Thread: Maria Elena Salinas

This UNIVISION news co-anchor had another sob story article in one of the Denver newspapers yesterday about a couple from Costa Rica and their 19 year old daughter who are about to be deported because they overstayed a TOURIST VISA 15 years ago!! They claim ignorance but you know... Of course the article is typical UNIVISION cry baby reporting. because they have been here and have owned a Chinese restaurant we should feel sorry for them? NOPE!! Goodbye! Adios! Go home!

THE LAW IS THE LAW! THEY OVERSTAYED A TOURIST VISA AND NOW HAVE TO PAY THE CONSEQUENCES! Very good!

There are few Costa Ricans here since that country is really a model country in Latin America! Peaceful! So they have no claim to persecution religous or political which I think is a big joke anyway!

Maybe somebody can find the article and post it.........

UNIVISION anchors Salinas and Jorge Ramos, both Mexicans make me sick.....always looking for an excuse for an illegal act!

Posted an article about a week ago on the story.

https://www.alipac.us/ftopict-5746-costa.html+rica

The Missouri Family. When I was reading JackSmith's post, I thought to myself...this is unreal...another hispanic family owning a chinese restaurant!!

SO....Jorge Ramos is making a big thing of it. Doesn't he just make you SICK!! Get me a Bucket, Get me a Pail....these people are liars, thieves, cheats, whiners. DEPORT THEM ALL....DON'T GIVE IT A SECOND THOUGHT. All ICE is doing is deporting them to their "beloved" Homeland.

Costa Rica is a nice country and I'm certain it could use a good Chinese Restaurant!!

The girl was permitted to stay in the US

"Girl permitted to stay in the US".

Well! Figures...

The girl is over 18? On what basis does she get to stay? If she gets to stay then she can apply to bring the parents here right? This is the way I understand the law since I believe my wife, who is NOT a citizen YET, but a legal resident, can apply to bring her whole family here?

Also, if she is allowed to stay she can apply DIRECTLY to the US Ambassador in San Jose, Costa Rica to get the parents back here?

I am not an immigration lawyer and I COULD be wrong but if I was betting I would say the parents will be back in a month or two if not less...?

So why even have an INS or Border Patrol? They all get in anyway right?
Maybe I should try to get as many of my wife's family here legally and get them jobs and they can give me a cut of their earnings for helping getting them here....LOL

Maria Elena Salinas writes a bleeding hearted liberal sob story and the girl gets to stay? All kinds of loopholes right?

Whoever did this needs to be fired.

Here's another article I found that goes into more detail on what's going on.


http://www.dosmundos.com/editions/Vol25 ... s-Ceng.htm


Immigration ruling breaks up family

By Edie R. Lambert

The Gonzalez family of Jefferson City, Mo., won a bittersweet victory in their quest to stay in the United States and see their 19-year-old daughter, Marie, attend college. Having exhausted every appeal and postponement available, the Gonzalezes were set to comply with a court-ordered departure and return to their native Costa Rica July 5. But late on July 1, they got a call from their attorney relaying mixed news. U.S. Sen. Dick Durbin’s office had elicited a rare, one-year deferment for Marie, but not for her parents, Marina and Marvin.



An Excelsior Springs attorney, L. Benjamin Mook, of Mook & Mook PC, represents the Gonzalez family pro bono. He said Durbin, an Illinois Democrat, had contacted Michael Garcia, the head of the U.S. immigration enforcement agency on the Gonzalez family’s behalf. Durbin, who appeared with Marie July 1on The Early Show, is among federal legislators pushing to reintroduce the DREAM Act, stalled in Congress, with some broader-based immigration reform.


“Marie’s deferment, which starts July 5, doesn’t solve the problem, but will make her eligible for any legislative relief that occurs this year,� Mook said. “It’s a chance for Congress to do something to help Marie and kids like her.�


One of about 65,000 immigrants who graduate from U.S. high schools without the opportunity to go to college because of their immigration status, Marie gained national attention campaigning for immigration reform legislation and passage of the DREAM Act (Development, Relief and Education for Alien Minors Act).


Introduced two years ago, the bill would make it easier for children of undocumented immigrants to attend college in the United States or join the military and eventually earn citizenship. The bill stalled after being approved by the Judiciary Committee.


Because of strong community support and her own lobbying efforts, supporters said Marie has become the very public face of the need to enact the DREAM Act.


“She is a wonderfully poised young woman. Her command and presence is unbelievable,� said LeAnn Rockwell, a family friend and member of the Gonzalez Group, an organization of about 50 local supporters.


The group organized a rally in the state Capitol rotunda on June 30, which was attended by about 200 people. They hoped it would either pressure federal legislators to sponsor a rare private bill that could have granted the Gonzalezes residency or convince federal officials to defer the deportation. Speakers included two state representatives, Jefferson City Mayor John Landwehr and Bishop John Gaydos of the Catholic Diocese of Jefferson City.


Landwehr said the Gonzalezes, whom he knows through church and school affiliations, exemplify precisely the kind of immigrants the United States wants. “They’re wonderful people, and there should be a way for them to stay here.�


Despite broad community support and lobbying by local, state and federal officials and Catholic clergy, Missouri’s two U.S. senators refused to sponsor a private bill on the family’s behalf.


Kelly Hunt of Jefferson City, a Gonzalezes Group member, said she had received a letter from Sen. Jim Talent’s office explaining that he wouldn’t introduce a bill because the Gonzalezes aren’t unique.
“Well they are unique to us,� Hunt said.


She was among the group’s members to accompany the Gonzalezes on a float in the city’s July 3 parade, appropriately themed, ‘Proud to be an American.’ The first entry in the annual parade behind the color guard, the Gonzalezes held a banner thanking people for their support while Gonzalez Group members passed out candy and ribbons.


Along the parade route, Hunt said people held signs reading, “We love you, Gonzalezes.� “People blew kisses and cried. It was very emotional. This has been rough on the whole community.�


Even as a caravan of 20 supporters accompanied Marina and Marvin to the airport in St. Louis July 5 after a rally of friends and supporters at the Katy Trail pavilion in Jefferson City, another contingency was faxing and phoning federal officials. A glimmer of hope was short-lived at the airport, when the Gonzalezes’ 2:35 p.m. flight was inexplicably postponed. But about an hour later, the Gonzalezes tearfully parted. Marina and Marvin with their dog, Precious, left for their native Costa Rica, and Marie returned to Jefferson City.


Mook said he’ll meet with Marie, a former National Honor Society student, later to discuss her eligibility under the terms of the deferment to get a driver’s license, enroll in college and work legally. “First and foremost, will be to find a university that would offer her financial aid. If that doesn’t pan out, we’ll figure out another way. Joe Zogby, a legislative aide to Sen. Durbin, said the senator would be happy to help.�


Mook is overseeing the sale of the Gonzalezes’ modest house and car.
The Gonzalez Group met July 6 to organize ongoing efforts. The Gonzalezes packed up personal belongings, and the owner of a local storage facility offered to store it.
“We’ll send it to them once they’re established in Costa Rica,� Hunt said.
The group doesn’t plan to give up or disband lobbying efforts for the Gonzalezes.
“If we can get someone to pass a private bill, they could come back,� Hunt said.


With an estimated 10.4 million undocumented immigrants now in the United States, Gonzalez supporters explain why their efforts have been so vigorous.


“It would be easy to say there [are] too many people to do anything about,� Hunt said. “But it has to start somewhere, and this is a family that is exemplary in their attachment to their community and in the way they’ve conducted themselves in the country.�


“This family has endeared itself to the community. We had a petition drive last spring. We hoped to get 200 signatures to send to federal legislators and officials,� Rockwell said.


In fact, they gathered more than 2,000 signatures, collecting more than 200 on the first day at the family’s church.


On Feb. 21, the city council passed a resolution urging federal lawmakers to introduce a private bill that would allow the Gonzalezes “to become U.S. citizens and to continue to live in our community.�
Landwehr said the Gonzalez family situation is a good example of how inadequate the U.S.immigration system is in assessing cases on an individual basis. “There’s no reason why [The Gonzalezes] shouldn’t be entitled to pursue U.S. citizenship. These are so obviously the types of people we want in our community. They enrich our city.�


Tim Wichmer, a St. Louis attorney with Bernhardt & Wichmer PC specializing in immigration law, has worked with Mook in an advisory capacity on the Gonzalezes’ behalf. He said, “It’s sad that when a community wants wonderful families like the Gonzalezes to stay, no one with the power to keep them here really seems to care.�


The Gonzalezes first came to the United States legally in 1991 on a six-month visitor’s visa. Poor legal advice led them to believe that they could apply for permanent legal residence if they stayed seven years. But that was not exactly the law then, and a later federal law repealed that option.


Marina and Marvin, who had owned and operated a seafood restaurant in Costa Rica, built a new life in Jefferson City. In 1993, they obtained a federal business loan and opened the American Wok, a restaurant serving Chinese cuisine.


When they closed it five years later, Marina began teaching Spanish and pre-school classes at the Immaculate Conception Grade School and ran the after-school program. Marvin went to work for then-Missouri Gov. Bob Holden as a courier.


But in 2002, the media reported, on an anonymous tip, that there was an undocumented immigrant employed as a courier in the governor’s office, and Marvin lost his job.


Then, federal immigration authorities began the steps toward deportation. At the first hearing on their status in December 2003, the Gonzalezes obtained an extension until February 2004, followed by various appeals. But the immigration agency refused to defer the Gonzalezes’ court-ordered departure again.


Marina and Marvin are banned from entering the United States for 10 years.
“That’s for any reason,� Mook said. “If they were flying from Costa Rica to a destination with a connecting flight in the United States, it’s conceivable that they couldn’t make that connection.�
They will stay with Marina’s parents, Rodrigo and Manuelita Morales, in the Pacific port town of Puntarenas on the Gulf of Nicoya until they can find work and afford a home of their own.
But their dream for Marie to be educated in the United States isn’t dead yet. For now at least, the former Helias High School honors student, who is on the track and tennis teams, has a year to study toward her goal of becoming a lawyer. And she plans to continue lobbying for passage of immigration reform legislation.


“This has been a learning experience about how the system really works. Something needs to be done about immigration, and that’s been my argument all along. It’s frustrating that this amazing community support apparently doesn’t matter.�

Speakers included two state representatives, Jefferson City Mayor John Landwehr and Bishop John Gaydos of the Catholic Diocese of Jefferson City

.

Please don't tell me that I see once again ANOTHER CATHOLIC DIOCESE involved in the sedition of our US Immigration Laws?

I still do not understand how ICE could allow the girl to stay. How old is this woman anyway?

Oh, and BTW: That little DREAM ACT she worked on....that's the invention of the National Council of La Raza. (another 501 C 3 "public charity" prohibited by federal law from influencing public policy and legislation, i. e. NO LOBBYING ALLOWED).

Originally Posted by JackSmith

So why even have an INS ....?

We don't have an INS.

I am not an immigration lawyer and I COULD be wrong

Got that right