ALIPACer's Please help the citizens of Oregon and this State Senator stop a travesty in the making. After reading the thread below, please call the Oregon and let them know that sending little Faith to Mexico and taking her away from her family is absolutely unacceptable, even if you live elsewhere.

Even with increased pressure from elected officials and from the public, Oregon DHS has refused to relent. Please call the number below if you believe this is unbelievable.

KATU - TV Portland, Oregon

http://www.katu.com/news/local/17562559.html

Video Footage of Story

http://www.katu.com/news/local/17562559 ... eo=YHI&t=a

This is a press release courtesy of Senator Bruce Starr's office:

State Senator Bruce Starr (R-Hillsboro) has intervened on behalf of Faith Cephus, the 2-year-old from Hillsboro that the state of Oregon may try and send to Mexico to live with distant relatives. Faith currently is in the custody of her paternal grandparents.

"I am committed to fighting on behalf of this young American citizen so that she can continue to live with her grandparents," said Starr. "I will be a strong advocate on her behalf and do everything I can to make sure she can stay in her country in the care and protection of her grandparents."

Starr is working with Bruce Goldberg, Director of the Department of Human Services, to find a resolution to the situation that will allow Faith Cephus to continue living with her grandparents. The Department of Human Services is in the process of determining what is in the best interest of the child. Faith's mother and father are both in prison and about to lose their parental rights.

"What is best for this child is staying with her grandparents who love her and have the resources to provide for her," said Starr.

The next step is to convene an Adoption Committee to review the case once parental rights have been terminated. That committee will review the case and recommend a permanent placement for Faith. The committee will not be established until parental rights have been terminated.

Here's my original post about this horrific story:

In the only state that rivals California for all out nuttiness, the State of Oregon is once again considering deporting an American born citizen to Mexico.

Less than 6 months after the State made national headlines for trying to send an American born child to Mexico to live with family he had never met, they are at it again. Only this time, the child could be taken from her paternal Grandparents. Grandparents who by all accounts, are providing a superior living situation for the little girl.

Like last time, the deportation plans were triggered by the attempts by the guardians to adopt the child. Unlike last time, these are the American citizen grandparents of the American born child. Unlike the last case, the child is not at all related to the adults the state wishes to send the child to live with.

While millions are fleeing Mexico to come here, the state of Oregon wants to strip an American citizen of her birth rights and deport her to a country where she knows no one and will not have the same rights as a natural born Mexican citizen!

I can't make this stuff up. After you read this article, if you feel this is a complete travesty please call Oregon Department of Human Services and let them know. They can be reached at the Governor's Advocacy Office line at 503-945-6904.

Even if you live elsewhere, make your voice heard so this kind of thing doesn't spread to your state. Keep in mind, at least one child died after the State of Oregon sent American children out of the country to live with people they had never met. DIED!

We stopped them from deporting baby Gabriel, we can stop them again! (Search Gabriel Allred)
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DHS embroiled in another child deportation case

Story Published: Apr 9, 2008 at 5:18 PM PDT
Story Updated: Apr 10, 2008 at 12:27 PM PDT

Video of this story

http://www.katu.com/news/17444484.html?video=YHI&t=a

By Dan Tilkin and KATU Web Staff

http://www.katu.com/news/17444484.html

HILLSBORO, Ore. – The state of Oregon may try to take a 2-year-old girl from her grandparents in Hillsboro and send her to Mexico to live with relatives of her half-siblings – people she doesn't know.

State officials say they aim to keep the three children together, a move that the grandparents, Luz and Maurice Cephus, are fighting.

The girl at the center of the conflict is 23-month-old Faith Cephus. Her grandparents, (pictured below) who became the girl's certified foster parents, want to adopt her but are living in fear of losing her.

"Her being our blood granddaughter, we thought it was a shoe-in," Maurice Cephus said. "We have a home here. We have an ample amount of space for her. We love her. She's our son's daughter."

But it is not that simple.

To understand why, you have to get a handle on her complicated family tree.

Faith's mother and father are both in prison and are on the verge of losing their parental rights.

That's why the girl lives with her paternal grandparents.

But Faith's mother also has two other children in Oregon, which are Faith's half-brother and half-sister.

The father of those kids is also in prison, and his parents live in Mexico City.

The state is examining whether to send all three children south to Mexico City together, where Faith would live with people she's not related to.

Greg Parker, a spokesman for the Department of Human Services, said the process is just beginning.

"Should siblings remain together? What weight do we give biological grandparents?" Parker said, describing some of the questions involved in such a case. "So it's a tough decision, but it's a decision that we have to make every day, and we start with what's best for the child. Right now it's a little premature to talk about that."

The state said Faith's grandparents need to wait for the process to move forward, adding that a number of court hearings still need to take place before a final decision is made.

That's of no comfort to the Cephuses.

"We're fit to be tied at this present time," Maurice Cephus said. "It's really gotten out of hand. And we don't know what else to do."