Another Immigration Sob Story:
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Sept. 7, 2007, 4:56PM
Immigrant children may be deported

http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/ap/ ... 17349.html
By ELIZABETH WHITE Associated Press Writer
© 2007 The Associated Press

SAN ANGELO, Texas — A Mexican family living illegally in Texas may be split up by immigration officials, apparently because of a routine delay in paperwork that, if completed, could allow the entire family to stay together in the U.S.

The story of Rocio Godinez's family provides a glimpse into the anguish of thousands of immigrants in similar straits. But their case is also different because the mother who first came to authorities' attention is not facing deportation. Her children are.

Godinez, 32, and her four oldest children came to the U.S. in the late 1990s and overstayed their tourist visas. The children, who are now 10 to 18 years old, could be sent back to Mexico as early as next week to a home they don't remember, to live with relatives who can't afford to take them in.

Godinez's family lives in San Angelo, as do her parents, who are legal U.S. residents. Her fifth child, Brisa, was born a U.S. citizen in 1999.

In 2001, Godinez's father petitioned for her to stay in the United States with her children. But because of a limited number of visas, the State Department has not yet reviewed the Godinez case, said Gregory Ball, chief counsel for Immigration and Customs Enforcement in San Antonio.

The family lived freely in the U.S. until Godinez was stopped in 2005 for speeding in San Angelo. Police referred her to the Border Patrol, and Godinez told them about her children. Then the deportation proceedings began.

"It's very difficult," Godinez said in Spanish from the living room of the family's run-down home. "I don't have a choice. I can't go back — I can't stay."

Supporters of strict immigration enforcement said Godinez brought the problems on herself.

Advocates for illegal immigrants "always want to make it everybody else's responsibility for the consequences of one or more family members' decision to break the law," said Ira Mehlman, a spokesman for the Federation for American Immigration Reform.

Godinez, a single mother, doesn't know what she will do if authorities deport the four children — Jorge, 18; Rocio Iveth, 16; Manuel, 12; and Uriel, 10. Her eldest child has a wife and child who are both U.S. citizens.

The children's lawyer, Jonathan D. Ryan, said he doesn't know why Godinez is being spared deportation. "That's the strangeness of this case," Ryan said. "Why not nobody or why not everybody?"

Ball, of the Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency, said he did not have any information on Godinez, but he confirmed the four children are in removal proceedings. ICE officials declined to discuss the case further.

Niels Frenzen, a University of Southern California law professor, said ICE may be going easy on Rocio Godinez so she can eventually immigrate legally using the 2001 petition. Then she could be rejoined by her children. Another possibility is a paperwork error.

"There's always this tendency in any bureaucracy to sort of justify it and act like it's doing this with some intent and logical purpose," said Frenzen, who is not involved in the family's case.

If they return to Mexico, the children would live in the community of Ciudad Acuna, just across the border from Del Rio. But they have few memories of Mexico and don't know the aunt and uncle with whom they would probably live.

Godinez said her siblings have their own kids, including a sister who has just one bedroom for three children. "They don't have enough food for themselves," she said.

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On the Net:

Immigration and Customs Enforcement: http://www.ice.gov/