posted on May 19, 2004 12:29:13 AM new
Illegal immigrant remains caught in tragedy's wake
Mother's death, then 9/11 leave 22-year-old in limbo
Shigeru Yamada, who helps out with the Eastlake High softball team, watched as Jennifer Crandduck took some swings during batting practice recently. Yamada, arrested in April as an illegal immigrant, faces an immigration judge June 12.
Shigeru Yamada has no idea who the prime minister of Japan is. Japan's best baseball team? He pretty much whiffs at that, too.
Ask him about Japanese music or books and he shakes his head and says, in near-perfect English, no, he has no idea about any of that.
The 22-year-old knows many things about America, though. The Eastlake High School graduate who played football and wrestled and served in student government is well versed in movies, fast food and, of late, the intricacies of U.S. immigration law, particularly in the post-Sept. 11 era.
On April 26, Yamada was tossed into jail for being an illegal immigrant.
Soon he may be deported to Japan, a nation he hasn't seen since he was a boy.
"It's like a bad dream coming true," he said.
Yamada picked a bad time to come of age in America.
The nation's immigration system has become less lenient and discretionary since Sept. 11, immigration advocates contend. And members of Congress, who can intervene in specific cases, are more hesitant to risk their necks for individuals outside their jurisdictions.
"It's toughest on people from the Middle East, but it's become tougher on everyone," said Jean Malitz, a local lawyer specializing in immigration law and a member of the American Immigration Lawyers Association.
Immigration officials say that's not the case, that heartlessness has not become their staple since 9/11.
Yamada's cause is being championed by his many friends in Chula Vista and by Rep. Bob Filner, D-San Diego, who has sponsored a "private relief bill" for Yamada. If passed, it would let Yamada stay in the country.
Although private bills have been introduced since the dawn of the republic, few are passed. After Sept. 11, private bills concerning immigration status became especially tricky. Nobody wants to be a party to a law that could produce a terrorist, Filner said, no matter how ridiculous such odds would be.
"I don't know of one that has passed," he said.
Orphaned
Yamada has had his share of real-life nightmares. He came to the United States when he was 11, brought here by his mother, who arrived legally from Japan as a student.
She died two years later in a car accident. At the time, she was engaged to an American citizen. The marriage would probably have led to citizenship for Yamada and his two sisters.
He was coming home from Pop Warner football practice when he learned she was dead. "It was the saddest day of my life," he said.
At age 13, he had little idea of immigration laws. He was just a kid, a kid who had lost his mom.
The years went by. He studied. He excelled in school. Relatives in Chula Vista reared Yamada and his sisters, and his aunt made arrangements to adopt them. But as he neared 18, that fell through. Their father wasn't in the picture.
Yamada's youngest sister, now 14, was eventually adopted by another family member. The other sister, now 21, married an American.
That left Yamada.
As he neared 18, his plight became clear to him. Without legal status he couldn't even get a driver license. He contacted a lawyer to start the legalization process, and his teachers at Eastlake connected him with Filner.
He tried to get a student visa and a work permit. He worked off-the-book jobs to bring some money in; about the only things he owns are his computer and his cell phone, his lawyer said. But the process has been frustrating. Nothing has worked.
In late April, Yamada was on a bus downtown when Border Patrol agents hopped on and asked if he was a citizen.
The only thing he could produce was his student ID.
Yamada was arrested and sent to a detention center in Otay Mesa, where he shared space with everyone from "nice, friendly people to murderers."
After five days, he was freed on bond until June 12, when he has a hearing before an immigration judge.
He was lucky to be released. Many immigrants languish for months waiting for their hearings. That's yet another result of Sept. 11, immigrant advocates say.
Filner's backing probably helped free Yamada. Even though private relief bills rarely pass, they do provide clout. So does news media attention, which Yamada's friends made sure he got.
On a recent afternoon, Yamada sat in the Chula Vista apartment he shares with two friends. When they're not working they hang out, watch sports. Yamada roots for the Sacramento Kings. He's tired of the Lakers always winning.
"It's a scary thought," said Yamada of being sent back to Japan. "I wouldn't even know where to go."
'It's crazy'
Yamada's friends and supporters are in shock over what they see as the immigration system's inflexibility, its lack of compassion.
Yamada didn't choose to come to the United States, they say. He was just a boy doing what his mother told him to do.
Even Robert Hughes, a former Border Patrol agent who is now a teacher and wrestling coach at Eastlake, was shocked. "It's crazy," Hughes said. "I couldn't believe it when I heard it."
Some argue that it's rather obvious that the nation's immigration bureaucracy is leaving less to chance of late. Thousands of illegal immigrants from Arab nations have been deported since Sept. 11.
Filner has dealt with more than a few draining immigration cases in recent years.
Not long ago, a 28-year-old woman with Down's syndrome was facing deportation. Her sister, a legal resident, was caring for her, and the woman had no support in her nation of origin, Venezuela. Her parents died while she was here on a temporary visa.
Immigration was ready to send her back regardless, Filner said. He said he persuaded the agency to make an exception.
"(Immigration) is great at saying no," he said. "But there are always ways to do it."
Other local cases have caused outcry. About a year after Sept. 11, an Egyptian man made a wrong turn and ended up at the gates of Camp Pendleton. At the time, Abdelrehim Kewan was actively trying to gain his citizenship.
Although federal law enforcement agencies agreed that he was no threat, he spent 10 months in detention before finally being ordered to leave.
His case is under appeal, but Kewan couldn't get bail, according to his lawyer, Jonathan Montag. So Kewan opted to return to Egypt to wait out the legal wrangling, rather than sit in a U.S. detention center.
Immigration officials maintain that folks such as Yamada aren't victims of a post-9/11 shift in the bureaucracy.
Nothing, in reality, has changed, they say.
"Our job is to enforce immigration law," said Lori Haley, a spokeswoman with U.S. Bureau of Immigration and Customs Enforcement. Cases such as Yamada's and others like his must go through the system. Many indeed are compelling, she said.
"And they go through their due process," she said.
Tough or lax?
Critics of U.S. immigration policy say cases such as Yamada's result from a system that's erratic.
The system has a reputation for being tough and menacing, but it's actually weak and full of loopholes, says Steven Camarota, director of research for the Center of Immigration Studies in Washington, D.C.
So whenever the hammer is actually pulled out and applied, people recoil in shock, he said.
"The laws are so widely flouted, people don't expect this," he said of cases such as Yamada's. "It seems arbitrary."
Millions of illegal immigrants move relatively freely throughout the nation, he said, with their numbers growing yearly, even after Sept. 11.
If the system were indeed tough, the thousands of people ordered deported each year would actually be deported, he said. That rarely happens, he argues. Instead, they go underground.
That's how Yamada has been living since he graduated from high school. He has had no choice, he said.
While he waits for his immigration hearing, he'll keep going to class at Southwestern Community College and volunteering at Eastlake.
He's trying to remain upbeat and positive about his future. But he looks weary.
"It's hard to grow up so soon," he said.
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If it's really "common" sense, why do so few people actually have it?
posted on May 19, 2004 01:31:46 AM new
Well.....here's hard-hearted-hanna again.
It was his mother's responsibility to get proper papers for herself and her children. When she died and his family had physical custody of him they should have taken the responsibility to file the papers.
No one wants to follow the rules....then complains about how bad the 'system' is.
It is unfortunate he's in this circumstance....and we can be hopeful with enough people supporting him at his hearing...he'll be allowed to stay.
But the 'system' is just a little busy right now - on overload....and as was stated...will deal with his case as they can.
Remember another underage boy who's mother didn't follow our immigration procedures? He went around shooting how many people in DC???
The system always gets the blame....no matter what.
But it does always give me a chuckle when I read how screwed up this agency [or that program/agency] are...and then those same people want our government to put in and run a full fledged health care system for all Americans???
posted on May 19, 2004 02:18:06 AM new
Linda- his mother was here on a student visa- and would not have been able to apply for citizenship for him until after her impending marriage. Since he was a minor with no relatives to care for him in Japan he could not be deported and since his formal adoption never went thru he was technically a ward of the court.
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If it's really "common" sense, why do so few people actually have it?
posted on May 19, 2004 09:07:56 AM new
Yes, it does say that. I don't think there was anything the mother could have done.
But what about the relatives that raised him? I would put the blame on the people who raised him. When parents die, you cannot just 'keep' their children. There are rules to follow.
Why didn't they adopt him?
Two other points:
1) How did he get into school (grade school or college) without being a citizen in the first place?
2) Since he's been living "underground", yet earning enough to pay for college, is the IRS going to go after him for tax evasion?
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We do not stop playing because we grow old. We grow old because we stop playing -- Anonymous
posted on May 19, 2004 09:22:09 AM newHow did he get into school (grade school or college) without being a citizen in the first place?
Happens all the time here in Southern California.
____________________
We are not afraid to entrust the American people with unpleasant facts, foreign ideas, alien philosophies, and competitive values. For a nation that is afraid to let its people judge the truth and falsehood in an open market is a nation that is afraid of its people. -- John F. Kennedy
posted on May 19, 2004 10:36:12 AM newYamada has had his share of real-life nightmares. He came to the United States when he was 11, brought here by his mother, who arrived legally from Japan as a student.
She died two years later in a car accident.At the time, she was engaged to an American citizen. The marriage would probably have led to citizenship for Yamada and his two sisters.
She arrived here legally then waisted two years. Why didn't she apply for citizenship during those two waisted years instead of waiting to get citizenship via marrage to a US citizen.
"The Secret Service has announced it is doubling its protection for John Kerry. You can understand why — with two positions on every issue, he has twice as many people mad at him." —Jay Leno
posted on May 19, 2004 10:40:38 AM new
"Congress" has ruled that illegal immigrant children can attend public grade and high school, and oddly enough this was determined by the US Supreme Court - but the Congress remained silient to the USSC's interpretation.
Yoy can not re-write immigration laws, nor ignore the laws based on bad cases such as this one.
This young man is being given due process, which is required.
posted on May 19, 2004 10:45:53 AM new
Unfortunately, bear, even if she had applied, two years is not long enough to become a citizen. This child had no chance.
posted on May 19, 2004 10:54:04 AM new
Who knows Bear - maybe she didn't intend to stay until she fell in love with an american man. There are tons of Japanese students in this area here on student visas that come for the language schools. There are 4 language schools withing walkin distance of me where young Japanese students come for emersion programs to perfect their conversational english before returning home to Japan and the higher paying jobs that come with that skill.
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If it's really "common" sense, why do so few people actually have it?
[ edited by fenix03 on May 19, 2004 11:11 AM ]
posted on May 19, 2004 12:34:50 PM newShe arrived here legally then waisted two years. Why didn't she apply for citizenship during those two waisted years instead of waiting to get citizenship via marrage to a US citizen.
In order to apply for citizenship: you must first a spend at least five years as a legal permanent resident of the United States, during which you did not take any trips abroad for more than six months, and were present in the United States for not less than half of the entire period (two-and-a-half years).
So, themotherdied before she became eligible to apply.
However, the son DOES meet the criteria. Perhaps being a minor would affect this, but I would think that they would be able to find some loophole he can squeeze through.
____________________
We are not afraid to entrust the American people with unpleasant facts, foreign ideas, alien philosophies, and competitive values. For a nation that is afraid to let its people judge the truth and falsehood in an open market is a nation that is afraid of its people. -- John F. Kennedy
posted on May 19, 2004 05:14:00 PM new
Reamond is correct. It's perfectly legal for undocumented alien children to attend school. Indeed, schools aren't allowed to ask nationality as far as I'm aware. Don't forget, schools in most states get funding based on enrollment. Why would they want to turn kids away??
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When a dog howls at the moon, we call it religion. When he barks at strangers, we call it patriotism. - Edward Abbey
posted on May 19, 2004 05:23:07 PM new
The years went by. He studied. He excelled in school. Relatives in Chula Vista reared Yamada and his sisters, and his aunt made arrangements to adopt them. But as he neared 18, that fell through. Their father wasn't in the picture.
Well they (the relatives) had 5 years to adopt or do something, before he turned 18. I don't understand that part.
posted on May 19, 2004 06:27:37 PM new
Unfortunate situation.
Deport him, let his relatives here sponsor his legal re-entry to the US on a student visa. Then let him apply for US citizenship, case closed.
"The Secret Service has announced it is doubling its protection for John Kerry. You can understand why — with two positions on every issue, he has twice as many people mad at him." —Jay Leno
posted on May 19, 2004 08:25:12 PM new
Bear - He's four years into the process right now. Why should be be deported and have to start all over again when he has done nothing wrong?
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If it's really "common" sense, why do so few people actually have it?
posted on May 19, 2004 09:45:40 PM new
Fenix again it is an unfortunate situation. But the answer lies in the opening line of your post:
[i]Illegal immigrant[/b]
"The Secret Service has announced it is doubling its protection for John Kerry. You can understand why — with two positions on every issue, he has twice as many people mad at him." —Jay Leno
posted on May 19, 2004 10:05:00 PM new
That's the most unique part of this situation Bear. He did not come here illegally. He did not stay illegally. And when he turned 18 and was legally able to do what no one (including the child welfare system who would have been fully aware of him and his status during the adoption process that fell thu) else had done for him he began the process of obtaining citizenship. At the very least, I am baffled as to why family/child services did not arrange legal residency status.
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If it's really "common" sense, why do so few people actually have it?
