Thread: Illegal alien wants to go home, U.S. government won't let her leave

Immigrant Caught in Legal Limbo

Posted: May 2, 2013 9:55 PM
Updated: May 3, 2013 12:25 AM

CAMERON COUNTY - Thousands of illegal immigrants are waiting to see a judge. It is part of the process before they are expelled from the country.

The courts are full, and the cases are stacking up, experts said.

One of those immigrants said she is caught in a legal limbo - she wants to leave but the government will not let her.

Diana Grant said she feels like time stopped for her at Valley International Airport in 2011. She was detained after trying to board an airplane to return to the Caribbean. Her visa had expired.

"I told them, 'I'm going to my home.' I didn't think there'd be a problem with me leaving the country ... going to my home, but they said no," Grant said.

Authorities booked her into the Department of Homeland Security court system in Harlingen. She was later released into a world of uncertainty.

"I can't leave here and I can't work here," she said.

Grant, a single mother, gets help from taxpayers to cover her reduced rent in public housing. She wants to work, but the government will not let her get a work visa. Taxpayers also have to pay to feed her and her daughter.

"I don't want to be dependent on the system," Grant said.

She doesn't have a choice.

Grant can't resume her life until she sees an immigration judge.

A Department of Justice report from 2012 shows cases like Grant's can take up to five years. The reason is frequent and lengthy continuances.

"My first court appearance was in March 26, 2012," Grant said. That court appearance was delayed four months until July 2012.

"It was delayed again until January of 2013," Grant said.

In January, she was told to wait another ten months. Her next hearing is scheduled for October - two years after she was detained at the airport.

"Does this really work? They keep saying, ‘do the paperwork, go through the process.' I'm doing that, and I still have no results," Grant said.

The question remains as to why it takes so long for cases to go through Homeland Security courtrooms.

"It may take more than a year," immigration Attorney Jose Martinez said.

Martinez is Grant's immigration attorney. He is frustrated with the delays in the case. Still, Martinez defends the court system.

"The immigration judges that I go in front of are experts," Martinez said.

Martinez said the government is focusing on illegal immigrants with criminal records.

"Targeting the worst of the worst," Immigration and Customs Enforcement Field Office Director Enrique Lucero said.

The criminals' day in court will come much sooner than Grant's.

"The average length of stay for a criminal alien in the San Antonio region is about 27 days - from start to finish," Lucero said.

Judges used to push cases like Grant's through the system in less than eight months, but that is no longer the case.

"They're saying they want to get rid of the criminals first. But I have no criminal record. I'm not doing harm to anyone," Grant said.

Grant is trapped while the government delays her case.

Immigration judges are not allowed to speak with the media. A spokesperson for the Executive Office for Immigration Review in Virginia issued a statement about the delays.

"In a world of limited resources, the focus on placing a high priority on the adjudication of detained cases has implications for the non-detained side of the docket," the statement said.

Meanwhile, Grant remains trapped in a legal limbo, living off taxpayer funds.

http://www.krgv.com/news/immigrant-c...in-legal-limbo

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