Florida honors student wins reprieve from deportation

[Eugene]

Source: Reuters

Florida honors student wins reprieve from deportation

MIAMI | Wed Mar 7, 2012 7:16pm EST

(Reuters) - A Miami high school honors student who faced imminent deportation to Colombia has won a two-year reprieve after 2,000 fellow students took to the city's streets to protest her removal from the United States, federal authorities said on Wednesday.

The plight of Daniela Pelaez, 18, a North Miami High School senior and valedictorian, has put a spotlight on U.S. immigration policy like few other individual cases in recent history.

The U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agency said it would defer action for two years in potential removal proceedings against Pelaez, who was born in Colombia and brought by her parents to the United States when she was 4.

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Read more: http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/03/08/us-usa-florida-student-idUSTRE8261KA20120308

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Previous thread: Miami Valedictorian Could Be Deported

[proud2BlibKansan]

1. Good

[Sancho]

2. maybe anchor baby Rubio would help 'em out!!!

these repubs are such hypocrites!

[SunSeeker]

4. She, like Marco's older brother Mario Rubio, was brought here without papers as a small child.

He should feel a lot of empathy, but he doesn't. He'd rather let her education go to waste, not let her contribute hundreds of thousands of dollars in taxes once she became a doctor, not to mention all the lives she would save as a doctor. Oh no, not worth getting the teahadists riled up by showing some humanity and common sense.

[alp227]

8. So Marco's parents were illegal immigrants?

Can you provide a source about Marco's big brother? Actually i went to Marco's wikipedia article and found the washington post story that revealed how Marco lied about his family story:

Multiple documents signed by Rubio’s parents, including their petitions for naturalization, show that Mario and Oriales Rubio arrived in the United States on May 27, 1956, with their son Mario, 6. Maternal grandfather Pedro Victor Garcia also came to the United States around the same time.

The Social Security numbers for Rubio’s father and grandfather suggest that Mario Rubio received his Social Security number in Florida in 1956 and that Garcia received his in New York in 1956-57.

based on what i'm reading here, Marco's parents did gain legal residency, and so should have Mario Jr.

[SunSeeker]

11. They didn't need immigration papers to gain legal residency because they came from Cuba--

But they still came here under the same way, and were just as "alien" to this country as this girl and her family. The only difference is she came from Columbia and they came from Cuba.

[alp227]

13. but i thought Wet Foot Dry Foot only came in effect in the '90s?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wet_feet,_dry_feet_policy

And when Rubio's parents arrived was about a decade before the Cuban Adjustment Act began expediting the legalization process for Cuban refugees.

[SunSeeker]

17. Hmmmm. Dunno. Good question. nt

[dfhtyjtyj]

3. Spam deleted by NRaleighLiberal (MIR Team)

[McCamy Taylor]

5. Why would they give her dad a green card and make her brother a citizen

but deny her a green card? This case stinks. Someone should see if the senior with the next highest GPA at her school knows someone in the INS and wanted her out of the country before graduation.

[torfero]

6. Maybe she is not eligible for a Green Card right now.

Her brother can file an I-130 Petition for her and when her Priority Date is current, she would be eligible to adjust her status to Lawful Permanent Resident while in the US (due to her legal entry).

But, brothers and sisters of US Citizens do not fall under the immediate relative category, so a Visa is not immediately available for her, and she cannot adjust her status in the US anytime soon. There is a strong backlog for siblings.

Because her father entered the US legally (I think) and is the parent of a US Citizen, he is considered an Immediate Relative (Visa is immediately available) and because of his legal entry he was probably able to file an I-485 in the US and obtain his Green Card. Her father can also file and I-130 for her, but because he is an LPR and not a USC there will also be a backlog.

I am curious to know how she came to the attention of ICE and what her Green Card application was based on. All the articles I have read fail to provide this info.

[midnight]

7. Thanks for this update.... Glad to read this.

[alp227]

9. this is why the fed gov needs to pass the DREAM ACT

Florida DUers (and DUers in other states too) I urge you to contact your member of congress with this story and urge them to pass the Dream Act! Change can't happen unless We the People get active!

[Snake Alchemist]

10. we will let you and your parents stay in the country

As long as you get high enough grades.

[sudopod]

12. How droll! You must be the life of every party. nt

[LanternWaste]

15. I imagine a HS valedictorian has a much greater handle on maintaining excellent grades

I imagine a HS valedictorian has a much greater handle on maintaining excellent grades than you or I would.

[Snake Alchemist]

16. Maybe. But if we were talking about a 17 yo accused of stealing a car with the same immigration

status problems, this story would not have registered a blip.

[LanternWaste]

14. I'm heartened to see that a person's education received a greater priority

Regardless, I'm heartened to see that a person's education received a greater priority in this instance than imaginary red and black lines on a map.