SF deportation VWP overstay

[Usui Takumi 1,562]

SAN FRANCISCO — A San Francisco woman and her children will be deported to Australia on Friday after her teenage son was arrested on suspicion of punching a classmate and stealing 46 cents during an after-school program.

The case spotlights the politically charged battle about how to enforce The City’s sanctuary policy, and whether officials should shield undocumented youths from deportation when they are suspected of a felony crime.

The undocumented 13-year-old boy, who only has been identified as part of the Washington family, was reported to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement in January after he punched another youth and stole his money, according to Angela Chan, staff attorney with the Asian Law Caucus, which is providing immigration legal services to the family.

Chan said the teenager has been charged with robbery, assault and extortion. She said the charges include a felony.

The teen had been living in San Francisco with his undocumented mother, 5-year-old brother and stepfather, who is a U.S. citizen, for more than a year. The family's deportation will bar them from coming back to the United States for at least three to 10 years, Chan said.

According to Mayor Gavin Newsom’s office, the deportation remains consistent with federal law.

“We are implementing The City’s sanctuary city policy, which, according to the city attorney, is in compliance with state and federal law,” Newsom spokesman Tony Winnicker said Sunday. “We don’t want to put at risk law-abiding San Francisco residents, including the undocumented, by shielding criminal behavior.”

In November, the Board of Supervisors passed a sanctuary ordinance — sponsored by Supervisor David Campos — that prohibits probation officers from reporting undocumented youths unless they are convicted of a felony.

But the mayor and City Attorney Dennis Herrera advised Juvenile Probation Department chief William Siffermann that he would be violating federal and state law if his department shielded undocumented youths until they were convicted of a felony.

Campos pushed the change in response to Newsom’s 2008 policy that stated all illegal immigrant youths who are arrested on suspicion of a felony are released to federal authorities.

Siffermann could not be reached for comment Sunday, but he issued a statement last month saying he had no intention of complying with the recently passed sanctuary ordinance, saying he believed he would be violating federal law.

Frustrated by the noncompliance, Campos is threatening to pursue a legal challenge and propose withholding city funding from the Juvenile Probation Department as long as it ignores the law, he said.

Campos called for a public hearing Thursday, where he hopes to get some answers from Siffermann.

“This is the point we have been trying to make,” Campos said. “This is yet another example of families being torn apart over something that the great majority of people would say doesn’t warrant deportation.”

Read more at the San Francisco Examiner: http://www.sfexaminer.com/local/Battle-ove...l#ixzz0gyxDkjmu

The only thing that stands out to me is how did school yard bullying end up a felony?

[Rebecca Jo 1,962]

Why does it matter if there is a felony involved or not?

The boy did something to bring himself and his family to the attention of the authorities. They are apparently out of status. As far as I am aware, that situation alone makes them removable.

[Allamericankiwi 14]

But hang on........

(03-03) 18:05 PST SAN FRANCISCO -- A San Francisco bus driver's wife and two stepsons, who faced deportation to Australia this week after a schoolyard fight and a city crackdown thwarted their attempt to win legal status, won a reprieve from federal authorities Wednesday.

Immigration officials had ordered Tracey Washington and her sons, ages 13 and 5, to leave the United States by Friday because they remained here after their visa waivers expired in May. The family and their lawyer brought the case to public attention in a news conference this week.

On Wednesday, officials said they would give the Washingtons at least 60 days to resolve their situation.

"We understand they have a pending application" for legal residency, said Virginia Kice, regional spokeswoman for U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement. "This delay will hopefully give the Washingtons an opportunity to address those legal issues.

"We'll see where this stands at the end of 60 days and then reassess," Kice said. "Let's allow the legal process to play out."

It was an unexpected reversal of fortune for the family, whose lawyer had said Monday that they had run out of legal options.

"Our family is elated. It feels like a burden has been lifted off our shoulders," Tracey Washington and her husband, Charles, said in a statement through their attorney, Angela Chan of the Asian Law Caucus.

Charles Washington, 42, a Muni bus driver, met his wife in 2003, when she was visiting friends in San Francisco. She returned with her children for another visit in February 2009, and they married in April.

The marriage made her eligible to apply for legal residence, but Charles Washington said Monday that a federal agency had inaccurately told them there was no deadline for an application.

They were saving up for the $3,000 application fee, he said, when the 13-year-old boy punched a schoolmate in January and took 46 cents.

Washington said that the other youth was uninjured and that the stepson had apologized and returned the money. But police later took the boy to juvenile hall on charges of assault, robbery and extortion - felonies that triggered mandatory reporting to immigration officials under Mayor Gavin Newsom's policy.

Newsom ordered San Francisco juvenile authorities in July 2008 to notify immigration after the felony arrest of any youth suspected of being in the United States illegally. City supervisors passed an ordinance in November that would delay reporting until after a youth is found to have committed a felony, but the mayor has refused to enforce it, saying it violates federal law.

When the Washingtons finally applied to U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services for legal residence, their lawyer said, the agency initially refused to consider the application, saying it should have been filed within 90 days of arrival in the United States.

Chan said the agency has since agreed to review the application but advised the family it would take at least four months. Until Wednesday, it appeared Tracey Washington and her sons would be back in Australia by then, legally barred from returning for three to 10 years.

Her husband said he couldn't accompany them because he would lose joint custody of his 12-year-old daughter from a previous marriage.

Chan said the case should encourage Newsom to follow the new city ordinance and not have youths referred for deportation simply upon arrest. Otherwise, she said, "we will see many more cases like the Washington family's situation."

But Newsom spokesman Tony Winnicker said the latest developments vindicate the mayor's policy. "We notify federal authorities about undocumented felony arrests, and they sort out the immigration issues," he said.

..........hurrah, a recipe for staying in the US by the overstay method of going through the visa process........

1. make sure youre married

2. overstay your visa by 180 days

3. apply anyway

4. get caught when youre out of status

5. claim immigration told you there was no time limit for applying

6. cry poor....you didnt have the money but you really were saving up

7. call the newspaper and/or TV to cover your sob story

8. get your case reconsidered asap....and....4 months later

9......APPROVED....woooo hoooo....too easy!!!!

[mawilson 2,133]

SAN FRANCISCO — A San Francisco woman and her children will be deported to Australia on Friday after her teenage son was arrested on suspicion of punching a classmate and stealing 46 cents during an after-school program.

Sounds like Booyah.

[w¡n9Nµ7 §£@¥€r 123]

46 cents