Critics say families legal rights abused by immigration laws

National Catholic Reporter, April 23, 1999 by Rosemary Johnston

"He doesn't even speak Farsi," his mother lamented. "Yes, he made a mistake, but does he have to pay for it with his life -- that's what will happen if he goes back to Iran. His family is here, his life is here."

Ellie Fanugao, a nurse at Mercy Hospital, knows firsthand the anguish and uncertainty shared by Fatima and the Alvarado family. She carries around a portfolio filled with papers relating to a case involving her brother-in-law Raymond.

In December of 1995, he was convicted of a lewd act with a child. "He was drunk at the time," Fanugao said. "The family of the girl has already forgiven him. Now we are worried that his wife, my sister, and my 10-year-old nephew may have to get along without him."

Raymond's wife, Norma, has been diagnosed with a premature form of Parkinson's Disease and is eligible for SSI -- Supplemental Security Income. She shares an apartment in Imperial Beach, Calif., with the couple's son, Rommel, and her mother, Cecelia Abraham. "He's already paid his dues," Fanugao said. "He's a good Dad, he's gone to counsel-completed a sobriety program, complied with probation guidelines. Our family came here from the Philippines more than 20 years ago. Now we're being torn apart."

Last month, these families shared their heartache and anguish with San Diego congressman Bob Filner, a Democrat, at a meeting organized by Citizens and Immigrants for Equal Justice, a support group for families with relatives now in detention centers as a result of the 1996 legislation.

Luz Marie Gonzalez is the San Diego coordinator of the group. There are chapters in Texas, Louisiana and New York. Earlier this month, a group of them, accompanied by attorneys, lobbied legislators on Capitol Hill, asking that the law be revised, eliminating its retroactive clause and allowing for bonds and appeals on a case-by-case basis.

At a Saturday afternoon meeting with the families at the Sherman Heights Community Center, Filner listened attentively as family members explained the situations their loved ones face. Some of them could only stand in front of him and sob, their children clinging to them.

Several local immigration attorneys who are representing the family members spoke, pointing out the inequities of the law and offering the small consolation that it could be years before all appeals are exhausted.

"Very few people in power know your stories," Filner told the crowd. "Many of us opposed this law from the beginning. We need to change that law. The problem is that the majority of Congress doesn't want to change it." Maria, Ellie and Fatima listened intently as Filner urged the group to move beyond their individual stories to collective political action.

Back home in Encanto, Maria's eldest son, Louis, lay resting, the pulse of the ventilator punctuating the silence, an empty bed in the corner of the room a reminder of the power of the law and the power of

ROSEMARY JOHNSTON

Special to National Catholic Reporter San Diego