Wife of former Marine to be deported to Mexico Friday, after 20 years in U.S.
www.cbsnews.com
Alejandra Juarez has lived in the U.S. for 20 years and has two daughters who are American citizens

Temo didn’t figure his vote for President Donald Trump would affect them personally. That was before the enforcement of Mr. Trump’s “zero tolerance” policy toward illegal immigrants.

    • mindlesscrollyparrot@discuss.tchncs.deEnglish
      0·
      3 days ago

      Alejandra petitioned to become a citizen in 2001, but was rejected because she was accused of making a false statement at the border when she sought asylum in 1998

    • ✺roguetrick✺@lemmy.worldEnglish
      0·
      3 days ago

      The system is unfortunate in that you can’t apply for legal status while you’re in the country illegally. Like you get married, you then have to leave the country and apply for a spouse visa from a consulate. It’s fucked.

      • PlainSimpleGarak@lemm.eeEnglish
        0·
        3 days ago

        I get that though. If a country endorses that, you’re inviting more people to break the law, get in the country, then apply for citizenship.

        Also, what happened to green cards? A non-legal citizen marries a legal one, and eventually they get citizenship. Is that not a thing anymore?

        • ✺roguetrick✺@lemmy.worldEnglish
          0·
          3 days ago

          You need an immigrant visa to start getting a green card. Technically a green card is a visa, really. It’s a whole change of status thing that is quite Byzantine.

          And in general, I do not see the punitive value of breaking up families. It’s like cutting off your nose to spite your face.

          • PlainSimpleGarak@lemm.eeEnglish
            0·
            3 days ago

            Because you’re sending a message that it’s ok to break the law as long as you eventually are in compliance with the law. This is a complicated situation, especially when you have a wife/husband and children involved. I won’t pretend to have all the answers. Obviously no one is happy when a family of many years is separated, but this person knew what they were doing was wrong (from a legal perspective), and did it anyway. Just like breaking any other law, there are consequences for our actions.

            • ✺roguetrick✺@lemmy.worldEnglish
              0·
              3 days ago

              In this case we’re creating all the social ills and costs that broken families entails, being monsters, and punishing frankly a minority of those that lack status. All for a bad policy. I mean, you yourself thought there was a pathway when we started this conversation because obviously that’s the most humane and sensible thing to do.