Thread: Oxnard immigrants who lived in the US 20 years deported

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Oxnard immigrants who have lived in U.S. for nearly 20 years are deported
By Zeke Barlow, zbarlow@VenturaCountyStar.com
August 4, 2006

It never occurred to Abigail Nuñez that the people banging on the door wearing all black and toting badges were the immigration officials she had feared for 18 years.

Maybe they were police telling her about some crime problems around the Oxnard home that she and her husband bought, she thought. Maybe they were there because of some parking problem. But no, it was la migra. Immigration.

She said she didn't know about the 1999 deportation orders until a few months ago, because her lawyer kept her in the dark. By the time July 25 rolled around — when immigration officials handcuffed her husband, Jose, deported him to Mexico and told her she had a few weeks to get her affairs together and leave the country — all Nuñez could do is chalk up the experience to bad luck, pack her house and her four American-born children, who have never been to Mexico, and get ready to return to her homeland.

Today, she's driving south in a borrowed RV and reuniting with her husband in Tijuana before they return to Guadalajara for the first time in nearly two decades.

In many ways, Nuñez's experience is not uncommon.

In a post-Sept. 11, 2001, climate, Immigration and Customs Enforcement is stepping up efforts to remove immigrants who have ignored deportation orders. Since the start of the year, teams in the fugitive operations program have fanned out across the country picking up people like Nuñez and hardened criminals alike. Anti-illegal immigration advocates say it's one tool in the much-needed arsenal to fight the wave of people illegally coming to America.

However, Nuñez's case also illustrates another side of the saga, when immigrants seek help from those that they think can assist but who end up making the situations worse. Some prey on immigrants because of their tenuous status, exploiting their desire to gain some sense of legality. Hispanics are twice as likely to be victims of fraud than non-Hispanics, according to the Federal Trade Commission.

"There are always people that prey on others, and they are going to prey on the people that are naive and might not understand the law," said Gabriella Navarro Busch, a Ventura immigration lawyer who sees scores of cases involving immigrants who were scammed.

Nuñez is trying not to think about what happened and instead is looking ahead. She's eager to see her husband and her parents, whom she hasn't seen in nearly 20 years, and start planning her long journey north again.

"I understand I broke the law," she said. "I have a dream to come back legally."

Life in Guadalajara

Abigail Nuñez didn't want to come to America.

She and Jose had a good life in Guadalajara, where he worked in a coveted government transportation job.

However, Jose's brother was living in Santa Ana in 1988 and losing a battle against a kidney disease. Dialysis weakened him to the point where he couldn't work. He asked his brother to come help.

Nuñez said she had little idea what life would be like in the U.S. All she saw was other Mexicans in nice clothes and fancy cars parading the riches they made in el norte, the north.

"All the world says how much better the U.S. is," Nuñez said in the rough English she's learned in night classes.

The Nuñezes walked across the border near Tijuana with their 18-month-old son and hopped into a waiting car with keys in the ignition.

Nuñez was soon hit with the realization that life wasn't what she thought it would be. She was sleeping on the floor of a garage alone while her husband was working as a dishwasher, going days at a time without food. Three weeks after they arrived, they moved to Oxnard where they had a friend.

Their situation got slightly better, and their lives began to improve. After three years, they decided to sell their belongings in Mexico and make a go of life in the U.S. Their second son was born, and the parents began the long process of paying off the hospital debt. They said they never accepted any welfare and always paid their own way.

"We wanted to show the kids that if you worked hard, you didn't need anything else," Nuñez said.

Applying for political asylum

In 1994, the couple went to a Los Angeles notario, notary, who said he could help them get green cards by applying for political asylum. Notaries in Mexico are almost like lawyers, a fact some exploit in the U.S.

The couple later found out that while such scams are common, political asylum from Mexico is not. By filing for asylum they would never get, the Nuñezes effectively put themselves on the radar of immigration officials.

"What they have done is apply for this person's deportation," Busch said of such scams.

When the asylum application inevitably failed, the couple were sent to immigration court.

The notary gave the Nuñezes a list of lawyers to pick from. The Nuñezes chose Simon Salinas, a Tustin immigration lawyer. Salinas did not return multiple phone calls for this story.

The Nuñezes lost in the immigration court and were told to leave the country in 1995.

However, Abigail Nuñez said Salinas told them he would appeal the case, and for the next 10 years that's what she thought was happening.

She and her husband paid Salinas about $8,000.

During that time, they had three more children and got driver's licenses and Social Security numbers.

Jose went from working in the strawberry fields to starting a construction business, saving $11,000 for a down payment on a $180,000 home.

"We had a lot of confidence" legal status was working in their favor, Abigail Nuñez said.

Deportation orders issued

Salinas carried the family's case to the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals but lost.

The Nuñezes said he told them he would appeal that decision and never told them deportation orders had been issued. Every time they called to get an update on their case, he said he was working on it, Abigail Nuñez said.

Three months ago they saw their deportation orders for the first time when they came in the mail, she said.

She figured immigration would try to pick up Jose at work or in the evening.

Jose Nuñez was getting dressed for work when five Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers knocked on her door July 25. They wanted to take both parents, but when they realized four young children born in the U.S. were involved, they took only Jose and told Abigail she had a few weeks to get her affairs in order and leave the U.S.

It's a scenario that could start to play out more and more as Immigration and Customs Enforcement increases efforts around the state.

Two of the fugitive teams were added to the Los Angeles office this year and two more are expected by the end of the year, said Eric Saldana, supervisor of the Immigration and Customs Enforcement's removal and detention office in Los Angeles.

Though he said team members prioritize deporting criminals, they are doing much more to remove those like the Nuñezes who overstayed their deportation orders.

During the past eight years, as the total number of people being deported has increased, the percentage of those without criminal records removed also has risen.

Last year, about half of those deported did not have criminal records, according to Immigration and Customs Enforcement statistics.

Another case nearby

Saldana compared his job to a ticket taker at the movies.

"If you don't have a ticket, you can't be here," he said.

He said when he sends a team out to get a criminal, he'll type in the address and see if there are any immigrants overstaying their deportation orders in the area. The Nuñezes might have been picked up simply because of another case nearby.

Saldana said he's heard of cases where people complain that they were duped by immigration attorneys, and while he understands it, that doesn't forgive it. They are still in the country illegally, he said.

Abigail Nuñez knows it. She knew it was a gamble but figured she might win.

She said that the good and bad are all part of life. She's a little concerned how her children will fit in in Mexico; her three youngest know more English than Spanish. While her four youngest children, ages 8 to 15, are going to Mexico, her oldest son is staying behind.

She's trying to rent out her house so that 10 years down the road, when the penalty for entering the country illegally has passed, she can come back and start again legally.

Adios Amigos!

Why isn't my heart bleeding after reading this story??

I'll tell you why. I DON'T CARE!! You came here illegally, popped out 4 babies, and broke our laws by living in our country undocumented and without legal right.

It sucks to be you Abigail. You had 18 years to deal with it, and you didn't do squat!!

Adios..
One down, many more to go!

Uhmm..wait a minute...

While her four youngest children, ages 8 to 15, are going to Mexico, her oldest son is staying behind.

The Nuñezes walked across the border near Tijuana with their 18-month-old son and hopped into a waiting car with keys in the ignition.

It looks like the eldest son was that 18-month old child, that presumably was born in Guadalajara. Has he been naturalized, and if not why is he staying here?

As for the rest of family, bummer for the kids but such is life when you're parents are criminal invaders.

Originally Posted by Zeke Barlow

All she saw was other Mexicans in nice clothes and fancy cars parading the riches they made in el norte, the north.

But, but... We're being told all they want is to do the jobs no American will do. And Vicente said even the blacks won't do them. It's true if you wait long enough, it all comes spilling out, racism and all. They don't want the crummy jobs any more than anyone else. They want your job and that creep Alex Vega wants to run the whole show, in other words, take over the country.