Allan Wernick

IMMIGRATION: DON'T NEED HUSBAND'S HELP

Allan Wernick
Tuesday, October 23rd 2007, 10:15 PM

Q My husband helped me get my two-year conditional green card, but he has been abusing me and I want out of the marriage. Can I divorce him and still get my permanent green card? After my husband petitioned for me, the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) granted me conditional permanent residence. My husband has physically abused me and I have police reports and hospital records to prove it. If I divorce him, can I still get my permanent card? How do I go about it?

L., the Bronx

A Given the evidence you have of how your husband abused you, you can get your permanent card. You don't need your husband's help. You became a conditional permanent resident with a two-year card because the USCIS granted you residence within two years of your marriage.

The law provides for three situations where conditional residents can self-petition to remove the condition from their residence:

1. The spouse is the victim of spousal abuse or his or her child has suffered abuse. 2. The couple is divorced but the conditional resident entered the marriage in good faith, and the marriage was bona fide or "real." 3. Making the spouse leave the United States will result in extreme hardship. To self-petition, you need pass only one of those tests.

Though a legal expert reviewing all the facts can tell you best, applying to remove the condition based on abuse may work for you.

You apply by filing USCIS form I-751, Petition to Remove Conditions from Residence. Include any police reports regarding your husband's abuse of you. Submit the hospital records as well. Including a doctor's letter explaining that the abuse caused the injuries together with the hospital records would be useful.

You should also submit affidavits from individuals who witnessed the abuse and from any social workers or counselors who may have helped you. If you get divorced before you apply to remove the condition, you must make that application in the 90 days before your temporary card expires.

Lottery can't be revived

Q I won the green card lottery in 1998. My wife and I applied for permanent residence, but the USCIS never approved our case. Do I have a chance to get my residence based on that lottery win or should I just forget it? Though we were never called for an interview, we got the authorization for several years. Eventually the USCIS denied our request to renew our employment authorization.

Marcelo Santos, Sunnyside

A It is extremely unlikely you can revive your old lottery case. When the U.S. Department of State picks a lottery winner for a particular year, the winner must get residence within that year.

If he doesn't, he loses his right to residence based on that lottery win. That's true regardless of whether it is the fault of the applicant or the government. The fiscal year for which you won began on Oct. 1, 1997, and ended Sept. 30, 1998.

Some winners have sued the USCIS because the agency failed to decide their cases in time. Most of these cases are unsuccessful. You could sue the government, but the effort would be costly and likely to fail.

In recent years, the New York USCIS office has done a good job of calling qualified winners in for interviews before the Sept. 30 cutoff. Lottery winners applying for permanent residence in the United States should attach a sheet with the words "DV Lottery" in big red letters.

http://www.nydailynews.com/ny_local/2007/10/23/2007-10-...d_husbands_help.html

FLORIDA

30% OF FLORIDA'S IMMIGRANTS ARE ILLEGAL, REPORT FINDS

Thursday, November 29, 2007
Winston-Salem Journal

WASHINGTON - About 30 percent of the nearly 3.5 million immigrants living in Florida are in the country illegally, the Center for Immigration Studies said in a report released today.

Based on “the latest data collected by the Census Bureau,” the report said that the state has one of the fastest-growing immigrant populations. It said that 29 percent of the state’s foreign-born population - slightly more than 1 million people - are illegal immigrants.

The influx of immigrants into Florida reflects the national trend, the report showed. The nation’s immigrant population - legal and illegal - reached a record 37.9 million in 2007.

NORTH CAROLINA

POLICY ALLOWS ILLEGALS TO ATTEND COLLEGE

Thursday, November 29, 2007
By: News 14 Carolina Web Staff

Under the new policy, students who can't prove they live in North Carolina are charged out-of-state tuition.

RALEIGH -- Effective immediately, every North Carolina community college must admit all students regardless of their immigration status.

Previously, schools could decide for themselves whether or not they wanted to enroll undocumented individuals. Under the new policy, if students can't prove they live in North Carolina, they are charged out-of-state tuition, which is significantly higher than in-state costs.

Robert Luebke, of Civitas Institute, says the policy change is unfair.

"Not only does the policy condone lawbreaking, but it rewards people who do so by providing a tax-subsidized college education," he said.

Chancy Kapp, a spokewoman for the North Carolina community college system, says the schools operate under an open-door policy so they could not put up non-academic obstacles to enrollment.

Before the policy change, more than half of the state's 58 community colleges already admitted undocumented students.

According to figures, 340 illegal immigrants are currently enrolled in community college classes.

SANCTUARY SHARPENS THE DIVIDE ON IMMIGRATION

By Gregory W. Griggs
Los Angeles Times
November 29, 2007

LOS ANGELES - Liliana spends her days taking care of her 7-month-old son, mostly within the comfortable confines of a parsonage at United Church of Christ in suburban Simi Valley.

The 29-year-old mother says she would rather be with her husband and their other two children at home in Oxnard. But that's not possible. Liliana, an illegal immigrant who sought sanctuary at the church in August, is hoping for a legal reprieve that would allow her to live at home without fear of arrest or deportation as she pursues her desire to stay in the United States.

"I'm a mother, not a criminal," said the slight, soft-spoken woman during a recent interview at the church.

But opponents of illegal immigration disagree wholeheartedly. To them, Liliana became a criminal the moment she crossed the U.S. border with Mexico in the late 1990s without proper documentation.

The fact that Liliana now shares responsibility for three children who were born in the United States and, therefore, are citizens, should not give her a free pass regarding her illegal status, they say.

"Her and other families like hers wouldn't be in this situation if she had just done it the right way at first and not broken the law to begin with," said Chelene Nightingale, spokeswoman for Save Our State, an anti-illegal immigration group.

"She didn't have a family when she first got here. ... I have no ill-will against (Liliana) personally. It's not her, but she's the symbol of a bigger problem."

Likewise, Albert Rodriguez, who founded Don't Speak for Me, another anti-illegal immigration group, said supporters of the sanctuary movement are aiding and abetting lawbreakers.

"I don't care what the denomination is, they're wrong," Rodriguez said.

The case involving Liliana, who asked that her last name not be published because she fears for her safety, received national attention in September when the city of Simi Valley sent the church a bill for nearly $40,000 to cover the cost of extra law-enforcement officers called out during a local anti-illegal immigration rally.

Officials later decided not to force the reimbursement issue, saying that the United States needs a clearer federal policy on immigration.

Liliana, aware that many opponents of illegal immigration do not sympathize with her, said she wanted to describe her experiences in the hope of generating greater understanding of families made up of both illegal immigrants and U.S. citizens. She said her personal goals remain basic: to sharpen her English skills and to study psychology in college.

"I want to do something good for this country," she said. "I want to help my family move forward."

A native of Michoacan, Mexico, Liliana, speaking through an interpreter, said she came to the United States in 1998 when she was 19. She was unable to obtain a student visa in Mexico City, but she traveled north anyway.

Liliana was detained while attempting to cross the border but secretly entered the United States within a few weeks. Later that year, she met Gerardo, her future husband, on the first day of her job at a corn-packing facility in Somis, near Oxnard. In 1999, they were married in a church wedding with more than 300 guests. Within two months, the couple began the process of applying to federal immigration authorities for Liliana to become a permanent resident like her husband.

They were told by a notary that her earlier border detention would not be a problem. To strengthen their application, Gerardo became a U.S. citizen in fall 2002. About a year later, Liliana was granted a one-year work permit. In May 2004, the couple encountered a problem with Liliana's residency petition - her border detention had made her ineligible for permanent residency. Immigration officers warned her that they could arrest her immediately and subject her to deportation, but they let her return home to her young son and daughter.

Fearing Liliana's deportation, the couple consulted attorney Gabriella Navarro-Busch in Ventura, who told them they could wait until Liliana received a formal letter ordering deportation. Months passed, and then years, and nothing happened. But in May 2007, four federal Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents arrived at the family's home about 6:30 a.m.

They were set to take Liliana into custody, when she successfully pleaded for five extra days to arrange care for her children: Gerardo Jr., 7; Susy, 5, and Paul, then 2 months, whom they call Pablito.

At that point, Liliana joined the New Sanctuary Movement, a national human-rights effort to make immigration law more humane and eliminate raids that separate undocumented parents from their U.S.-born children. She stayed in several locations before arriving at the Simi Valley church.

The family received her deportation letter Sept. 5., Navarro-Busch said. Churches providing sanctuary is ancient practice, although it has no legal standing in the United States. Still, federal authorities have declined to enter the Simi Valley church, or sanctuary congregations, to arrest sheltered illegal immigrants, stating a policy of concentrating on more serious criminal offenders.

The parsonage used by Liliana and Pablito has four bedrooms, two baths, fireplaces and a patio. Gerardo - who has one job at a hardware store and another delivering pizza - and the couple's other children visit one day during the week and on weekends.

Liliana said keeping her family together would be impossible without the help of her parents, who live in the Oxnard area, and volunteers from the church and affiliated congregations who support the movement. As a safety precaution, at least one church member is stationed at the parsonage around the clock. "I don't think anyone can fully appreciate the quiet anguish she feels every day as she prays for a positive solution to her situation," said the Rev. June Goudey, church pastor. "Our church continues to join our prayers with hers."

OKLAHOMA

EXPIRED LICENSES HARDER TO RENEW

By ANGEL RIGGS
World Capitol Bureau
11/25/2007

OKLAHOMA CITY -- Oklahoma's new immigration law is creating a hassle for some legal residents who let their driver's licenses expire.

However, the author of the legislation, which is aimed at illegal immigrants, said he and others are working to ensure the law has a minimal impact on legal citizens.

The law, which took effect this month, intends to ensure all licensed Oklahoma drivers are legal residents by requiring anyone getting or upgrading a driver's license to prove citizenship.

The rule also applies to anyone renewing an expired license.

Renewing an expired license now requires applicants to present certain documents, such as a birth certificate, to a Department of Public Safety driver's license examiner.

It's a problem Vicki Greene, manager of Jenks Tag Agency, said her business runs into about two dozen times a day.

"It is impacting a lot of people, because people don't always pay attention to when their driver's license expires," she said.

Trooper Betsy Randolph, a DPS spokeswoman, said those wanting to get, upgrade or renew an expired license will need one of four documents:

An original or certified birth certificate.

A U.S. passport.

A "Citizen Born Abroad" document.

A certificate of naturalization.

The documents must be presented to driver's license examiners, who are employed by DPS, because they have been trained to determine the validity of immigration documents, Randolph said.

"What we're wanting is to have legal drivers behind the wheel of any vehicle in the state of Oklahoma," Randolph said.

"The department realizes that it can be time-consuming to get these documents to begin with," she said. However, she added, "examiners are very thorough; they're going to do it correctly the first time."

Rep. Randy Terrill, R-Moore, author of the immigration law, said he and others are working to iron out the process.

"Both the Republican House leadership and myself recognize this has created a bit of inconvenience, perhaps unnecessarily, for many citizens," he said.

Terrill said that officials are working on a plan that could, in coming weeks, allow tag agencies to verify the citizenship of people who present an original, certified birth certificate.

However, if approved, DPS would still need to verify documents other than a birth certificate.

Greene asked that people "keep an eye on when their license expires," and to have patience through the process.

"The earlier they come in the day, the better," she said, adding that the holidays are an especially busy time of year for tag agencies.

Randolph said that people can get their license renewed up to six months in advance.

"If you get it renewed early, that's going to save you a lot of headache," she said.


Angel Riggs (405) 528-2465
angel.riggs@tulsaworld.com

ENTRANT WHO AIDED BOY THOUGHT OF OWN KIDS
LEAVING 9-YEAR-OLD AFTER HIS MOM DIED NOT OPTION, SAYS CELEB IN HIS HOMETOWN

By Amanda Lee Myers
The Associated Press
Tucson, Arizona | Published: 11.29.2007

PHOENIX — An illegal entrant who gave up his long walk into the U.S. to help a boy whose mother was killed in a van crash in the desert said Wednesday that he never thought of leaving the child.

"I am a father of four children. For that, I stayed," Manuel de Jesus Córdova Soberanes said in Spanish from his home in Magdalena de Kino, Sonora. "I never could have left him. Never."
Authorities said Cordova may have saved the life of 9-year-old Christopher Buchleitner, whose mother was killed when their van ran off a cliff in a remote area north of the Mexico-Arizona border on Thanksgiving Day.

Accosted by the media in the past few days, Córdova has become a bit of a hometown celebrity. Contacted Wednesday, Córdova asked about the whereabouts of the boy. "I'd like to know how he is, how he feels," Córdova said.
Despite the fact that his name is all over the media and he is the talk of the town, Córdova, a bricklayer, said he remains grounded.

"I feel like a regular person," Córdova said. "I imagine that I think like most other people. Being in that situation, any other person would have done the same."

Córdova, 26, completed only elementary school and has worked since he was 12 years old as a bricklayer, just like his father. Married with four children, Córdova said he thought about his children when he decided to stay with the boy and wait for someone to help them.

It was the second time Córdova had crossed illegally into the United States. The first time, he crossed as part of a group, but on this occasion he traveled alone and was headed toward Tucson.

A spokeswoman for the Mexican Consulate in Nogales said the office is working to obtain a short-term visa for Córdova so he can come to Arizona and be recognized for his actions.
Córdova was two days into his walk and about 50 miles from Tucson when he saw the boy, who had walked away from the crash.

In a telephone interview with The Associated Press from Magdalena de Kino, Córdova said Christopher had scrapes on his leg and was dressed in shorts despite the desert cold.
The boy had his dog with him and was holding a side mirror from the wrecked van.

Neither Córdova nor Christopher spoke the other's language, but the boy took the migrant to the edge of a canyon and showed him the accident site.

Authorities said Christopher and his mother, 45-year-old Dawn Alice Tomko, had been in the area camping. Tomko was driving on a U.S. Forest Service road when she lost control of the van, which landed 300 feet from the road.

By the looks of the mangled van down below, Córdova said, it was obvious that the boy's mother had died. The child was distraught but didn't cry.

"I felt frustrated and sad, because I couldn't do anything for the mother," Córdova said. "And I didn't know how to console the boy, so I just sat next to him."

Córdova gave the boy the sweater he was wearing, climbed down to the van, and found chocolate and cookies to feed him.

He then built a bonfire, and the two hunkered down. The boy slept most of the night; Córdova kept watch and tended the fire.

Fourteen hours later, a group of hunters found the pair and called for help. U.S. Border Patrol agents took Córdova into custody, and Christopher was flown to a hospital in Tucson.

Christopher was reunited with family members over the weekend; a message left with his uncle was not immediately returned Wednesday.

Santa Cruz County Sheriff Tony Estrada said Córdova is "very, very special and compassionate" and may have saved the boy's life.

Adriana Hoyos Rodríguez, the mayor of Magdalena de Kino, called Córdova a hero. "He left everything to save that boy," she said.

She said the city now has another celebrity,
along with Luis Donaldo Colosio, who was assassinated in his run for the Mexican presidency, and Father Eusebio Kino, known for establishing missions in the region about 300 years ago.

"I feel very flattered," Córdova said about the proclamation. "But I would have liked it better to have been Father Kino," he joked.
Córdova said he wanted to come to the United States to earn money to feed his four children, who live with their mother, and help support his girlfriend's three children. "I have two families — many mouths to feed," he said.

He said that even though his trip was thwarted, he's glad to be back home and wishes Christopher the best. "I hope he has a good life," he said.

● José Ma. Merino, editor of La Estrella de Tucsón, contributed to this story.

FBI NAME CHECK DELAYS TO END

Immigration Daily has learned that the FBI name check delays that
have stalled benefit applications may soon be a thing of the
past. We understand that the Executive branch will soon provide
name check clearances within a prescribed amount of time. If the
clearance is not completed within the designated timeframe, the
benefit will be approved by USCIS while the FBI continues to work
on the security process in parallel. The rationale to move to
this new process is not just better customer service for benefits
applicants but also because it will enhance national security
(our security demands that the bad guys be apprehended, not
merely be denied immigration benefits). The background for this
change of heart by the Executive branch is the fact that many
federal courts have been coming down hard on excessive name check
delays by the FBI. In fact, not only have some courts ordered
expedited name check completions but in some cases courts have
suggested that the courts have and would use their authority to
adjudicate petitions if the Executive branch could not get its
act together. The attorneys and litigants who have sought federal
court relief over these last several years deserve credit for
forcing the Executive branch to adopt a more effective policy in
this area (when it does happen, hopefully very soon). Stay tuned.

CARE URGED IN TACKLING MIGRATION

Mary Jo Pitzl
The Arizona Republic
Nov. 30, 2007 12:00 AM

If you're a state lawmaker and you're thinking of proposing laws to deal with illegal immigration, look before you leap.

That was the message from a panel of attorneys and an Arizona lawmaker speaking Thursday at the fall meeting of the National Conference of State Legislatures.

"If you're going to stick your toe in the water and get involved (in state immigration laws), study up," said Mary O'Grady, Arizona's solicitor general.

She knows what she's talking about: She is defending the state's employer-sanctions law against a challenge from business and Latino groups.

Lucas Guttentag said that his advice is to stay out of the fray.

"Let someone else stick their head on the chopping block," he said. "You will get sued."

Guttenberg is national director of the Immigrants' Rights Project for the American Civil Liberties Union. The ACLU is among the dozen groups suing Arizona over its sanctions law.

The advice comes as statehouses nationwide have generated a cascade of bills addressing immigration.

A report released Thursday by the NCSL documented a 250 percent jump in the number of immigration bills introduced by legislatures this year, compared to 2006.

Of those, 244 bills in 46 states became law, with two measures still being scrutinized by governors. That represents more than three times the number of bills signed last year.

Identification and driver's-license issues drew the most attention, followed closely by employment-related bills.

Arizona's employer-sanctions law was among those that got legislative approval this year.

State Sen. Barbara Leff, chairman of the Arizona Senate's Commerce and Economic Development Committee, outlined the history of Arizona's attempt to curb illegal immigration by creating penalties for employers found to have knowingly hired illegal workers.

"The question is: How do you do it without destroying your own economy?" she said.

She believes the state can get tough without causing the economy to crater by sticking to the federal definition of "knowingly" hiring workers and not rashly raiding workplaces.

She said she's heartened by the intent of 14 of the state's county attorneys, who are charged with enforcing the law, to not accept anonymous complaints of illegal hires, a practice that she thinks could lead to businesses trying to sabotage their competitors.

The exception is Maricopa County Attorney Andrew Thomas, who has said he will accept anonymous complaints.

"That's going to be a bit of a problem," Leff said.

Roxana Bacon, an immigration-law attorney, cautioned lawmakers to approach immigration as a global force, recognizing that it can be difficult, if not impossible, to regulate the push and pull of labor demands.

"We can't fence it out, so we have to be smart enough to harness it," Bacon said of immigrant labor.

She said state legislatures would be wise to stay on the sidelines while the federal government hammers out immigration solutions.

She acknowledged that the states have acted out of frustration with Washington, D.C., but said there are myriad unintended consequences of a patchwork of state immigration laws.

They include a loss of workers and a crippling of local businesses.

"The ****ing sound might be the ****ing sound as workers leave your state," Bacon said.

OKLAHOMA

REAL ESTATE

IMMIGRATION LAW COULD AFFECT HOME BUILDING

Kelley Chambers
The Journal Record November 30, 2007

OKLAHOMA CITY – With the passage of immigration reform measures in Oklahoma during the last legislative session, many industries will be affected, including real estate, a representative of The State Chamber said Thursday.

Mike Seney, senior vice president of operations with The State Chamber, talks Thursday at the Sportmen’s Club about how the new immigration law will affect real estate professionals in Oklahoma. (Photo by Jennifer Pitts)

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House Bill 1804 contains numerous provisions relating to illegal and undocumented workers, which could thin out the ranks of the work force, including those working as homebuilders.Article Tools Printer friendly edition E-mail this to a friend RSS Feed Digg this history Add to Del.icio.us Mike Seney, senior vice president of operations with The State Chamber, told a group of real estate professionals that they must be aware of the provisions in the law and the dates when portions of the law go into effect.

Seney discussed immigration measures around the country. He said with numerous problems popping up there is only one solution to the issue.

“The State Chamber has always said this is a federal issue and needs to be resolved at the federal level,” he said. “Even more importantly as to why it needs to be resolved on the federal level is quite honestly we need the workers.”

Some of the provisions in the law that could affect the real estate industry, as well as businesses as a whole, involve business entities that contract with individual independent contactors who perform a physical service.

Seney said under the new Oklahoma law, a business owner is supposed to verify employment eligibility for each worker or withhold the maximum state tax from that worker’s pay. If an employer does not follow those guidelines they are liable for that tax.

Bob Linn, outgoing president of FIABCI Oklahoma Council and owner of Exit Bob Linn Real Estate, said many businesses, and those in real estate and home building, may not be aware of all of the provisions in the law and the ramifications for noncompliance.

“I’m sure we had people in this room today that didn’t understand how far reaching it really was,” Linn said. “I’m not sure they really understood the depth.”

Linn said a major concern, especially with numbers floating around that up to 20,000 people have fled the state since the law went into effect, is to simply have the work force required to build homes.

“From a real estate brokerage firm my concern would be who’s going to build the houses?” Linn said.

Seney said the Chamber advocates a guest worker program as the only viable solution to keep a strong work force in not only Oklahoma but around the nation.

“We have got to develop a guest worker program in this country,” he said.

A portion of the law went in to effect November 1, and the remaining provisions are scheduled to go into effect July 1, 2008.

OKLAHOMA

CAPITOL

STATE LEGISLATURES TAKE UP IMMIGRATION-RELATED ISSUES

by Marie Price
The Journal Record November 30, 2007

OKLAHOMA CITY – Oklahoma is not the only state to address the immigration issue this year. Far from it: According to data from the National Conference of State Legislatures, as of mid-November some 1,562 pieces of immigrant-related legislation had been filed among the 50 state legislatures, with 244 becoming law.

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Eight states took up 29 comprehensive immigration measures encompassing several issues, but only one made it into law: Oklahoma’s.Article Tools Printer friendly edition E-mail this to a friend RSS Feed Digg this history Add to Del.icio.us The new state law is being challenged in court. An effort to block it from becoming law until the legal challenge is resolved failed.
House Bill 1804, most of which went into effect Nov. 1, affects illegal immigrants in their encounters with law enforcement and government agencies from which they seek services. Language that affects businesses and employers goes into effect next July.
The NCSL lists a few other Oklahoma measures as immigration related, although some of the cited language is already law.

One Oklahoma measure, Senate Bill 820, requires that a student enrolled in the Oklahoma Higher Learning Access Program either be a U.S. citizen or otherwise lawfully present in the country.

The change does not apply to students enrolled in OHLAP prior to the end of the 2006-2007 school year.

Eleven measures filed in other states were vetoed by their governors, and a couple more are pending governors’ review.

Lawmakers introduced almost three times as many bills this year than in 2006, with enactments more than tripling from last year’s 84 new laws.
Several state legislatures are still in session, so numbers could rise.

The top topics among immigration legislation this year were identification (driver’s licenses, state IDs) with 259 filings, of which 42 became law; employment, with 244 introductions, of which 31 became law; law enforcement, with 165 measures, of which 17 were enacted; public benefits, with 153 filings, of which 32 took effect; health, with 147 introduced bills, of which 16 became law, and education, with 131 filed bills, of which 20 were enacted.

Some new state laws place employment verification requirements on both the employer and worker, while others focus on verification when it comes to unemployment benefits and workers’ compensation.

Some new public benefit laws restrict benefits to some immigrants. Other states extended benefits to new groups of immigrants.
Although bills and resolutions were filed in all 50 states, only 46 actually enacted immigration measures.

Some 53 measures dealing with voting issues were filed in 23 states, but none became law.

Thirteen states enacted 18 pieces of legislation addressing human trafficking.

GORDON KING/Yakima Herald-Republic
A federal Immigration and Customs Enforcement police officer places a man in a holding cell at the agency's Yakima office Wednesday. The man was convicted of child molestation in 1994, which violated the terms of his legal residency, and he will be deported to Mexico. In order to photograph the ICE operation, the Herald-Republic had to agree not to show the faces of ICE agents or arrested suspects without their permission.

IMMIGRANTS ARRESTED BY ICE TEAM 'KNEW THIS DAY WAS COMING'

By ELOÍSA RUANO GONZÁ***
YAKIMA HERALD-REPUBLIC
Nov. 29, 2007

With most residents asleep in his quiet West Valley neighborhood, Victor Lopez was startled early Wednesday morning by banging on his front door.

"Police. Open the door, please," a man said loudly, breaking the street's silence at 5:30 a.m.

Lopez opened the door to find a handful of armed Immigration and Customs
Enforcement agents in bulletproof vests standing outside his dimly lit home on North 89th Avenue. After making sure the house was safe to enter, four agents arrested and handcuffed the 53-year-old Lopez, who had been ordered to leave the U.S. in February after two appeals of his deportation order had been rejected by the Ninth Circuit Court.

"It's not a surprise to them," ICE spokeswoman Lorie Dankers said about those who have been served with a deportation order. "They knew this day was coming."

Lopez, an immigrant from the Mexican state of Guerrero, was one of two people peacefully arrested Wednesday by the new Fugitive Operations team that moved into the Yakima Valley earlier this fall. The agents mainly search for people convicted of serious crimes who were ordered by an immigration judge to leave the U.S.

However, after scanning the fingerprints of the second man who was arrested, immigration agents discovered he wasn't the person they were looking for -- a man with several criminal charges, including unlawfully carrying a concealed weapon and multiple DUIs. Agents, who asked not to be identified for safety concerns, said the criminal had apparently stolen the second man's identity. It's not uncommon in these sweeps, they said.

The Yakima-based fugitive team is one of three in the region, which covers Washington, Oregon and Alaska. Agents said they travel throughout the Yakima Valley up to the Canadian border to look for undocumented people, particularly those who have been convicted of serious crimes. The other teams are based in Seattle and Portland.

Dankers said the three teams arrested 100 immigration fugitives (people who have been ordered to leave the U.S.) with criminal records and 405 without any criminal convictions during the 2007 fiscal year that ended Sept. 30. Local statistics weren't available.

Agents arrested nearly 30,400 people nationwide, nearly double the number of arrests from the 2006 fiscal year, according to ICE reports.

There are 75 fugitive teams throughout the U.S., sweeping through homes and some businesses. There were only 17 teams nationwide when the operations started in 2003, according to an ICE report. Immigration officials estimate there are nearly 595,000 immigration fugitives in the U.S.. Not all have criminal histories, though.

Dankers, who rode along with the team Wednesday, said agents prefer to arrest people at home, after they have monitored them. She said it's less disruptive than going to their workplace. But agents will search for people in businesses if they have to, she added.

"We have the authority to enforce the law anywhere and anytime," Dankers said.

Agents had been monitoring Lopez for some time, keeping track of when he left for work and what vehicle he drove. Dankers said Lopez lost his legal residency after violating its terms when he was convicted of second-degree child molestation in 1994 in Yakima County. She said he served 20 months in jail for his charge.

Because of his criminal conviction, Dankers said there was a priority in seizing him.

"There's certain rules they must abide by," she said. "If they chose to violate them, there's consequences."

Although he was ordered by an immigration judge to be deported this year, Lopez said he hired a lawyer to continue to fight for his residency. He said his wife, a U.S. citizen, was hoping to petition for his legal permanent residency.

The arrest was unexpected, Lopez said tearfully while sitting in the agency's downtown Yakima office.

"I thought they were looking for somebody else," said Lopez, who arrived in the U.S. about 28 years ago. "I didn't think they were looking for me.

"I always had faith that God would help me. I never expected this."

Jack Bennett, assistant field office director in the Seattle area, said a child-molestation conviction or any aggravated felony can permanently bar a person from re-entering the U.S. legally.

Lopez declined to discuss any details of the conviction.

Bennett said Lopez was one of 12 people bused to the immigration detention center in Tacoma on Wednesday. The other 11 were arrested by immigration agents while sitting in jails in the Tri-Cities and Walla Walla areas. Further details about those people weren't available.

Bennett said Lopez will be flown to San Diego or a city in Arizona this weekend. Immigration agents then will bus him to the U.S.-Mexico border so he can walk across to Mexican soil.

Although he's not sure what he'll do when he gets there, Lopez said he's more worried about his wife, his 16-year-old daughter and his father. He said his father is dying in Mexico due to complications with diabetes.

Lopez, a Zillah farm manager, said he's the breadwinner in his family and he worries his wife, who works at a fruit warehouse, won't be able to pay for the West Valley home they bought two years ago.

"I don't know what will happen to my home. My wife. My kid. My cars. My job," Lopez said. "I'll definitely lose my job."

Lopez said he doesn't see a possibility of returning to the U.S. or making a living in Mexico, where he hasn't been in 19 years. Although his American dreams have vanished, Lopez said he doesn't blame immigration agents.

"They're doing their job," Lopez said. "They received orders."

GORDON KING/Yakima Herald-Republic
An Immigration and Customs Enforcement police officer waits outside a West Valley home as other ICE agents arrest a man Wednesday.

TEXAS

REPORT: HALF OF IMMIGRANTS IN TEXAS ARE IN THE COUNTRY ILLEGALLY

Report: Half of immigrants in Texas are in the country illegally

statesman.com
By Bob Dart
Thursday, November 29, 2007, 01:11 PM

Half of the nearly 3.5 million immigrants living in Texas are in the country illegally, the Center for Immigration Studies says in a report released Thursday.

Based on the latest Census Bureau data, the report said Texas has one of the fastest-growing immigrant populations of any state. It said that 50 percent of the state’s foreign-born population — slightly more than 1.7 million people — are illegal immigrants. Only Arizona at 65 percent, North Carolina at 58 percent and Georgia at 53 percent had a higher proportion of illegal immigrants in their immigrant populations.

In Florida, about 30 percent of the nearly 3.5 million immigrants living in the state are in the country illegally, according to the report.

The influx of immigrants into Texas reflects the national trend, the report showed. The nation’s immigrant population — legal and illegal — reached a record of 37.9 million in 2007.

The report was written by Seven Camarota, research director for the Center for Immigration Studies, a nonpartisan think tank that advocates reductions in immigration.