Thread: NYC MAYOR MIKE BLOOMBERG FIGHTING FEDS ON IMMIGRATION

Updated 01/02/2010 03:16 PM

Bloomberg Pledges To Fight For Immigration Reform
By: Lily Jamali



In his inaugural address Friday, Mayor Michael Bloomberg vowed to tackle immigration reform, but the family of a Brooklyn immigrant facing deportation hopes the mayor stays true to his word. NY1's Lily Jamali filed the following report.

Up until Wednesday, Jani Montrevil of Bushwick, Brooklyn had expected she'd ring in 2010 with her family. Instead, she is now looking up flights to her husband Jean's native country of Haiti.

On December 30, during a routine visit to his immigration supervisor, Jean Montrevil was detained and told he could soon be sent back to Haiti. He called his wife on Thursday from the Pennsylvania facility where he is currently being held.

"He felt very down, especially because of the holidays and he really misses the children," said Jani Montrevil.

Jean Montrevil has had a green card since 1986, but he was convicted for selling drugs three years later. Immigration reforms passed in 1996 mean that someone like Jean Montrevil, with an "aggravated felony" on his record, is vulnerable to deportation, even though his crime took place a decade earlier.

"My husband is not a bad guy. He did his time in prison for selling drugs at the age of 20. He's 41 now," said Jani Montrevil. "Why should he have to be deported for something that happened 20 years ago?"


Since his time in prison, Jean Montrevil cleaned up his life and even becoming a spokesperson for immigration reform.

"We're just wondering does our system make sense when a father, a husband, a business owner, a community leader is ripped away from their family and their community? What kind of system is that?" said immigration advocate Janis Rosheuvel of Families For Freedom.

Mayor Michael Bloomberg said he wants to help change immigration policy. In his inaugural address Friday, he vowed to work with the president and others to bring about meaningful changes to the nation's immigration policies.

Bloomberg said immigrants have made critical contributions to the economy and to the country's values.

“No city on Earth - no city - should hold these principles higher aloft than this city of immigrants, because no city on earth has been more rewarded by immigrant labor, more renewed by immigrant ideas than New York City," said the mayor.

Jani Montrevil said she will be watching the mayor's actions closely.

"I feel that these elected officials really need to do some strong immigration reform now," she said. "Stop talking about it and do something about it because we're separating families."

For now, she is focused on getting her husband home to her and the children, who wonder why their father hasn't been home in three days and counting.

http://ny1.com/7-brooklyn-news-content/ ... ion-reform

"We're just wondering does our system make sense when a father, a husband, a business owner, a community leader is ripped away from their family and their community? What kind of system is that?" said immigration advocate Janis Rosheuvel of Families For Freedom.

It's the kind of system which, when enforced to the fullest extent possible, prevents these atrocities from happening because the situation is not allowed to happen in the first place.

They're suffering because they broke our laws, and now we are demanding enforcement and retribution. We have a right to have our laws enforced, and to have the criminals punished. I make no apologies, nor do I have any sympathy, except for my fellow Americans who have suffered unemployment, death, dismemberment, etc. at the hands of this scum.

Jean Montrevil has had a green card since 1986, but he was convicted for selling drugs three years later. Immigration reforms passed in 1996 mean that someone like Jean Montrevil, with an "aggravated felony" on his record, is vulnerable to deportation, even though his crime took place a decade earlier.

Why didn't he get his US citizenship in that decade? That would have made this a moot point. CIR will not help him, since his is a criminal and not civil crime.

At what point do we ignore felonies committed by illegal aliens and non-citizens? Are we supposed to give them a free pass that Americans don't get?

I thought immigration reform was not going to include those with criminal convictions??

Apparently, this clown thinks it will. Does he know something we don't?

BOO HOO HOO!

My husband is not a bad guy. He did his time in prison for selling drugs at the age of 20. He's 41 now," said Jani Montrevil. "Why should he have to be deported for something that happened 20 years ago



Because there are consequences one must pay for felony convictions in this country, that's why.

Why doesn't this woman ask the multitude of American citizens who committed felonies and did their time......even 21 years prior.....how difficult it is for them to find jobs and housing because our laws say that no one is obligated to hire or house felons......just like our laws say that immigrants are subject to deportation for committing crimes.

Why in the hell is it that these people always think that they're the exception?

"Bloomberg said immigrants have made critical contributions to the economy and to the country's values."

Yeah like selling drugs.

The Montrevils need to look on the bright side... They can't get deported from Haiti for selling drugs there.

Dixie