Thread: Deportation process boots alien criminal, separates family

Deportation process boots alien criminal -- and separates family
Posted: May 28, 2010 1:50 PM CDT
Updated: May 29, 2010 12:35 AM CDT


TUCSON (KGUN9-TV) - Noe Nubes is gone, deported back to his native country. He was, more or less, a wall-poster example of the kind of person U.S. immigration laws and enforcement are designed to get rid of. The facts are not in dispute: Nubes was persona non grata, a foreign national who also was a convicted criminal. Booting him is precisely the kind of action the law demands, and that so many Americans want.

But there is a hidden cost. It's a price that can't be measured in dollars and cents, or be understood by studying crime charts.

A KGUN9 News crew documented Nubes' capture Wednesday night. The dramatic news footage showed ICE agents rushing Nubes' car with guns drawn and arresting him. Nubes was on a list of convicted alien criminals targeted for deportation. He had avoided this fate for years. In 1997 police caught Nubes with 35 pounds of pot and $240,000 in cash. He served his time. But the conviction cost him his green card. He should have been deported after completing his sentence.

On Wednesday night, Nubes' name came up, and his luck ran out. Nubes' arrest at the hands of a special ICE enforcement team left him in tears. Speaking in Spanish, Nubes told KGUN9's Joel Waldman that in the years since his drug bust, he'd turned his life around -- finding God, winning the love of a woman, and starting a family. That's all over now. Nubes spent some of his last moments in America sitting in a bleak holding cell with his face buried in his hands.

The velocity of events left Nubes' Tucson family stunned. Among the close family members he left behind: girlfriend Kathia Martinez and their 5 month old daughter, also named Kathia.

Martinez has a hard time understanding why this is happening now. "It was a long time ago," she told Waldman on Thursday. "He was dumb, didn't know what he was doing."

Waldman asked Martinez what she would say to those who point out that Nubes is both an undocumented immigrant and a convicted felon, with no right to be in the United States. She answered, "That's a tough question. I don't know."

Also left behind is Nubes' sister, Rocio Rodriguez. On Thursday, with tear-filled eyes, she told Waldman, "I didn't know my brother was going to get deported. It made me so scared, everything on the news. I didn't want him to go away."

During the interview with KGUN9, Nubes called home from just across the border. Phone reception from Nogales, Sonora was poor. The call dropped several times. A dead cell phone battery finally ended it. It may be the last call home for a while. Nubes did not have a cell phone charger with him when ICE agents nabbed him, and they deported him without it.

Before the call ended, Nubes told Kathia that he's wandering the streets of Nogales, trying to figure out what to do next. He has no immediate way to support the woman and child he left behind in Tucson.

Kathia Martinez is also wondering what to do. She told Waldman she'll have to look for work on her own so that she can take care of herself and her baby.

Nubes entered the United States legally at the age of 18. He lost his legal status after the drug conviction. That's how Nubes' name came to be on ICE's target list Wednesday night. What's not clear, however, is why it took so long for his name to come up.

Rodriguez told Waldman that in recent months, Nubes has spent his time between his new family, work and church. Those he left behind can only pray that his faith sustains him now. The last Martinez heard from Nubes, just before the cell phone died, he was weeping.

http://www.kgun9.com/global/story.asp?s=12561674

Here is the Original story posted Wednesday

http://www.alipac.us/ftopict-200923.html

"The last Martinez heard from Nubes, just before the cell phone died, he was weeping."

Also left behind is Nubes' sister, Rocio Rodriguez.

IMHO this is why we need to start practicing "Chain deportation"

Anytime contact is made with an Illegal Ice needs to got to their home address and get any and all others that are illegal,

Of course with his whole family is here he will be back however ya take away the "Family magnet" and we win on all fronts.

I find it odd that the article does not mention what type of work this man was doing. He has past drug convictions. It seems if they really want to play this guy up, that they would say what type of work he is now doing. Usually these sob articles mention what type of work the person is doing.

Originally Posted by Waiter

Also left behind is Nubes' sister, Rocio Rodriguez.

IMHO this is why we need to start practicing "Chain deportation"

Anytime contact is made with an Illegal Ice needs to got to their home address and get any and all others that are illegal,

Of course with his whole family is here he will be back however ya take away the "Family magnet" and we win on all fronts.

yes i COMPLETELY agree , why is it ICE cannot use COMMON SENSE that is as clear as DAY LIGHT ... seize everyone in the household and check for papers ...

i look forward to the day we can begin to really use our brains ..