Thread: TX-Former Lufkinite, deported to Mexico, hopes that passport

Former Lufkinite, deported to Mexico, hopes that passport is his ticket home

By JESSICA COOLEY
The Lufkin Daily News

Sunday, January 10, 2010

"It's OK, Daddy," she said, wiping tears from his face. "I'll see you soon."

Deported to Mexico, former Lufkinite Robin Whiteley says goodbye, watching his little girl walk across the bridge onto the U.S. soil he used to call home.

"When my kids come to see me, it's a big culture shock for them. My 6-year-old daughter isn't used to seeing people beg on the street," Whiteley said. "She started kindergarten this year and she's learning how to spell. When I walked her to the bridge, she put a letter in my pocket without me knowing, and when she got back across the bridge, she called to tell me. She had gotten money for Christmas; she put it in my pocket along with a drawing that said 'I love you' in her newfound way of writing. I'm missing out on the important things in life, but that's a great thing to keep me going along with my faith in God."

Whiteley has spent years trying to regain access to the United States. Last week, he applied for a passport that could grant him that, but if the effort is denied, he said he intends to take his case to the Supreme Court. Once a week, Whiteley's American attorney pays a visit to his one-room shack in Reynosa, where they spend hours poring over his case file.

"I'm doing this to inform people of the need for change, Whiteley said. "The system is failing me. I'm not trying to be the poster boy for what immigration should be. When you've grown up in a country your whole life, you consider yourself as being from that country. I love the U.S. It's the best country in the world. Even after everything that has happened, I still feel that way. God willing, if I'm granted a passport, I'll be able to come back to the United States."

Although Whiteley's parents adopted him from Mexico as a baby, his U.S. citizenship has been in limbo most of his life. At 18, he was granted a green card, securing his status as an American citizen.

"I think our biggest problem is that we played by the rules. My mother could have said she found me in El Paso and promoted that lie, but she went about that the right way," he said. "The government never actually contested my adoption; it wasn't illegal. I've never been in the U.S. illegally."

At 26, Whiteley was arrested for marijuana possession and sentenced to prison, beginning the chain reaction that led to his deportation. A stipulation under immigration law at the time considered any drug charge an aggravated felony offense if that person were not a lawful citizen. That pushed his case into immigration court, where his permanent resident status in the United States came into question. He was eventually forced across the border to a country he had never known.

"A lot of people centered in on my drug arrest. I made a mistake," Whiteley said. "It was a simple possession charge. I'm sorry for what I've done. It was a costly mistake for me and my family."


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"I'm doing this to inform people of the need for change, Whiteley said. "The system is failing me. I'm not trying to be the poster boy for what immigration should be. When you've grown up in a country your whole life, you consider yourself as being from that country. I love the U.S. It's the best country in the world. Even after everything that has happened, I still feel that way. God willing, if I'm granted a passport, I'll be able to come back to the United States."

Riight. The system didn't fail you, moron. YOU failed yourslef. You could have gotten your citizenship at anytime between 18-26, but I guess you were too busy? Then you get busted for drugs and go to jail? If it were a "simple possession" you wouldn't have gotten jail time.

"A lot of people centered in on my drug arrest. I made a mistake," Whiteley said. "It was a simple possession charge. I'm sorry for what I've done. It was a costly mistake for me and my family."

You were sentenced to prison for a simple possession charge? Sorry, i'm not buying it, there's more to this story I suspect.