Thread: System could fail family of detainee

http://www.fayettevillenc.com/article?id=243389

Published on Sunday, October 01, 2006

System could fail family of detainee


Myron Pitts
RALEIGH — Three-year-old Juan Sanchez would not stop crying in the courtroom Thursday.

His mother, Amalia Sanchez, led him out. She said later that Juan was upset to see his father in chains.

Jose Sanchez-Cruz sat in court with 27 other men accused of being in the country illegally. They were detained Tuesday at an entrance to Fort Bragg as they headed to work.

The men wore faded, orange-and-white striped jumpsuits and bright orange sandals. At the start of the proceeding, around 10 a.m., each man slid on headphones to hear a translator explain what would happen in the federal courtroom.

Four at a time, they shuffled forward, their ankle chains clinking. They sat behind a table and listened to federal Magistrate William A. Webb read the charges leveled against them by the U.S. government.

They appeared to range from early 20s to late 40s. Most were Mexican citizens who have lived and worked in the U.S. for years. Some of them had been deported once or twice and had come back.

One man wore a ponytail, another man a high-and-tight. One wore an eye-patch; another, small eyeglasses. One man had carefully tucked his jail-issue top into his trousers, the only man to have done so.

Jose Sanchez-Cruz was the fourth man of 10 who pleaded guilty Thursday. The rest of the cases were re-scheduled for Tuesday.

Sanchez-Cruz’ public defender, eyes scanning his client’s paperwork, told the magistrate that his client had lived here for more than 10 years and had been married for four. (The couple has actually only been married for three years.)

Webb sentenced Sanchez-Cruz to six months in jail and directed the U.S. Marshals to take him away. His sentence was heavier than the others because he pleaded guilty to drunken driving in 2002.

Sanchez-Cruz will be handed to immigration officials after his sentence and probably deported.

Lynn Calder, a Raleigh immigration lawyer, said marrying a U.S. citizen does not allow an undocumented immigrant to remain in the country. He must return home and apply for re-entry through his country’s U.S. consulate.

Unless hardship is proved, he could be blocked from coming back for years.

Amalia Sanchez was not in court to see the first stage of her family’s break-up.

“We have not had a chance to see him (before now),” she said, standing outside with little Juan.

She spoke to her husband by phone on Wednesday. He was being held in a Johnston County Jail with the other workers.

Sanchez, a U.S. citizen who attended E.E. Smith High School, said she has back problems that prevent her from working and that her husband earned the only paycheck. She said the two trips she and her son had made to Raleigh reduced her bank account to $13.

She hopes to retain a private lawyer. She does not know how she will pay the lawyer, or for that matter, how she will pay rent.

She hopes the lawyer can help her figure out a system that would rather separate a man from his wife and son than let him legally work to support them.

Columnist Myron B. Pitts can be reached at pittsm@fayettevillenc.com or 486-3559.

What the hell was a 3 yr. old doing in the courtroom???

What the hell was a 3 yr. old doing in the courtroom???

My guess would be to influence the judge.

Sanchez, a U.S. citizen who attended E.E. Smith High School, said she has back problems that prevent her from working and that her husband earned the only paycheck. She said the two trips she and her son had made to Raleigh reduced her bank account to $13.

I'm sure Mrs. Sanchez can legally apply to accompany her husband to Mexico since she is married to a Mexican citizen.