San Diego – U.S. immigration authorities have stepped up arrests and deportations across the nation in recent months, forcing an increasing number of adults who are in the country illegally to make a difficult decision: take their U.S.-born children with them or leave them behind.
When immigration agents encounter U.S.-born children, they usually leave them in the temporary custody of a relative or a friend. Occasionally, agents agree to postpone the parents’ deportation if no one can be found. In extraordinary circumstances, agents contact local child protective services.
About 3 million U.S.-born kids have at least one illegal-immigrant parent.
Parents don’t get special rights just because their children were born here, said Virginia Kice, spokeswoman for Immigration and Customs Enforcement. If a judge orders them to leave the country, they have to leave.
Immigrant-rights activists condemn the division of families.
“With these raids, they aren’t just getting criminals. They are breaking up innocent families,” said Oswaldo Cabrera, who has started a symbolic campaign to pair undocumented immigrants with U.S. citizens.
Nearly two decades ago, Abel Munoz, 41, and Zulma Miranda, 37, crossed the U.S.-Mexico border with temporary permits to seek treatment for their infant son. He was diagnosed with leukemia and died soon after their arrival.
By then, Miranda was pregnant again and the couple decided to stay in the United States. Leslie was born in 1990, followed by Marcos three years later and Adilene in 1998.
Munoz supported the family by working as a landscaper and a butcher and then as an electrician, eventually earning as much as $1,000 a week, he said. Miranda stayed home with the children. Both parents volunteered in their schools. The family bought a home and remodeled it. They paid taxes.
But Munoz and Miranda still were undocumented immigrants. And every day, they feared being arrested and deported. So when the couple met an attorney who told them he could get them green cards, they decided to turn themselves in to immigration officials.
The attorney assured the couple they would win the case because they had lived in the U.S. for more than a decade and had never been in trouble with the law. What he didn’t tell them, they said, was that they would have to prove their deportation would cause “exceptional and extremely unusual hardship” on their children.
Munoz and Miranda submitted their applications to immigration officials and soon after received a letter ordering them to court.
During the trial, both parents testified that their children, who are strong students and have won numerous awards, would not have access to the same educational opportunities in Mexico. They also told the federal judge, Kenneth Bagley, that Marcos had health problems and wouldn’t receive adequate medical care in Mexico.
In July 2005, the judge ruled against the couple. Bagley said the parents would “no doubt face a period of emotional and financial adjustment if forced to return to their native Mexico,” but they had relatives there who could help them adapt. And they could sell their five-bedroom house and walk away with as much as $300,000, which he said would “go a long way toward easing any readjustment to life in Mexico …”
Munoz and Miranda said the money would help the family begin a life in Mexico, but they believe their children are better off in San Diego to finish school – even without them.
Their attorney told them they would receive a letter telling them when they needed to leave the country. Miranda said they decided to wait for the letter and when it arrived, defy the deportation order by selling the house and moving to another city. However, the letter never came.
Instead, on Feb. 22, Miranda heard banging at the front door. When she answered it, the immigration agents came in and searched the house.
“It all happened so fast,” Leslie said. “Immigration came and just took them away. … Within a half-hour, they were gone.”
Everything is different for the children now.
Leslie, 16, understands her parents’ decision but said it’s hard having to be a grown-up. Although their aunt lives with them, Leslie said most of the family’s responsibilities fall to her.
“It’s like I am a parent now,” she said.
Marcos’ grades have dropped; he received two F’s on his last report card. He missed his last basketball game of the season, saying he did not want to play if his parents weren’t there.
Munoz and Miranda spent their savings on legal bills. They are looking for work in Tijuana but haven’t found anything yet. The only income they have is the $30 they earn once a week selling clothes, toys and menudo on the street. They recently pawned their wedding rings.
The longer they go without work, Munoz said,the more they realize they eventually may have to sell the house, Munoz said.
Every week, Miranda and Munoz count down the days until the weekend. That’s when their children walk across the border into Tijuana.
During a recent visit, the family headed out to get tacos and ice cream. Adilene stayed within arm’s reach of her mother. Munoz wrapped his arm around Marcos and kissed him on the head.
At a nearby restaurant, Munoz said grace.
“We give thanks for the life we have,” he said. “Even though we are far, we are still very close.”
