops out a kid, and expects to get 15 different benefits - a far cry from our ancestors on the prairie. Our economy also requires knowledge workers not more manual labor. This has nothing to do with race.
6
The real bottleneck would appear to be the availability of defense lawyers. My understanding is that paralegals can't normally give legal advice but that qualified paralegals can represent people at social security hearings, etc. Perhaps qualified paralegals can be allowed to assist in immigration cases to represent people who would otherwise not have access to lawyers. Being represented by a paralegal must be better than representing yourself. That said, the bar associations might object to prevent competition.
3
The fact that there is even a question that a burglar should be deported (and not given public support) is a good example of how insane parts of this this issue have become.
While I believe *legal* immigration is generally a good thing, it is not unlimited, not even in the US, a "nation of immigrants."
There are rules and expectations that both sides must abide by for this to work long term for Americans. There seems to be a belief throughout the liberal community that immigrants have some international right to migrate to the US and remain there at all costs. And then they wonder why people are fed up and feel like the system is both absurd and being taken advantage of. Get real.
20
Matt, please re-read the article. Carlos is not a burglar.
4
DICK
The first thing we do, let's kill all the lawyers.
3
We need legal immigration but not people who want to jump ahead of those already waiting to enter the US. And those who break our laws should be sent back to their homelands.
8
Donna, no 'line jumping' involved. Carlos has a green card and his 'crimes' were not as described.
3
Only in the minds of zealots does such bad fruit ripen. The immigration policies, not to mention the REQUIRED proof of identity to vote, in EVERY Western European paradise progressives love to wax romantic over, remains undiscussed in polite circles lest it lay bare their utter hypocrisy. As a direct result of previously foolish immigration decisions by crypto-socialist governments, Sweden has a neo-Nazi problem of large proportion, Denmark has essentially closed it's borders to immigration, France is in near-chaos and is the most Anti-Semetic, and yet Islamophobic "republic" since Stalin's glorious reign, Italy's navy is blockading it's own ports and Poland is about to become a Papal State. Only the Swiss, the Grimaldis and the landlocked had the presence of mind to read the tea leaves properly. Yet another instance of irony triumphant.
2
An immigrant who commits burglary and assault should be deported immediately. We really don't need these people.
10
Please re-read the story--you have the details wrong.
3
Carlos should have been deported after his first conviction.
13
The War On Immigrants continues. I have long questioned the quality of ICE ‘officials’. I think most of them enjoy the game of hunt -catch - deport. It’s a power trip. They don’t really care if the ‘arrest’ is legal or illegal. And they have the awesome power of our corrupt ‘justice ‘ department and federal government (aka Stephen Miller) to back them up.
Among other things, it’s a huge waste of time and taxpayers money.
8
Most illegal immigrants facing deportation don’t get a full hearing before an immigration judge because they don’t want one, Unauthorized immigrants know the prosecution will be able to prove they are not U.S. citizens. They don’t want to waste time sitting behind bars waiting for an immigration judge to order them removed. They want to spend as few days as possible in detention before being sent home. So they agree to expedited removal in exchange for having charges dropped. About 90 percent of those apprehended agree to waive the hearings
5
In general, I am in favor of second chances. But if you are given the incredible gift of a green card, you should be honoring it by not being involved in burglaries or robberies. Sorry, it is seriously your role to stay clean. If this guy did not have 2 daughters no one would give this all that much thought. So he gets rewarded for unprotected sex, or planning to have kids? Of course I feel for the kids, but a US citizen convicted of a crime gets separated from his kids also, (albeit not permanently) The-bottom line seems to be have a kid, your chances staying will be better. This is wrong.
12
@Honeybluestar
There is no permanent separation with the guy in this story. His daughters are free to go with him. If he really cared about them he would have, as you said, stayed clean so he really doesn't care about them. This man weaponized his kids, which is abusive.
It is also correct that American citizens who commit the same crimes get separated from their kids. Often they are shipped to another state so it is impossible for their kids to see them. The costs for phone and video visits can mean not paying a bill or going without food.
It is time for the anti-racists to be heard and equality for all to reign.
10
@Honeybluestar Jump to conclusions much? From what *facts* in the article do you base your specious argument that, but for his kids, Carlos wouldn't have been given legal assistance & he would have been deported? His kids certainly add a more heartbreaking angle to this story, & demonstrate that average families' lives are being devastated by draconian & wholly unnecessary cruelty. Are the likes of Carlos really the worst criminal elements we should spend resources on or is he just 'easy pickings' to assuage the ego & base of the Toddler in the White House? It was Carlos' own life arc & good attorneys that saved him from deportation. Did you read the circumstances of his arrests? Justice may be blind, but thankfully it's also more merciful & reasonable (& less perfectionist) than you seem to be! It's true to stereotype that people of color who have children are castigated as sexually wanton or presumed sexually careless or irresponsible. In contrast, white & the wealthy w/unplanned babies are congratulated as lucky (all the while also benefiting from better access to education & health care to actually prevent--or quietly terminate--unintended pregnancy). Fact is 50% of US babies are unintended (from either no or failed birth control). Instead of pointing a finger isn't it better to lend a hand, especially when it comes to any family raising future citizens? Or quoting a man considered God by some & wiser than most by others, 'Let ye who is without sin cast the first stone.'
6
Whether someone should or should not be deported we as Americans should be better than this. We are a privileged people and some think that they are entitled just because they were born here, after their relatives migrated here of course.
9
@Steve
How privileged are the kids getting shot on their way to school in Chicago? How privileged are the people living in cardboard boxes, or if they are really lucky a tent or homeless shelter?
Millions are NOT privileged. Speak for yourself only please.
8
@Steve
Life is not fair.
Some are born rich, some not.
Some are born strong and healthy, some not.
Some are born smart, some not.
Some are born industrious and hard-working, some not.
Some are born good-looking, some not.
Some are born in the USA, some not.
We can try to -- and perhaps ought to -- compensate for some of the unfairness -- in the USA --
but not the whole world.
But we cannot possibly compensate for all of it,
or even a large chunk of it.
Perhaps with a government "safety net" --
a modest one -- for Americans.
But not a lavish one.
And certainly not for the whole world.
People in other countries need to start woking on making their own countries better.
And no -- the USA is not the cause for the misery in the world. The world had plenty of misery long before the USA came along.
4
What is the upside of expending time, money and other resources to keep people like this guy in the country? Burglary but he never entered the house? Assault, but he was defending his girlfriend? Had documentation but it burned up in a fire? What’s next, dog ate my green card? And you wonder why people are against open border immigration policies?
34
@Larry
Easy answer... being a lawyer is a well-paying job. Did you not know there are actually too many lawyers -- and it's hard to get a job?
Personally, I am sorry there are so many places in the world that are awful to live in - and in terms of big cities with crime that includes St. Louis. no.15 on the high crime list and Detroit -- much lower but still there.
I despair of the income inequality and the overpopulation.. (mandatory birth control, please). and I have no answers at all. For years certain sectors of the US economy have been dependent on migrant or immigrant Latino labor .
If you can afford an apt. in the luxury complex Hudson Yards, as a foreigner not only to you get a green card (500K investment in a depressed area!! YUP but a 20 year property tax abatement! All legal.. and thanks Democrats in this case.
PS laundering $$ via art or real estate is a common practice. So would you rather have the cousin of an underworld character or a sort of ordinary chap like Carlos here on a green card? (coin toss?)
3
An assault and an attempted burglary? Sorry, but this guy should have been on the first plane for home as soon as he was released from prison.
28
@Bookworm8571
You need to read the entire article before making a comment.
The so-called “assault” charge related to him defending a girlfriend who was assaulted. The “burglary” charge was after he was in the driveway of a house that was burgled but which he did not enter.
7
@SGuil and yet he was convicted for both, not merely arrested, and I suspect Bookworm is a bit dubious of the way the author presented this history.
7
Well, knights in shining armor are not prosecuted for defending the innocent. Even if you do a revenge beat down or shooting on the person who rogered your wife, you are likely able to get off.
So no, I don't belief the story. If you get a green card you know what the rules are to keep it. My grandparents lived 60 years watching every step so that they and their family did not run afoul of the law lest they get deported. Apparently, being here legally did not mean anything to this man.
8
And a semi-automatic if you do. Both should be banned...
If attorneys want to do this pro bono - and/or if charities want to underwrite the legal fees, that’s great! I truly hope that not a penny of taxpayer money is going toward this endeavor, however.
23
@GBR
The Vera Institute reports that 63% of its funds came from the federal government and 4% from state and city governments in 2018. Thus, taxpayers provided two-thirds of its funding.
8
@ann
Thanks for pointing this out. It needs to be stopped and the money redirected to the public defenders office. US citizens are Constitutionally entitled to an attorney. Some must have paid someone to take their classes and exams as I sincerely doubt the threshold is so low as to allow lawyers who do not even have the intellect and inquisitiveness of my cat to actually practice law. And no offense to my cat, she is very smart.
5
Amidst the nasty circus of events, this feature was a bright spot. I had not known such a service existed. These lawyers are saving lives.
5
Wow. People should be really proud here. A lawyer works pro bono (she must be supported by someone or something) to help a criminal stay here. Yes, he has a green card. And he assaulted someone and tried to commit burglary. He should have served longer in prison, and been released back to his home country straight from jail.
People wonder why Trump was elected and will probably be reelected????? Because of idiocy like this, and the NY Times touts it as something good.
44
@NY Surgeon Looks like you didn't read the whole article.
6
@NY Surgeon Really? And what about his family?
2
@NY Surgeon
I’ll take this guy any day over a trump supporter.
6
I am conflicted and a bit confused.
I was an immigrant, over half a century ago. Green card holder -- never left home without that card -- eligible for the draft -- got a notice to report three weeks after registering, saved by my student status (graduate school) -- and eligible for security clearance, which was obtained so I could work on classified military projects, which also further defended me from being called up.
But I'd always assumed that, other than not being entitled to vote, I had the same legal protections as citizens. I did get a speeding ticket before my naturalization -- I am now a citizen, have been since I became eligible to apply -- but never considered that an illegal activity could cancel my immigration status.
This guy's offenses can be read as his lawyer presented them, as inherently innocent or at least justifiable actions -- but those arguments were presumably raised at his trials and found unconvincing.
I have mixed emotions about his deportation. How far does the law go in such matters? If I, now a citizen for decades, were to be convicted of a heinous act: Could my citizenship be stripped and I then deported? Now that puts a crimp in my plans . . .
10
@Austin Liberal Not at present, but Trump and Miller are working on it.
6
@Austin Liberal The law is very clear and as this article points out -the infraction can be something like jumping a turnstile. The process is called "denaturalization". Take A look at the NY Times article from December 2018 - "Is Denaturalization the Next Front in the Trump Administration’s War on Immigration? The prosecution of naturalized United States citizens is a sign of a gathering storm." Trump is not the first President to abuse it - during the "red scare" - tens of thousands of Americans were "denaturalized".
8
@Austin Liberal
I think the point is that out of respect for the amazing gift of a green card, you did not and will not commit crimes. heinous or otherwise.
5
Living in a country you are not a citizen of is a privilege. You need to follow every law, and if his girlfriend was not being treated well, call 911. Don’t take it on yourself to risk deportation or jail time. Once even a legal citizen has had difficulties with the law, holding and getting jobs is more difficult, thus making it more difficult to support yourself and your family.
As a lifelong Democrat, I see the 2020 election being handed on a silver platter to Trump over stories like this. Respecting that people have different cultures, you have to be able to assimilate. Learning the language and culture and respecting laws will make it much easier to do so. It is not racist to expect people to learn about the US, it’s customs, cultures, language and especially crime and its effect on ability to work and become a citizen.
46
@C WOlson, in the heat of the moment one can hardly call 911 and wait for the cops when your girlfriend is being attacked. Walk in his shoes and see if you would not behave the same way. Everything else you say has merit, and if the Dems aren't completely stupid (no guarantee) they will articulate an immigration reform policy that we all can get behind.
8
as a legal citizen, lawyers are available free of charge...part of the rights and privileges
2
@Susan H
Did you actually read the article? These people aren't getting free lawyers via the local public defender's office not because they aren't citizens but because to break immigration law isn't a crime (I'm guessing it's a misdemeanor) and therefore they are not tried in criminal court but in civil court. Citizens are also not entitled to free representation in civil court. And immigrants, like citizens, are entitled to free representation in criminal court.
11
@Susan H Only for criminal cases. Not civil. If I stop paying my taxes and the IRS prosecutes me, the state does not give me a free lawyer.
20
Assault and attempted burglary?
Sounds like a model future citizen.
I mean, I can’t believe that the authors couldn’t find a more sympathetic figure for the article. The fact that they didn’t/couldn’t tells me all that I need to know.
52
@John So someone who served his time, pays taxes and medicare and social security and has legal papers should be forced to abandon his family six years after the fact? And then what are they supposed to do?
3
@Suzy
Abandon his family?
Absolutely not.
They are free to return with him.
Criminal activity is in fact a basis for revocation of a green card. (And most other countries have similar laws.)
8
@Suzy
commiting crimes has consequences. Had he not had kids, would the story be different for you? we know nothing from this story about the mother (mothers?) of his kids, the kids themselves or how he treats them...maybe he is an ideal citizen now, but maybe not.....one way or another, do an assault or an attempted robbery with a green card—lose it.
5
Rule of the lawyers, by the lawyers, and for the lawyers was the agenda for America from the moment a bunch of lawyers got together in Philadelphia in 1776. Maybe they'll streamline and simplify the law so intelligent people can read a book or two and represent themselves. Yeah, right. When piggy banks start shaking themselves.
5
@Robert David South - There is a reason that many stories of emancipation or revolution start with the cry, "Hang the lawyers!"
This is all more the case in our current situation, where legal proceedings are not about justice, but about winning.
2
'It's Like an Automatic Deportation if You Don't Have a Lawyer'.
Frankly, sounds good to me.
30
@DlphcOracl
Won't sound good to you when they automatically deport a citizen by mistake/malice and then have to pay out millions of your taxpayer dollars in damages afterwards (google the recent case of a Texas boy).
9
@UA
You cannot name one case of deportation by "malice" of a citizen.
As for deportation of citizens by mistake,
that is very very rare,
and even when it occurs (rarely), it is always only temporary until the mistake is discovered and remedied.
A few dozen mistaken cases a year out of a population of 330 million is minisucle.
And usually, the few that do occur happen because the citizen is careless with his personal records or invites suspicion by careless behavior.
3
This article does a great job of highlight exactly who and what pro immigrant groups are fighting for. We're fed an endless stream of cheap lines about "hardworking" and "law abiding" immigrants. But the people groups like RAICES, Make the Road NY, and this Immigrant Family Unity Project are trying to keep in our country are certainly not law abiding as Carlos illustrates. Similarly, the people being protected by "sanctuary" cities are exactly the types of people who make those cities unsafe for the actual residents.
I'm all for hardworking and law abiding people regardless of what paperwork they do or do not have. However, I'm not for immigrants who commit crimes and want to depend on public aid. No other country puts up with that rank abuse of their immigration system or public coffers. Why should we?
42
@JP The law that had been in place since forever, that was changed in 1996, only looked at the last five years when applying for citizenship. So we don't need to be all shocked at this point.
1
Actually, European countries provide generous benefits to asylum seekers who are not allowed to work, and immigrants of all sorts receive social services. We are not generous. The Border Patrol hardly has food and no showers for detainees.
2
People who complain about the two crimes--misdemeanor assault (a simple fight) and attempted burglary really only have an attempted burglary (which is a very minor crime) to justify taking a man otherwise trying to fit in, from his family. Have the people complaining about Carlos smiled when they buy cheap fresh fruit and vegetables, often harvested by people who aren't paid much because they have only green cards (and maybe not even that) ? Give the people whose presence (and attempt to have a family and live) was accepted for many years by the politicians to keep food prices down, the opportunity to survive in the sunlight. They have not taken jobs from Americans--they have done work Americans would not do but gladly accepted being done.
21
@BacktoBasicsRob Americans would do that work if it paid better. By defending the use of cheap labor you're defending the oligarchy, not the common people.
31
@KM:
I remember reading in the LA Times back in the late eighties or early nineties about an attempt to employ American citizens to pick fruit in the strawberry fields.
There was poor response - many thought the work was beneath them.
A few tried, but few lasted out the first day. Nobody showed for the third day and the experiment was over.
15
@BacktoBasicsRob Not everything is about fresh fruit and vegetables. Who gets 6 months for standing in a driveway or 5 months for defending someone against a drunk?
Those are the things he served time for--which could well have been plea bargains.
11
So a guy who has been convicted of both (misdemeanor) assault and burglary shouldn't be deported? And is worthy of free legal support over many other groups of people that are suffering and are citizens?
59
@Danny Boy, lots of "suffering " citizens get free legal representation. As for our "convict," he served his time (that's called punishment) and has a green card, works and raises a family, not exactly an MS13 member.
5
@Stephen Holland
you assume a lot, maybe he is a total model citizen now, I hope so for the sake of his daughters.
But maybe not. Do we even know if the 3 daughters, their mother and he are a family unit? Wondering if you would feel the same if there was more than one mom involved and he did not marry either, and thus the kids are on welfare. I would love to know his whole story.
2
How can I be compassionate to someone who can’t familiarize himself with the laws of this country?
39
@Cathy Odom, quick, what is the mandatory minimum sentence for a 22 yr. old male having carnal relations with his 17 yr. old girlfriend in Mississippi? What would it be if she were 16 yr. old? What is the blood alcohol level permitted to operate a farming vehicle in Iowa? What, you don't know? Ignorance of the law is no excuse!
6
@Stephen Holland thou shall not steal or beat up others is pretty much understood world wide.
3
I am super interested in Carlos' case that the author chooses to use as an example in this column.
The author states that Carlos spent 5 months in jail for assault and 6 months for attempted burglary, but later discounts those crimes stating he was "found in the driveway of a home that had been burglarized, but he had never entered the house," and that he "defended his girlfriend against a drunk customer" as the reason for the crimes.
For myself, I would 100% assume that if I were found in a driveway near a crime that I would not be convicted of any crime, and that if I beat up some drunk guy who was bothering my girlfriend that I would get, at worst, a slap on the wrist. Perhaps this is my privilege.
I see two options, given the fact that Carlos actually went to jail for these instances: 1. The author of this column is downplaying the truth of these prison stays (I would consider this manipulative and bad journalism, and it should 100% not be acceptable by the editors of this journal). 2. Our justice system is so dirty/corrupt that a poor Hispanic guy honestly spent a year in prison for acting like a normal person.
For some reason I tend to think #1 is more likely. If #2 is correct, then the tragedy isn't that he had to get lucky to get a pro bono lawyer to win his immigration case, the tragedy is that he had no recourse in those earlier cases.
If a non-citizen is convicted of attempted robbery and assault, I have no problem with them being deported.
72
@Dan B. Your statement "Perhaps this is my privilege" says it all. You're discounting the fact that the immigration court, after viewing the evidence provided, elected not to deport Carlos. So it's highly likely that the court felt that he was unfairly convicted in the previous cases.
15
@Dan B.
I agree, far more than three sentences are needed here to explain his prior convictions. Carlos is the anecdotal evidence for the entire premise of the article. As such, we need more than a couple of lines to determine whether or not the previous convictions were legitimate and understand why the previous deportation proceedings were not completed. As it is, I have no idea how to feel about the situation.
9
@SStockdale
It's easy to say that the only reason I believe that is my privilege; however, I find it unlikely. 6 months for being in the driveway? Is my common sense so different, have my life experiences been so different from yours? You truly believe the most likely occurrence is that he was an innocent man who went to jail for 6 months?
I know that such things can happen, and definitely acknowledge that it is a possibility. Maybe my eyes are closed. But c'mon...
12
Not like the brazen giant of Greek fame,
With conquering limbs astride from land to land;
Here at our sea-washed, sunset gates shall stand
A mighty woman with a lighting rod, whose thunder,
Is the imprisoned lightning, and her name
Mother of high style. From her beacon-hand
Glows world-wide welcome; her mild eyes command
The air-bridged harbor that twin cities frame.
“Keep, ancient lands, your storied refuse!” cries she
With silent lips. “Give me your educated, your rich,
Your rarefied folks yearning for less taxes,
The classy folks of your upper class.
Send these, the rich, the educated,
I lift my lamp beside the silver door!"
4
@Ugly and Fat Git. As opposed to
"Send me your criminals and felons and we won't ever get rid of them"?
3
@Ugly and Fat Git
And my version:
Give us the rich and white, no more
impoverished dark folks willing to work cheap
the wretched refugees of drought or war.
We put the Lady with the lamp to sleep—
it’s gold these days that opens up the door!
@Ugly and Fat Git
It's a poem not a policy,
mounted on a statue not a statute
2
Glad to see a violent criminal like Carlos deported. Hopefully more to come.
Open arms and welcome to all immigrants who follow the rules and enter legally.
38
@Ernest Montague
Is it OK tor a foreigner to buy an apt. in NYC with cash under the name of a phony corporation? -- In fact this in part accounts for the inflated prices on real estate. And with your 500K investment in a depressed area -- Hudson Yards in Manhattan you get a green card.. and a 20 year property tax abatement.
5
I sympathize with those who work hard, play by the rules, live a clean life, and overstayed their visa or crossed the border. We could have used methods to prevent illegal hires at any time. For that - let us find a way to make longterm residents citizens - especially when they have children who are citizens. But those who break our laws and are convicted of crimes - expel them with minimal legal process.
30
This guy committed 2 crimes? Sounds like he doesn’t deserve the honor of staying here if he doesn’t abide by its laws. And we are talking about assault and robbery?
Some of the pro-unlimited immigration at any cost people make me laugh.
60
"Carlos" committed multiple serious crimes. He has demonstrated that he's not an asset to the country, and therefore should be deported. This is our immigration system working as it should, despite the author's open borders for criminals philosophy.
59
If these people are here illegally .They have no right to any representation, let alone for free. They should be deported. End of the story.
30
@JG did you skip the part where he has a green card - and the article specifies that they don't have the right to representation - that's why legal aid is necessary. Its not a case of absolutes.
15
@This is Us fan
They may have a right to legal representation
but they have no right to have the government provide it.
The pro-open-borders crowd can busy itself with coughing up their own money or drumming up private donations from fellow sympathizers for legal representation for their darlings --
or maybe badgering sanctuary states for the money
-- if the taxpayers of the sanctuary states are willing to cough up the money for it.
Any right to legal representation at government expense
-- in this case federal government --
is limited to situations where the defendant can be sentenced to imprisonment.
Mexico (or other countries outside the USA)
is not prison.
It is obviously absurd to argue
that Mexico (or other countries) are "prison".
That argument is the same as arguing that 7 billion people living there now are in "prison" -- obviously an absurd argument.
Likewise,
detention pending deportation is not prison.
In contrast to a real prison,
detainees have the "jailhouse keys"
in their own hands --
they can leave anytime they want --
straight out from the USA,
to the big wide world outside the USA,
where 7 billion people manage to live today.
22
@This is Us fan Carlos would not have been able to renew his green card with two criminal convictions.
4
If Carlos is your posterchild for this process than I'd rather support the administration.
By all means, I'd want my tax dollar to represent the poor and vulnerable. But not people with clear convictions and a criminal past. I'll hazard a guess that if Carlos's family couldn't bring up enough money for a lawyer (the most important thing in this world for them!), then they probably, drive without insurance, qualify for Medicaid and for government assistance.
I have elderly patients who cannot afford the inhalers (medications because Medicare and SSI is so stingy) and I have poor patients who end up DYING because the system has no money for preventive healthcare. Our Vets have nowhere to turn to, people in Flint have no water to drink, the Opioid crises is killing our teens by thousands, yet all we want is to pour money in immigrant 'welfare'...
83
@jack
Carlos' two previous arrests: "In the first, in 2011, he was found in the driveway of a home that had been burglarized, but he had never entered the house. In the second, in 2013, he was charged with assault when he fought to defend his girlfriend against a drunk customer at the restaurant where she worked."
Does that sound like a serious "criminal past" to you?
12
@jack. If you have not please have your patients apply for the Medicare Savings Program (MSP) — it would be through the state DSS office. The cost of medicine/inhalers will go way down and the Medicare monthly premium cost may be eliminated for those who qualify. Could be $200 savings per month. Government assistance sadly requires detective work.
11
@Richard
I somehow think there is more to it than that....
I have been alive for a long time and have never been arrested let alone sentenced to do time. Maybe because of some "privilege" you might say, but more likely that I have followed the law.
21
Simple question: why is he still here after serving time for burglary and assault? He should have been on the first plane home the day he stepped out of jail for the first time. There should have been no “larger arc of his life” after jail. Well, not here. He should have been sent packing immediately.
The explanation offered in the article would almost certainly have gotten him out of the underlying criminal charges, in which proceedings he most certainly had a taxpayer-paid lawyer. He either plead guilty or was found guilty beyond a reasonable doubt. There is absolutely no reason for this guy to have been allowed to stay.
The flaws in our system are demonstrated by the fact that this man ever took a free step in the US after his first conviction.
55
While it’s hard to know whether he could have had a valid case to stay, it’s frustrating that this played out so slowly, both in the years of no action and in the months he was detained. How was he left uninformed about the reason for his arrest for six weeks?
It could at least have been more coordinated, so that instead of waiting in jail for six weeks in 2017, he could have had that first hearing in the middle of his first six-month jail sentence In 2011. Maybe it could also have gone faster if he were able to use the papers that were lost in the house fire. If he understood the terms of his green card, did he have a fear of deportation hanging over him for years after the original jail time?
6
If Carlos served six months in prison for attempted burglary then the violation was considered a felony. So, a convicted felon was then convicted of misdemeanor assault.
The Immigration and Nationality Act (I.N.A.) states that a green card holder is deportable for an aggravated felony or two deportable crimes at any time.
Carlos fits either criteria. The Dominican Republic is not a war zone. He is not a true refugee. He is an economic migrant who knowingly violated duly passed laws. Why should he be exempt from consequences?
Why should NY state taxpayers be forced to defend foreign citizens in cases of federal civil violations? Do citizens get free lawyers when charged with federal civil violations like tax evasion?
Immigration law is no different from any other federal law. And no one should be above the law because they have political influence or lawyers manipulating the system.
81
First question--What proportion of unrepresented individuals have a viable case? Attorneys are reluctant to take on unwinnable cases. The more ethical will decline to take a case (and charge a ton of money for it) if there is nothing they can do for the individual because they have no eligibility under the law.
19