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Pol Moves to Protect Illegal Immigrant Youth
Friday, December 31, 2004
ATLANTA — Millions
of illegal immigrants now reside in the United States, but
many did not come here by choice. They were brought here by
parents or other family members when they were young.
Now, South Carolina Republican
Sen. Lindsey Graham
(search)
is trying help these young immigrants become legal. He
introduced a bill that would allow Griselda Negrete, a high
school junior originally from Mexico, to stay in the country
to finish school and apply for permanent U.S. residence.
Negrete, an honors student, was brought from Mexico to the
United States by her mother when she was a toddler. She said
no one ever questioned her about her citizenship until last
year.
"I accompanied my aunt as a translator to an immigration
office in Charleston and that's when the officer began to
question me about my legal status and that's when they issued
me the warrant of arrest," Negrete said.
The immigration office also gave Negrete a
deportation order (search)
requiring her to return to Mexico, a place she considers a
foreign country.
"The first thing that came to my mind was that I was going to
have to leave my family and all my friends, everyone I know,"
she said.
Glenda Bunce, an immigration attorney, said Negrete did enter
the country illegally, but she was only two years old at the
time.
"She had no knowledge that she was breaking the law," Bunce
said.
Graham's bill passed the Senate, but was not taken up by the
House. He said he will introduce private legislation to help
Negrete finish school if that's what it takes. But immigration
reform advocates say making exceptions for any illegal
immigrant sends the wrong message.
"We have somewhere in the neighborhood 10 to 12 million people
living illegally in the United States, and I'm sure many of
those people have compelling stories, compelling reasons why
they should be allowed to stay in the United States. But we
can't have special legislation for each of those people," said
Ira Mehlman with the
Federation for American Immigration Reform (search).
Immigration officials are unlikely to deport Negrete while the
legislation is pending. In the meantime, the teen will stay in
school in the United States, with aspirations of one day
becoming an immigration attorney.
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