Struggling Iraq Vet's Wife to Be Deported

[one...two...tree 2,762]

Frances Barrios sits with her son, Matthew. She may be sent to Guatemala because she was brought to this country illegally when she was 6. Her husband, an Iraq War vet experiencing post-traumatic stress, says: “Without her, I can’t function.” (Jay L. Clendenin / Los Angeles Times / October 6, 2009)

By Teresa Watanabe, LA Times

The nightmares still plague him. The terrifying mortar attacks. The loss of an Albanian soldier and ally, mutilated by shrapnel. The Iraqi children, bloodied and battered, lined up for medical care at the U.S. base at Mosul.

Two years after returning from his service in Iraq, U.S. Army Spc. Jack Barrios, 26, is fighting sleeplessness, sudden angry outbursts, aversion to emotional intimacy and other fallout from his post-traumatic stress disorder.

But as he undergoes counseling and swallows anti-depressants, the soldier is fighting an even bigger battle: to keep his family from collapsing as his wife, an undocumented immigrant from Guatemala, faces deportation.

His wife, 23-year-old Frances, was illegally brought to the United States by her mother at age 6, learned of her status in high school and discovered just last year that removal proceedings have been started. Her possible deportation has left Barrios in panic as he contemplates life without her.

The Army reservist says his wife is the family's anchor, caring for their year-old daughter and 3-year-old son and helping him battle his post-traumatic stress.

"She's my everything," Barrios said as he sat glumly in the family's sparsely furnished but tidy Van Nuys apartment. "Without her, I can't function. It would be like taking away a part of my soul."

Hundreds of U.S. soldiers are facing the same trouble as they fight to legalize their spouses' status, a difficult process that has affected their military readiness, according to Margaret Stock, a lieutenant colonel in the Army Reserves and an immigration attorney specializing in military cases.

Stock, speaking as a private attorney, said she gets at least one call a day from soldiers facing the deportation of spouses. Many are so stressed out they can't concentrate on their jobs, she said.

"The whole military system depends on families being support networks for soldiers," said Stock. "They're an integral part of military readiness, so we need to take care of them."

Concerned about the effect immigration problems are having on military families, U.S. Rep. Zoe Lofgren (D-San Jose) has held hearings on the issue and last year introduced a bill to give undocumented spouses of U.S. soldiers a chance at gaining legal status.

Lofgren, who heads the House immigration subcommittee, said she plans to include the provision for military families in the comprehensive immigration reform bill that could be unveiled early next year.

"It's about respecting the American soldier and the sacrifices they have made," Lofgren said.

The issue has divided traditional allies. Her bill was co-sponsored by two Republican members of the House Armed Services committee but opposed by their GOP colleagues on the House immigration subcommittee.

The American Legion spoke out against the bill, but the Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America supported it.

"Our soldiers fight and, in some cases, give their lives to preserve the rule of law. It seems ironic indeed that some would propose to disregard the rule of law just as another reward or inducement to serve our country," U.S. Rep. Steve King (R-Iowa) told the House immigration subcommittee at the May hearing last year.

But the Iraq and Afghanistan veterans group has made the issue of legal status for military families one of its legislative priorities.

"The last thing troops in the American military should be worrying about while deployed is the possibility that their spouses at home may be deported," the group's legislative agenda says.

more...

http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-im...story?track=rss

[HAL 9000 96]

It is clear that the people that are more prone to suffering from ####### cancer do not care about this- it doesn't fit on their radar. She should be deported, period, because she was here illegally.

[morocco4ever 63]

F#$%ing six year olds. Who do they think they are coming here illegally? What, did someone force them?

[almaty 19]

it is common sense to make the changes needed..it should pass...

[SMOKE 1,426]

C-ya F-ya bye!

[almaty 19]

terrible and just wrong..she was brought here by her aprents..and her spouse a war veteran depends on her..###### heartless

[mawilson 2,133]

mawilson rules: keep the cute woman, deport her son instead

[SMOKE 1,426]

terrible and just wrong..she was brought here by her aprents..and her spouse a war veteran depends on her..###### heartless

& has been here 17 years. 5 as an adult....done NOTHING to fix her status. now wants special treatment. C-ya F-ya bye!

[Trumplestiltskin 5,791]

F#$%ing six year olds. Who do they think they are coming here illegally? What, did someone force them?

I believe the argument that is used is that the parents should be blamed and that the woman wouldnt be in this position had they not violated the law.

Of course that argument absolves the government of any responsibility in perpetrating a worse crime by splitting up a family. Its hard to see how that's justifiable - given that the person involved was essentially an unwitting participant in her parent's "crime". Not to mention we generally don't prosecute adults for things they did as a minor.

[HAL 9000 96]

she's a criminal. should be shot. Period. Let me find something else to gripe about too.

[almaty 19]

yes..and send her anchor kid back too.

[HAL 9000 96]

send the husband back too. He probably voted for some illegal alien cheerleader politician.

[Peikko 1,575]

I'm not sure what the president should do to fix this

[Trumplestiltskin 5,791]

Clearly there's an argument for a degree of discretion being applied in cases of this type.

[HAL 9000 96]

I'm not sure what the president should do to fix this

when he takes office you mean.