For undocumented students, fear of deportations still looms


Undocumented students in South Florida temporarily detained by immigration authorities remain under threat of deportation.
BY ALFONSO CHARDY
August 12, 2010

When Gaby Pacheco and three other South Florida youths walked from Miami to Washington earlier this year in an immigration protest, their message was simple: President Obama, stop deporting foreign undocumented students until Congress approves legislation making them eligible for green cards.

Obama never received the group and has not formally granted their wish. Neither has the administration become lenient enough toward undocumented students, at least in the eyes of local immigration activists and attorneys.

Whether the Obama administration is adopting a more forgiving posture toward undocumented students is now the focus of debate after The New York Times published an article Monday saying the administration is sparing undocumented students deportation.

``The Obama administration, while deporting a record number of immigrants convicted of crimes, is sparing one group of illegal immigrants from expulsion: students who came to the United States without papers when they were children,'' the story said.

In South Florida, however, the perception is radically different. Immigration attorneys and activists said that while it's true undocumented students in highly publicized cases have not been deported, the threat of deportion still looms high for them.

That's because in all their cases, they have only been granted temporary reprieves from deportation -- not indefinite suspensions or cancellations of their removals.

When those reprieves expire, and if they are not renewed, deportation could still occur -- unless Congress approves legislation known as the DREAM Act or the administration suspends indefinitely deportations for more than 700,000 undocumented students who could be eligible for green cards under the DREAM Act.

SOME REPRIEVES

Activists and immigration attorneys in Miami also said that while some students in the area have been given reprieves, they were not all granted willingly or voluntarily by immigration officials. Rather, they were won by aggressive and effective immigration attorneys who extracted them from reluctant officials. Some of the reprieves are known as deferred action, which suspends deportation usually for a year.

``The administration is not granting deferred action to all undocumented students,'' said Cheryl Little, executive director of Florida Immigrant Advocacy Center, the Miami-based immigrant rights group that represents the bulk of prominent foreign undocumented student cases in South Florida. ``On the contrary, it is doing so only on a case-by-case basis and usually after lawyers petition them to do so. We have had to fight tooth and nail to get deferred action.''

In some cases, even requests for deferred action have been ignored in South Florida. Pacheco said at least half a dozen undocumented students detained by immigration officials in the last two years were deported even after other students lobbied for some kind of reprieve.

``ICE believes there is a need for comprehensive immigration reform,'' said U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement spokesman Temple Black. ``We are focused on smart, effective immigration enforcement that focuses first on criminal aliens who pose a threat to our communities while we continue to work with Congress to enact reform.

``ICE uses discretion on a case by case basis, as appropriate and has the authority to grant a deferral of removal action based on the merits of an individual's case and a review of specific facts.''

A review of prominent cases involving undocumented students in South Florida shows none is free from the threat of deportation.

Juan Gómez and his brother Alex, made famous in 2007 when their classmates lobbied for them after immigration authorities put the youths in deportation proceedings, remain in the United States but only because of a bill introduced in Congress on their behalf by Sen. Christopher Dodd, D-Conn.

DODD RETIRING

Dodd is retiring and now Little will have to seek another senator to file a bill or convince immigration authorities to give the brothers deferred action. If all that fails, the Gómez brothers could be deported to their native Colombia.

Deportation also looms for the Reyes brothers of Venezuela, Guillermo, Jesús and Marcos, who were put in deportation proceedings last year but have avoided expulsion because of deferred action that expires in November.

Leslie Cocche and her sister Kellyn, put in deportation proceedings in March after Leslie was detained while awaiting Tri-Rail, now have deferred action -- but it's only good for 12 months. They could be deported if immigration officials refuse to renew it.

Meanwhile, Pacheco and two other youths who walked to Washington from Miami, have not been put in deportation proceedings -- but they could be if encountered by immigration officials. Little's center is now representing the undocumented youths -- Pacheco, Felipe Matos and Carlos Roa. A fourth walker, Juan RodrÃ*guez, is a legal resident.

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