Thread: Increased sweeps alarm immigrants

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ANXIETY OVER RAIDS: Increased sweeps alarm immigrants
BY NIRAJ WARIKOO
FREE PRESS STAFF WRITER

June 26, 2006



David Llamas was given a stay, but there was a typo.

To his Garden City family, David Llamas is a hard-working man who played by the rules but was unfairly deported to Mexico last month. His wife, Kathy Llamas, a U.S.-born citizen, is outraged.

But the government says the 30-year-old illegal immigrant repeatedly ignored deportation orders. Immigration officials said Thursday that a typo made by a government employee led in part to Llamas' deportation, but they also maintain that he had been under an order to leave since 1999.

The differing views reflect how recent immigration raids in Michigan and across the country are playing out among immigrant communities and law enforcement officials. While families cope with the loss of loved ones, authorities maintain they are enforcing laws that for too long have been violated by many. The tension is likely to remain as the government continues to arrest illegal immigrants in metro Detroit, part of a nationwide tightening against immigration scofflaws. Last week, 110 immigration violators in Michigan were arrested by federal agents in a nine-day operation called Return to Sender. And more operations are in the works.

"We're just doing our job. ... They're not used to the immigration laws being enforced," said Greg Palmore, a regional spokesman for the Department of Homeland Security. "We're still here enforcing the laws, more vigilant than ever."

That increased vigilance concerns some in metro Detroit's immigrant communities. On Wednesday, Latino and Arab-American groups held a small rally in front of the Detroit office of the Department of Homeland Security to voice their concerns about the raids. And on Thursday, a public forum on immigrants' rights with attorneys and civil rights advocates was held in southwest Detroit at Holy Redeemer Catholic Church, whose congregation consists largely of Latino immigrants.

Kathy Llamas, who spoke at the Wednesday rally, wants to create a group to monitor how immigration raids are conducted. Immigrants are sometimes afraid to speak out about how they are treated, she said.

According to Llamas, federal agents barged in her home at 5 a.m. May 9 and took her husband to jail without an explanation. Llamas said her husband later told her by phone that he and other inmates were abused with ethnic insults. Within hours, he was in a dusty town in Mexico, with no money and no immediate contacts. He now lives with a cousin in Guadalajara, separated from his wife and four kids in Garden City.

"The way it happened was like 'shock and awe,' " Kathy Llamas said. "It was a form of terror. ... They didn't need to traumatize our household."

But Palmore said "our officers go in with the utmost respect" when making arrests and don't insult immigrants.

"We don't knock down doors," he said. "We knock on doors and ask for permission."

Wrong address

David Llamas' story mirrors those of other undocumented immigrants across Michigan.

In 1984, Llamas illegally entered California, slipping across the border from Tijuana with an older sister.

His mother had crossed -- legally -- years before, and he eventually met up with her in Detroit. She applied to make him a U.S. citizen. Llamas later married, and then his wife also applied to make him legal. They later divorced.

In 1999, the government mailed its first notice of deportation, according to Kathy Llamas and government officials. But it sent that order, and other immigration papers, to his ex-wife's home, which David Llamas was unaware of at the time.

In those mailings, the government said he had filled out a wrong form.

Llamas eventually found out about the deportation order and started to appeal. He met with immigration authorities several times, with the last meeting on May 1, according to Llamas. At that meeting, he was told to report on May 10.

But in the early morning of May 9, seven agents with U.S. Immigration Customs and Enforcement, arrived at the Llamas home. Kathy Llamas said they "pushed open my door and entered without a warrant."

Her 11-year-old daughter, Llamas said, was terrified.

"What they did was just cruel," she said. "My husband was never in hiding, not a criminal. He showed up for all his appointments" with authorities.

Government's typo

Kathy Llamas and her attorney asked for an emergency stay from the Board of Immigration Appeals, a federal agency in Virginia that is part of the U.S. Department of Justice. If granted, the stay would have allowed David Llamas to remain in the country.

At 3:03 p.m., the bureau agreed with the request, and granted a stay, Llamas and government officials said. The order was then faxed to immigration offices in Detroit.

But there was a typo in the order, according to Elaine Komis, a spokeswoman for the Executive Office for Immigration Review, which oversees the board. "The request was never denied. ... It was just a typo," Komis said.

At about 4:30 p.m., the board realized the mistake and faxed over a corrected version, allowing Llamas to stay.

But by then, Llamas was already in Mexico, Palmore said.

"The guy would still be here if it wasn't for that," he said.

Civil rights advocates say such mistakes have become an increasing problem in recent years.

"A lot of people are being erroneously deported," said Lee Gelernt, an immigrants rights attorney with the American Civil Liberties Union. "And they're not getting meaningful review, even if there were mistakes."

Gelernt said that since 2002, the government has made it harder for immigration officials and courts to review appeals cases.

Immigration officials said they couldn't comment on how often they make errors. But Palmore stressed their job is to carry out the law.

"We don't have a hidden agenda," Palmore said. "We're just doing our job."

Palmore said that it was Llamas' responsibility to make sure his mail was forwarded. And given that Llamas has been under a deportation order since 1999, Palmore said, "it gets to a point where you got to go."

Contact NIRAJ WARIKOO at 248-351-2998 or nwarikoo@freepress.com.

Copyright © 2006 Detroit Free Press Inc.

To his Garden City family, David Llamas is a hard-working man who played by the rules but was unfairly deported to Mexico last month. His wife, Kathy Llamas, a U.S.-born citizen, is outraged.

I thought US citizens married to foreign nationals could petition for green cards and "sponsor" their spouses. Military members that marry foreign nationals do it all of the time. Did these people think they didn't have to?

This guy knew he was in the country illegally for years and had many opportunities to correct his situation but did not do it. Bye Bye......do not let the door hit ya