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Valedictorian to be deported

post #1 of 11
6/4/08 at 6:16am
Thread Starter 
While I feel for this family, and especially the young man who will be most affected by this, the law is the law.

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,361861,00.html


Instead of seeking asylum all these years, was there no way for them to try and get citizenship instead?

I'm still gnawing on this one...what do you think?
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post #2 of 11
6/4/08 at 7:49am
Quote:
Originally Posted by emrldsky View Post
Instead of seeking asylum all these years, was there no way for them to try and get citizenship instead?
I doubt it. You have to be legal resident alien before you can seek citizenship.
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post #3 of 11
6/4/08 at 8:08am
DH and I are on non-immigrant visas, so we can't apply for green cards or citizenship. I daresay the visa they are on is the same, and seeking asylum will then allow then to move to an immigrant visa which would give them the right to go for a green card.

It's sad that he's obviously a smart kid and most probably considers the US his home, and they're going to let that talent get wasted. Unfortunately, these things happen.
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post #4 of 11
6/4/08 at 11:31am
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by jcat View Post
I doubt it. You have to be legal resident alien before you can seek citizenship.
Quote:
Originally Posted by sarahp View Post
DH and I are on non-immigrant visas, so we can't apply for green cards or citizenship. I daresay the visa they are on is the same, and seeking asylum will then allow then to move to an immigrant visa which would give them the right to go for a green card.

It's sad that he's obviously a smart kid and most probably considers the US his home, and they're going to let that talent get wasted. Unfortunately, these things happen.
Thank you for clearing this up. I wasn't aware of the way it works here. My heart really does go out to this kid, but it was mentioned on the news this morning that he could try to appeal (i.e., contact and explain his case) to the state Governor and have a bill drawn up to try and change the law.

I agree this is a waste of talent, but in the same breath, it is the law.

Maybe the college he wants to go to will grant him a full scholarship as an International student, so he can get a student visa and attend, without worrying about the extra cost of attending (I imagine it's extremely expensive to attend a US college as an International student).
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post #5 of 11
6/4/08 at 12:15pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by emrldsky View Post
Maybe the college he wants to go to will grant him a full scholarship as an International student, so he can get a student visa and attend, without worrying about the extra cost of attending (I imagine it's extremely expensive to attend a US college as an International student).
Not necessarily. Harvard, for instance, has very generous scholarships for the "best and brightest" foreign students, and actively recruits them, to the extent that Oxbridge (Oxford and Cambridge) seems a bit miffed.

Our German nephew was his class valedictorian, and has chosen to stay in Germany for the time being, but he has some very prestigious U.S. universities putting out feelers for graduate school.
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post #6 of 11
6/4/08 at 5:11pm
i say let them stay.
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post #7 of 11
6/5/08 at 10:03pm
I'm not sure if the University of California schools recruit any international students. They are full of smart Asian kids -- both from the U.S. and foreign. It is a lot more expensive to attend either the University of California or State University schools as an international student.

Neither system (the University of California being the prestigious ones like Berkeley and UCLA) has to work for students. They all have more applications than they can accept.

There used to be more leniency but they are really cracking down since 9/ll.
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post #8 of 11
6/6/08 at 7:55pm
It isn't a very lengthy article. There must be more to the story.
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post #9 of 11
6/6/08 at 11:12pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Natalie_ca View Post
It isn't a very lengthy article. There must be more to the story.
That's what I thought, too.
Perhaps, if his mother has to go back, it is better that he remain with her rather than break up the family. Sad story, bottom line.....
Tonight, I went to our local high grad ceremony- there were more than a few high/drunk American kids all around, some very young, but the cops have been getting called elsewhere all night. The local supermarket has been keeping them busy with the shoplifters stealing booze (it's a tradition here, ). It was so sad, I was just thinking that if only they could realize what a great life and chance for education that they've been given, maybe we wouldn't be seeing so many of them and those like them in our public defender caseload
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post #10 of 11
6/7/08 at 4:00am
I think this is one of those cases where things should be looked at on an individual basis. There have to be some exceptions made sometimes.
They were here legally so I don't see what the big deal would be for a lawyer to take the case pro bono. If it gets more coverage maybe someone will.
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post #11 of 11
6/8/08 at 9:42pm
The article doesn't mention how they actually entered the country, but if they did it correctly and have been seeking asylum, so what? This is where discretion needs to come into play. We're, presumably, not talking about someone who illegally snuck across our border. We're talking an obviously smart and motivated kid whose asylum claim was denied.

I'm guessing this kid doesn't actually get deported, but the news coverage will garner enough support and sway public opinion to the point that he gets permission to remain in the U.S. under some status. They let that princess from Bahrain stay when she snuck into the country with fraudulent ID provided to her by her USMC boyfriend/fiance. They even made a movie about it, lol. He got his butt handed to him by the Marine Corps (totally deserved, IMO), but they both came out of it pretty much unscathed.

If we're going to let princesses sneak into the country with forged military identification and let them stay, I see no reason why anyone with the appropriate authority and discretion shouldn't grant this kid and his family some sort of status that would allow them to remain here.
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