Thread: INS wants toddler deported

http://www.ajc.com/metro/content/metro/ ... gbaby.html

INS wants toddler deported

By TERESA BORDEN
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Published on: 12/14/05
Anett Michell Maldonado-Carbajal was born in Guatemala, but she uttered her first word, "Papa," in Georgia.

And that, according to the U.S. government, is a problem, because although her father, Edgar Maldonado, is a legal U.S. resident, 2-year-old Anett is an illegal immigrant. The government wants her out of the country.

Maldonado's attorney, Robert Beer, says the case is an outrage. He believes the government has better things to do than prosecute a toddler.

"This kid isn't a terrorist," Beer said. "She hasn't committed any crime."

The government maintains it has acted properly in the case because Anett entered the United States illegally, carried across the Rio Grande by her mother, who had been caught and ordered deported in a previous illegal entry. Even so, John Mata, Atlanta director for detention and removal for the Bureau of Immigration and Customs Enforcement, has promised the case will get careful scrutiny by his agency.

"We do look at these types of cases with a humanitarian eye," he said. "This is not one of those that is just going to be handled in a routine manner."

Beer says Anett poses no threat to national security and would not be a drain on community resources because Maldonado has a successful construction business in Austell and can comfortably support his daughter.

But he and Maldonado acknowledge that his wife's efforts to enter into the United States illegally have complicated what might have been a routine process.

On Tuesday, while responding to Anett's immigration court summons â€â€

Deport her. The law is the law.