Undocumented immigrant Pedro Hernandez-Ramirez received a one-year stay of deportation in order to care for his 24-year-old stepson, Juan, who has severe cerebral palsy. Hernandez-Ramirez’s family shared their story at a Capitol Hill briefing in February.
WASHINGTON — Pedro Hernandez-Ramirez came to the U.S. from Mexico illegally more than 10 years ago, eventually settling in Elyria, Ohio, marrying an American citizen and helping raise his four kids, including stepson Juan, who has severe cerebral palsy. In 2013, he was deported after being found out during a routine traffic stop.
Less than one month later, he re-entered the U.S. illegally.
“I returned for my family, something in my head was telling me to,” Hernandez-Ramirez said in Spanish at a Capitol Hill briefing in February. He is the only one in the household who can lift Juan, 24, him in and out of his wheelchair.
Ten days after he returned, Hernandez-Ramirez was arrested again. This time, however, his wife, Seleste Wisniewski, was able to block his deportation. An immigration judge allowed him to remain in the U.S. for one year, until August 2014. His family isn’t sure what will happen to him after that. Wisniewski said the family lives in constant fear that her husband will be deported again.
“I can speak firsthand that the family’s life is not taken into consideration. If they would had just listened and seen I was begging them put two ankle bracelets on every member of my household. ‘Don’t take this man, please. Don’t take my husband, please. I can’t do this,’” Wisniewski said.
Hernandez-Ramirez is one of a small number of undocumented immigrants who are able to find ways to temporarily stay in the U.S. after being arrested. In the majority of cases, an immigrant who is deported is unable to legally apply to re-enter the U.S. for 10 years. If immigrants are deported more than once or if they are convicted as aggravated felons, they are banned for 20 years.
Latinos favor deportation relief over a path to citizenship
Nearly 2 million undocumented immigrants have been deported during President Barack Obama’s administration. Last year, 368,644 were deported, down from a record-breaking 419,000 in 2012, according to data from the Department of Homeland Security.
The U.S. deports undocumented immigrants to almost every country in the world. However, Mexico, Guatemala and Honduras receive by far the largest share. In 2012, the three Central American nations alone accounted for nearly 90 percent of all U.S. deportations.
Hernandez-Ramirez is one of many undocumented Latino immigrants with close family members who are U.S. citizens. More than 60 percent of undocumented Latinos in the U.S. say they have children who were born in the U.S., making their kids American citizens, according to a March 2013 poll by Latino Decisions, a Hispanic polling agency. Of the undocumented Latino immigrants who are married, 29 percent have a spouse who is a citizen, according to the same poll.
In 2012, the parents of more than 152,000 children who are U.S. citizens were deported, according to Human Impact Partners, a health advocacy group.
Latinos believe relief from the threat of deportation is more important than having a clear pathway to citizenship, according to a study released in December by the Pew Research Center. Asian-Americans, on the other hand, ranked citizenship first.
White House attempts reforms without congressional approval
Undocumented immigrants who are apprehended by the government have few options to avoid deportation.
Immigrants facing deportation can apply to stay in the U.S., like Hernandez-Ramirez did. Immigrants who have already been deported can apply for the opportunity to return, instead of waiting out their 10- to 20-year bans abroad. In order to be successful in either case, they must show that their deportation causes extreme hardship to a family member who is a U.S. citizen, for example a terminally ill relative or one with disabilities for whom they are the primary care giver.
One year ago, the White House issued a new rule that was designed to reduce the time some undocumented immigrants are separated from their American families as they seek legal status. The rule allows some undocumented immigrants to apply to the Department of Homeland Security for permanent legal status from within the U.S.
Of the 30,141 applications that the Department of Homeland Security received between March 2013 and January of this year, 10,720 have been approved, 5,152 have been denied and 14,269 are pending, according to U.S. Customs and Border Protection.
Applicants must have a spouse, child or parent who is a U.S. citizen. If approved, the immigrants are still required to return to their home countries to pick up their U.S. visas, but may only have to spend a week outside of the U.S. It costs at least $585 to apply for the exception.
This program is one of the most recent examples of the Obama administration’s attempts to take action on immigration without the consent of Congress. The impetus for the White House moves is impatience with the progress of the immigration reform bill. Legislation was introduced in Obama’s first term and again in April 2013, but House Republicans have repeatedly fought any efforts to push it forward.
Last August, the administration asked U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement Agents to avoid detaining the parents of U.S. citizens.
In June 2012, the White House issued a directive ordering the Department of Homeland Security to begin the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program, which allows the children of undocumented immigrants to live and work in the U.S. if they meet certain requirements.
Opponents said the new exemptions are against the law. They are angered that the White House is trying to implement reforms without the consent of Congress and consider them to be an abuse of executive power.
“This administration has expanded those waivers and exceptions in order to apply to whole classes of illegal aliens and what they’re trying to do is implement an amnesty that has not been approved legislatively,” said Kristen Williamson, a spokeswoman for the anti-immigration amnesty group Federation for American Immigration Reform.
Little movement on immigration reform in Congress
The comprehensive immigration reform bill that passed the Senate last June provided a path to legal status for many undocumented immigrants who have children, spouses or parents that are U.S. citizens.
It would also allow previously deported immigrants who are the spouse, parent or child of a U.S. citizen to apply to re-enter the U.S. permanently and legally. Applicants must have arrived before the start of 2012 and have been deported for non-criminal reasons. Family members must have remained in the U.S. through 2013 in order to be eligible, according to the bill.
Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., who was part of the bipartisan group of eight senators that wrote the legislation, said Monday that the discussion about immigration reform must shift away from a reunification-based system to one based on merit. He called immigration the “most fundamental reform we can make.”
“There will always be an element of people that are coming for family reunification,” Rubio said. “But the core of our immigration system in the 21st century has to be Americans, individuals that coming to the U.S. to work, either in specialized fields or to invest or to innovate or to help grow.”
On the House side, Reps. Beto O’Rourke, D-Texas, and Steve Pearce, R-N.M., introduced a bill in October that would give more discretionary authority to immigration judges, making it easier for them to grant waivers to allow deported immigrants to reunite with their families in the U.S., according to Jeff Hild, legislative director in O’Rourke’s office. The bill has been referred to the Immigration and Border Security Subcommittee.
Hernandez-Ramirez said the ongoing uncertainty about the future of immigration reform is taking a toll on his family’s well-being. He doesn’t believe Washington lawmakers understand the struggles of people like him.
“We are below them. They are on top of society. They have power. The truth is hard. Suffering is harder,” said Hernandez-Ramirez in Spanish.
