Mother swept up in immigration arrests sentenced to time served, but kids remain
Mother swept up in immigration arrests sentenced to time served, but kids remain in limbo
Daniel Connolly, Memphis Commercial Appeal
Published 5:31 p.m. CT Sept. 5, 2018
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(Photo: Shelby County Sheriff's Office)
A mother from Mexico who was arrested in an immigration case doesn't deserve any additional prison time, a federal judge ruled Wednesday.
But the mother and her common-law husband both face deportation. Before the government sends them back to Mexico, the parents are fighting to regain custody of their children, who have been in foster care in Mississippi since their arrests last year.
The Wednesday morning sentencing hearing for Hilda Hernandez was one of numerous court proceedings related to the late November arrests of 20 immigrants from Mexico and central America at a Memphis-area logistics company, Expeditors International.
The immigrants were accused of using fraudulent documents to get jobs at the company through a staffing agency, Provide Staffing Services.
First charged in state court, their cases were then transferred to federal court, where they faced felony fraud counts.
Many of the defendants are parents, and many spent months behind bars, shuttled between federal prisons and immigration detention centers.
Both Hernandez and her common-law husband Edgar Lopez-Marin spent months in detention and later pleaded guilty to a lesser offense, entering the country illegally. As part of the plea deal, they have agreed to be deported.
The parents are out on bond and still have contact with their children — but they don't have custody.
"Yes, the state of Mississippi has custody of my children," Hernandez told the court through a Spanish interpreter. "I am only allowed to see them, but they do not live in my house."
In a hearing in May, Hernandez said she has two children, an 18-year-old son and 11-year-old daughter.
The teenaged son attended Wednesday's hearing but did not speak. Defense attorney Corliss Shaw said the son had to give up his own passport as part of the bond process for one of his parents, and the family is now trying to get the passport back. Such a step would make it easier for him to travel to Mexico if necessary.
Lopez-Marin's sentencing hearing is set for Oct. 12. Sentencing guidelines suggest he'll also be sentenced to time served.
Hernandez said the family has a court hearing on the child custody matter in early October. It's not clear when immigration authorities would move to deport the parents.
U.S. District Judge Sheryl H. Lipman on Wednesday not only sentenced Hernandez to prison time already served, but also said she won't have to go on probation.
She declined to impose a fine beyond a $10 fee.
Prosecutor Stephen Hall did not object to the sentence.
Hernandez's only previous criminal history in this area was a 2011 ticket for driving without a license. Lipman said her admitted offense of entering the United States illegally was far less serious than other crimes the court sees on a regular basis.
"When I say it's not the most serious crime that we see, it's not even close," the judge said. "It's probably the least serious crime that I see ... It's frankly hard to be critical of someone that's just trying to provide for their family."
She praised Hernandez for working and living a clean life.
Hernandez said she appreciated what the judge had said. "Thank you for all your words you shared with me. May God bless you."
The judge said she wished her well. "Whatever happens in terms of where you're going to live, you're the type of person who's going to make a happy life with your family."
The federal government rarely enforced immigration law in this area before President Donald Trump took office in January 2017. The Expeditors International case is an example of stepped-up enforcement in non-border areas.
Several other defendants involved the Expeditors International case have likewise made plea deals and face deportation.
Reach reporter Daniel Connolly at 529-5296, daniel.connolly@commercialappeal.com, or on Twitter at @danielconnolly.
https://www.commercialappeal.com/story/news/2018/09/05/memphis-immigration-arrests-expeditors-international/1198091002/
