In the tangle of immigration law, one family faces separation

By Veronica Gonzalez
Staff Writer
veronica.gonzalez@starnewsonline.com

Friday was the last day of school for 13-year-old Kellyn Romero Ramos, an immigrant from Honduras who crossed three countries' borders in search of her mother.

It was her last day as an eighth-grader at Williston Middle, and possibly her last day as a student in the United States.

An immigration judge told Kellyn, who's here illegally, to leave the country - her home since she was 11 - by Monday. It doesn't matter that her mother is here legally and her step-sister is a U.S. citizen.

"Something has to happen," said Kellyn's mother, Erlin Ramos, speaking in their tidy two-story apartment. "Someone has to help me. Kellyn doesn't have anybody else."

A hearing with immigration officials is scheduled for June 19, said Paul Suhr, her immigration attorney.

Kellyn's situation underscores the complexity of the immigration debate as the U.S. Senate stalls sweeping reform.

In the teen's case, it's unlikely that even the Comprehensive Immigration Reform Act about which U.S. senators were sparring could help if she disobeys her order to leave the country. The proposal would legalize an estimated 12 million undocumented immigrants.

William Gheen, president of Americans for Legal Immigration PAC, said his organization played a central role in the apparent defeat of the proposal. He added that the majority of people living in the United States believe the government is not doing its job because it has failed to enforce existing immigration laws and secure the nation's borders. Gheen called Kellyn's case exceptional and rare.

"I love children," he said. "All Americans love children. We can't let one case decide policy for the nation. Americans want enforcement."

Living here legally

Kellyn's mother, Erlin Ramos, has permission to work in the United States.

Ramos, a single mother when she came to the United States in 1997 in search of work, said she would not leave her daughter again.

"I tell other mothers, 'Don't leave your children,'â—