Thread: MI-Ironclad immigration law bars mother from home,20 years

Ironclad immigration law bars mother of two from home in Spring Lake for at least 20 years
by Ted Roelofs | The Grand Rapids Press
Sunday September 13, 2009, 6:16 AM

Courtesy Photo
Exiled in Canada: Norma Chambers stands with her daughter, Talya, and son, Rex Jr., across the water from Detroit.

Seven months ago, Norma Chambers gambled that if she did the right and legal thing, she finally could be an official part of the United States.

She lost.

Now the 36-year-old Mexican native and former Spring Lake resident is stuck in immigration limbo in Canada, with dwindling hope of being reunited with her husband and two children.


"I just want to stay with my family," Chambers said by phone from Windsor as she began to cry. "It's very bad."

Her husband, Rex Chambers, 46, said he realizes U.S. immigration law is tough on cases like his wife's. He just wishes people could know her the way he does.


Courtesy Photo
Happy day: Rex and Norma Chambers at their wedding on a Lake Michigan beach in 2001.Fleeing an unstable home situation in Mexico, she entered the United States illegally in 1997. Three years later, she moved to West Michigan, where she and Chambers met. They married in 2001 and have two children, Talya, 7, and Rex Jr., 5. Under immigration law, the children are citizens by virtue of their birth in the United States.

"My wife, she is a real conservative, good Catholic," Rex Chambers said. "She doesn't drink or smoke.

"These are not people who come here to take anyone's job. We have never taken welfare or assistance or anything like that. We just want our family back."

Maria Upson, spokeswoman for U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, said emotions alone are not enough to satisfy the law. Marriage to a U.S. citizen does not erase illegal entry and residence, Upson said.

"If you break the law, immigration law, there are ramifications," Upson said.

But the Chamberses said their desire to satisfy that very law put them in this bind.

"We just wanted her to be here legally," Rex said.

The couple consulted an immigration lawyer and said they were told they had two options: Continue Norma's life in the shadows or go to Mexico and apply for lawful entry to the U.S. They were convinced her clean legal record and marriage to a U.S. citizen would work in their favor.

In February, they traveled to Juarez, Mexico, and Norma filed her application. She was flagged for an attempt years before to obtain a false U.S. birth certificate. The couple was told she would be ineligible for entry for at least 20 years.

Turned back repeatedly

The case is not unlike another difficult one reported in The Press last month. Former Grand Rapids resident Samuel Gomez, 31, who entered this country illegally when he was a teen, returned to Mexico 16 months ago so he could legally return with his wife and family. He has been barred since.

Since her denial, a desperate Norma Chambers tried several times to get back into the U.S., only to be turned back at the border. In June, she flew to Canada, where she obtained temporary refugee status that might allow her to stay there for a year.

Rex Chambers said the ordeal has exacted a severe toll on his family's finances, estimating relatives have spent $50,000 between them. Chambers, a warehouse worker, said he faces home foreclosure and is filing for bankruptcy.

He and the children have shuttled to Windsor on weekends for much of the summer. Norma inhabits a spare one-bedroom studio apartment with two beds, a television and end table. She knows no one there.

Longing for reunion

With the start of school last week, Norma would have been up to get the children dressed and get them breakfast. She would go over their prayers at night. She will settle instead for long-distance phone calls.

Rex Chambers said moving to Mexico is not an option, either for children who grew up in West Michigan or for him, since he believes he would be barred from working there. He and Norma agree it would not be fair to the children to deny them opportunities they have here.

"We don't have any other options. I can't come up with any other ideas what we could do," he said.

Immigration spokeswoman Upson said Chambers could file for a waiver based on "extreme hardship," but that it is a difficult standard to meet.

"Trying to buy false documents in this country is wrong. Living in this country illegally is breaking the law," Upson said. "Immigration is sooner or later going to find out."

E-mail the author of this story: localnews@grpress.com


http://www.mlive.com/news/grand-rapids/ ... _bars.html

In February, they traveled to Juarez, Mexico, and Norma filed her application. She was flagged for an attempt years before to obtain a false U.S. birth certificate. The couple was told she would be ineligible for entry for at least 20 years.

Let that be a lesson to all illegal immigrants. She broke the law before by trying to enter with a fake birth certificate and she was caught. Dont try to enter our country with phony id's because sooner or later ICE is going to get you.

In response to Franco's comment on the source article:

"Franco is correct, it does not matter their HOME countries if they come to the United States illegally or their visa expires and they remain in the United States then they are ALL ILLEGAL and should be receive a Felony Conviction and DEPORTED."

In February, they traveled to Juarez, Mexico, and Norma filed her application. She was flagged for an attempt years before to obtain a false U.S. birth certificate. The couple was told she would be ineligible for entry for at least 20 years.

Funny how they attempt to gloss over and or hide the real reason why this woman is not going to be allowed into this country...AND FOR GOOD REASON!

Why does the MSM even waste ink on these stories, whereby they attempt to portray criminals who broke our immigration laws in the most sympathetic of lights??

Stay in Canada!

Bad News, many of the comments on the source article are Pro-ILLEGAL; the article is a SOB story written as part of an organized campaign to generate support for the ILLEGAL to return to the United States!

You would have to admit that the ILLEGAL's Anchor Babies furnish a opportune picture to accompany the SOB story! The picture seems to be gaining the ILLEGAL some support via the Pro-ILLEGAL comments on the source article