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Contributors
Viewpoints
from various contributors to the Corpus Christi Caller-Times. Updated when available.
Friday, August 18, 2000
Immigration laws rupture family ties
The plight of a young boy found floating between the United States and Cuba dominated the U.S. media for months. Elian Gonzalez's circumstances, from the tragic loss of his mother in a horrifying accident to the uncertainty of his future, drew compassion and attention from the public and officials at all levels of government: the Immigration and Naturalization Service courts, Federal District Court and the U.S. Attorney General.
Yet, Elian Gonzalez and his family are not the only ones to suffer a tragedy in which immigration and family law systems overlap.
In our own state of Texas, for example, a young man is being threatened with deportation because his adoption papers were signed late. His parents sent him to the United States, at the age of 11, from a country rife with human rights abuses greater than those of Cuba. His aunt and uncle filed for adoption. However, his adoption papers were not signed until two days after his 15th birthday, the cutoff date for gaining immigration status through adoption.
Unlike Elian, who had the potential to be welcomed by two countries, the boy in the case, whose now a young adult, could be left with no home, or face severe danger of persecution if returned to his country of origin. In contrast to Elian, this boy has received no special treatment or consideration. He should be allowed to reside here, but cannot.
In the case of Elian Gonzalez, the U.S. government went through great pains to reunite him with his father, granting a visitor's visa to a person who might normally have been denied entrance to the united States.
Many children of immigrants, who are themselves U.S. citizens, are not so lucky. As a result of the harsh terms of the Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act of 1996 and subsequent legislation, more and more families, with spouses and children who are U.S. citizens, are being threatened with separation for relatively minor offenses, such as mistakenly signing a voting card application while obtaining a driver's license.
Recently, one Texas family was permanently separated when a woman, whose husband and child are U.S. citizens, was deported from this country without the possibility for return. Her offense happened years ago, when she tried to enter the United States with improper documents. Under current laws, she is now barred from legal immigration status. She is forced to leave behind a small child and husband, destroying a family and putting into question a child's future.
These cases in our own state highlight two issues that jeopardize family ties for immigrants. The first is that family lawyers need significant knowledge of immigration issues in order to meet the needs of clients. Texas Lawyers Care, a division of the State Bar of Texas, has made great strides in educating family lawyers on immigration law. For two years in a row, they have offered training on the immigration implications of family law situations.
The second issue is that we need immigration laws that are more sensitive to the plight of children and families. It should be a top priority to keep families together where separation would bring unneeded devastation and hardship, particularly for children.
The well-being of Elian Gonzalez was given high priority in political circles, as it should have. Children need special consideration, no matter what their parent's country of origin or whether one or both are foreign born.
It is time all those who cared for Elian Gonzalez work to bring about justice for all children and families caught in the immigration system. We need immigration laws that value families, which are, after all, the backbone of our nation and the key to our future social, political, and economic success.
(J. Chrys Dougherty is vice chairman of Texas Appleseed, an organization of lawyers working on public interest projects. He is a senior counsel in the law firm of Graves, Dougherty, Hearon & Moody.)
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Caller Times, a Scripps Howard newspaper.
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