There is no way to describe this situation other than “insane”:
Eduardo Gonzalez, a petty officer second class with the U.S. Navy, is about to be deployed overseas for a third time. Making his deployment even tougher is the fact his wife may not be around when he comes back.
Mildred and Eduardo Gonzalez worry about what would happen to their family if she is deported.
His wife faces deportation to Guatemala — her home country that she hasn’t seen since 1989. He also doesn’t know what would happen to his young son, Eduardo Jr., if that happens.
“I like being in uniform and serving my country, but if she goes back I’m going to have to give it all up and just get out and take care of my son and get a job,” he said.
“Defending the country that’s trying to kick my family out is a thought that always runs through my mind.”
What a country!
RSA
Wow.
Some people seem to have absolutely no shame, or even a spark of humanity.
Ugh
I read that earlier and was just stunned. This country is populated by a bunch of bed-wetting children.
Ahhh! Illegal Immigrants!
Ahhh! Islamofascists!
Ahhh! Teh Gay!
norbizness
The lure of the shiny, candy-like red button that says “DEPORT THE LAWBREAKERS!” is much greater than that dingy, dusty, faded green button that says “SUPPORT THE TROOPS!”
Captain USA
Obviously another “phony soldier”.
KCinDC
When I first saw it, I assumed that Gonzalez was one of those noncitizens trying to earn his citizenship by serving in the military (a system that creeps me out), and it appears he was, but he now has his citizenship. So how can we be deporting the spouse of a US citizen, when it’s clearly not some sort of sham marriage?
Zifnab
Clearly, you’re not thinking wingnutty enough. It’s definitely a shame marriage if she’s looking to get her citizenship. If she was just quietly deported and this never hit the public sphere, their marriage would remain pure and unquestioned.
RSA
This strikes me as a red tape situation that a member of Congress could clear up with a phone call (though I may be underestimating their influence). It would make for a bit of political capital as well for a Democrat.
Gus
Support the (white) troops!
Buck
I think you are overestimating their influence.
RSA
Oops.
Grumpy Code Monkey
What kills me is that, according to the article, these people didn’t just sneak across the border in the middle of the night — Eduardo came over legally, Mildred and her mother were granted refugee status and were working to get their citizenship.
If Krikorian’s comment was in reference to this particular case, then he’s a humongous dick.
This country needs a goddamned enema.
Vladi G
I’m with KC. I no expert on immigration law, but I thought spouses of citizens were eligible for green cards. I imagine that it must be different if the spouse was originally here illegally. What a fucked up situation.
Vladi G
Wow, it gets even worse:
So we’re talking about someone who didn’t come here illegally of her own volition. Someone who was granted assylum and here legally for years. Someone who would have been granted legal status had not she gotten married just prior to that change in status (Gotta love those “defense of marriage” Republicans), on top of the fact that she’s married to a citizen serving his country in the military. That is fucked up.
And Mark Krikorian can go eat a dick.
Ugh
Indeed.
The Other Andrew
Shouldn’t this be tagged under “Republican Stupidity”? Not that we need even more examples, but…
Punchy
I’m pretty damn sure Gus just nailed it.
Tax Analyst
Ah…a “Hearts & Minds” program apparently run by the Department of Homeland Security.
I feel a whole lot safer already.
Tax Analyst
Ah…I probably should have said it this way:
Punchy
Bush to Britain: Y’all suck, seriously
In what can only be described as “uh….wow. Dammmmmmmmn.”
I can’t wait to see what the Telegraph says tomorry…
Larv
Does this rule also apply to our forces? Woohoo, a WH official has come out in favor of withdrawal!
Or maybe this is just a small, petty, vindictive insult thrown in the face of our main ally and the only other real contributor to the “coalition of the
coercedwilling. Because apparently one ally is one too many. Lets see if they can piss off Poland next.Tax Analyst
Well, you know in the BushWorld you’re either
with usour poodle or against us.And Tony B. was such a good little puppy…I’m sure Dubyah misses him a real lot.
RSA
White House officials should stay away from sports metaphors. It doesn’t give you a clear field when people on your own side leave the game.
Punchy
I think he meant they now have an open area in which to carpet bomb the Brownies without worrying about taking out any Brits.
Shorter: Easier to kill everyone but crackers.
nabalzbbfr
Look, either she disclosed her situation to her husband, in which case he knew what he was getting into and has no cause for complaint. Or else she concealed it, in which case the marriage is fraudulent and invalid.
Jake
Ah yes. The insatiable crass bitch known as BushAdmin is displeased with her besotted British lover’s performance and tells him so as he gets dressed.
“Go now dahling,” BushAdmin croons. “Go, before we both say things we regret.”
Australia (who’s been praying for the moment when he no logner has to take Britain’s sloppy seconds) won’t listen when Britain storms out of BushAdmin’s boudoir. Australia knows he can make BushAdmin happy. He just knows it.
(Don’t ask me where this shit comes from. I don’t recall doing drugs recently.)
Xenos
Look, either she disclosed her situation to her husband, in which case he knew what he was getting into and has no cause for complaint. Or else she concealed it, in which case the marriage is fraudulent and invalid.
Any of a number if illegalities can be cured with a legit marriage to a U.S. citizen. There are some cases, such as an unextendible medical student visa, where it will not. This case sounds like she slipped between the chairs, and is not a case of illegality, just an inopportune change out of status. The good news is that, with a child of the marriage, she is unlikely to have her marriage found to be a sham. Intent is not the issue, the substance of the marriage is, and she should be OK. INS made me run in circles for 18 months, until our daughter was born and it was clear the marriage was not a sham.
Husband needs to sponsor his wife’s permanent resident app ASAP. If he can show a completed and submitted application by his hearing date, they are likely to get an extension. The judge will have discretion enough, but since some of the judgeships have become sinecures for Bushie loyalists, God help her if she gets one of them.
Either way, Krikorian is full of shite. This is not an amnesty scenario, just an administrative stay of proceedings to allow a citizen to follow through on the application for residency for a family member.
David Hasselhoff Built My Hotrod
This dude I knew in Iraq had to go home on emergency leave because his wife got deported to Mexico. He got her paperwork in order and back in the US in just a few days, though. Apparently it was just some stupid paperwork fuck up.
We razzed him about that for months.
The Other Steve
This is something a child would say.
John Spragge
I love the way the phrase “refugee from Guatemala” sort of skips across the consciousness of even the decent people in this discussion. Lest we forget, refugees do not come from Guatemala because of natural disasters such as hurricanes; refugees come from Guatemala because someone (I won’t say who, but their initials are probably CIA) overthrew a democratic government in Guatemala in the 1950s, and then went on to support more and more brutal regimes, until the “counterinsurgency” campaigns of the 1980s, when the Guatemalan government oppressed the people using methods that would have drawn charges of “conduct unbecoming” in the Schutzstaffel. And all through this repression, a repression that has a special place in the annals of horror, the then government of Guatemala, as a “right wing” government, enjoys the support, or at least the forbearance, of the Reagan administration.
So the US government starts out owing Mildred Gonzalez and her family a debt they can never repay. Then the Gonzalez family goes and heaps coals of fire when Eduardo Gonzalez joins the US military and tries to make a contribution. And after all that, some “executive director” of a “think tank” bleats about precedent and consistency and the importance of following every mindless and heartless twist of red tape. Well, I guess I have to give Mark Krikorian this much: when you leave honour and decency behind, I guess you have to pay attention to the letter of the law. Because you certainly have nothing else.
Evinfuilt
Most restrain myself.
ARE THEY FUKIN INSANE!!!!!!
Sorry, but WHAT THE…
I just can’t understand. A 5 year old, war refugee, now married to a US citizen is to be deported while he fights in a war for the people who want to deport her, because they found a loop hole.
Thats what this is, they found a loop hole to deport a “brown.”
lou
Did you read the comments below the story? A lot of morons live in the US and seem to have no reading comprehension skills, not unlike Krikorian. She was not here illegally. How hard is that for people to comprehend? And then airily saying, well, her mother is at fault. No the system is. It lets people’s status linger for years on end. There was nothing her mother could have done.
Evinfuilt
I don’t know if you realized this. She wasn’t an illegal immigrant, there is zero reason for her to be deported. Someone about to be granted US Citizenship after living her LEGALLY for 16 years shouldn’t have to worry about marrying a US Citizen and being deported.
Heck, this could have happened to me. BUT I came from the UK, so I’m fine, they don’t bother with us Euro’s.
Jake
When dealing with a certain “mind” set, Hispanic/Latino = Illegal Immigrant. And no, it doesn’t matter how the person came here. If his/her ancestors have been here a hundred years longer than the yahoos gabbling about furriners, they’re still an illegal immigrant.
Xenos
Hate to be a pedant, but the various terms have specific legal meanings. At the point she married, she went ‘out of status’ as far as her amnesty application was concerned, as that status derived from her mother. She thus has no legal right to remain in the US, and subject to removal (deportation, as a term, is no longer used). She is ‘illegal’ in the sense that she is not legal, although it is a misnomer because we are talking about exclusively administrative law, not criminal law.
She can get the right to stay until an application for permanent resident status is approved or denied, but until that application is submitted by her husband, she will not get the visa that will allow her to remain while her husband’s application to sponsor her is being considered. If husband shipped out without getting that application in and her passport stamped, she has a serious problem. She will have to go to Guatamala and file through the consulate there.
An Immigration Judge has discretion to let her stay for repeated one year periods while the application is considered, and if denied, while that denial is being appealed. This means you have to trust the innate sense of fairness of a Bush appointee… yikes!
If no application has been made, and Husband is unable to submit it while overseas, the judge will not have the discretion to let her stay – there is just no legal basis for it. The prosecutor has discretion, but again, thses are Bushies. The traditional solution for these unsolvable screw-ups is political – get her to her Congressional Rep and get a law passed to grant her residency for a few years. It sounds crazy, but it can happen. You need a lot of $$ for publicity and lobbying.
bernada
“And Mark Krikorian can go eat a dick.”
Why not Larry Craig’s?