Dodd's bill might buy time for Kendall brothers
Posted on Tue, Sep. 18, 2007Digg del.icio.us AIM reprint print email
By LESLEY CLARK AND BETH REINHARD
lclark@MiamiHerald.com

WASHINGTON -- Juan and Alex Gomez, the Kendall brothers who have been battling deportation orders, may be able to stay in the United States until 2009 under legislation filed by U.S. Sen. Chris Dodd, their attorney said Tuesday.

Dodd, a Connecticut Democrat who is running for president, filed a bill on the Colombian-born students' behalf late Monday, said Cheryl Little, executive director of the Florida Immigrant Advocacy Center.

''This is the news we've been waiting for,'' Little said. ``Finally, Juan and Alex can have some semblance of a normal life, though we still have our work cut out for us.''

In most cases, a bill like the one filed by Dodd brings deportation proceedings to a halt for the rest of the congressional term. The current term ends in 2009, giving attorneys a chance to pursue the family's legal appeal.

Little said extra time will also allow immigration advocates to lobby for the DREAM Act, which would offer students who grew up in the United States -- like the Gomez boys -- a chance at legal residency.

Critics see the DREAM Act as a form of amnesty and predict that it will not make headway.

''We see it as amnesty and as such would encourage more parents to put their children at risk by bringing them here illegally,'' said Caroline Espinosa, a spokeswomen for NumbersUSA, a nonprofit that aims to reduce immigration.

MET THE BROTHERS

Dodd decided to try to help the Kendall teens after visiting them in Miami while he was in town for a historic Sept. 9 presidential forum broadcast on Spanish-language television. Their parents brought them to the United States when they were infants and overstayed their visas.

The meeting with Dodd was set up by Republican lobbyist Ana Navarro, who said she talked with Rep. Lincoln Diaz-Balart, R-Miami, who has been fighting the brothers' deportation. Their advocates had hoped to enlist a senator's help, and Navarro knew several Democrats would be staying at the Biltmore Hotel in Coral Gables for the presidential forum.

'I asked Lincoln, `What do you think about me pitching this to any senator who walks through the door?' and he said, 'Run with it, Ana,' '' said Navarro, whose boyfriend, Gene Prescott, owns the hotel.

Navarro said she was able to reach Dodd and he agreed to meet with the brothers.

''I don't agree with him one bit on Cuba policy, but we agreed on this: that what was happening to these two boys was wrong,'' Navarro said.

Dodd has long advocated lifting the trade embargo with Cuba and restrictions on travel and remittances to the island. His positions amount to heresy among some exiles, who fear loosening sanctions would strengthen the repressive regime.

Dodd serves as chairman of the Western Hemisphere subcommittee of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee and has met with 49 heads of state from Latin America and the Caribbean over the past two decades, according to his campaign. Like his better-known Democratic rivals for the nomination, he supports legislation that would allow illegal immigrants to earn citizenship.

`FAIRNESS ISSUE'

Alfredo Duran, a Miami lawyer who supports Dodd and his Cuba policy, said he wasn't surprised to see him intervene on behalf of the Gomez brothers.

''The senator has always been supportive of resolving the immigration problem in this country,'' he said. ``These boys have been living in the U.S. all their life and have no nexus whatsoever with their home country. . . . It's a fairness issue.''

Neither of the senators from Florida -- Democrat Bill Nelson and Republican Mel Martinez -- has become involved in the case. Nelson is a co-sponsor of the DREAM Act, while Martinez said he didn't think it was appropriate to attach immigration reform to a defense spending bill.

''We're talking about pay raises for our great men and women in uniform, and those issues really need to have center stage and not be clouded by what is a very controversial issue,'' he said. ``I'm also very reticent to do any piecemeal immigration reform. I really don't think it makes much sense.''

Diaz-Balart's bill to stop the brothers' deportation has yet to be heard by a committee, as required. The congressman is planning to rally with DREAM Act supporters today in Washington.



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