Missing Soldier Wife ( says she may be deported as an illegal alien)

[maddezmom]

Source: AP

BOSTON (AP) - A lawyer representing the wife of 1 of 2 American soldiers missing in Iraq says she may be deported as an illegal alien.

Army Specialist Alex Jimenez has been missing since May 12th, when his unit was attacked south of Baghdad.

A Boston television station (WBZ) reports he had petitioned for a green card for his wife, Yaderlin. They were married in 2004, three years after she had arrived illegally from the Dominican Republic.

Their lawyer is seeking a hardship waiver for her and an immigration judge has put the proceedings on temporary hold.



Read more: http://www.ksby.com/global/story.asp?s=6683315

[Warren Stupidity]

1. Who cares if her husband has been captured?

SHE IS ILLEGAL

And that is all that matters here, right?

[LynnTheDem]

2. Yes, because the rule of LAW is so supremely important to the USA.

we don't need to use the :sarcasm: do we?

[proud2BlibKansan]

22. Actually I think compassion for a grieving human being

would be what's important right now. But you and the bush administration apparently don't see the need for compassion in this situation.

[heliarc]

28. That's the kind of nationalist spirit that I like to see...

Oh the awesome xenophobia. Some of you guys are great.

[dwahzon]

3. Just received a press release on this

from Kerry's office. Checked his website but it's not posted there yet. Adds a little more background information.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: June 20, 2007
CONTACTS: Amy Brundage/Vincent Morris


Kerry Tells Homeland Security Not to Deport Wife of Missing Soldier

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Sen. John Kerry announced this morning that he is working to prevent US officials from deporting Yaderlin Hiraldo, a woman from the Dominican Republic whose husband has served two tours of duty in Iraq and is currently missing in action. Kerry said it is unconscionable for the Department of Homeland Security to deport the missing soldier’s wife under the current circumstances, and asked the agency not to take any action until her husband is found. The couple were married in 2004.

“Under no condition should our country ever deport the spouse of a soldier who is currently serving in uniform abroad,” Kerry said. “I feel even more strongly in this case, given the terrible uncertainty surrounding Army Specialist Alex Jimenez, who has been missing since May. Our country owes a special debt of gratitude to anyone who puts their life on the line by wearing a uniform and fighting overseas on behalf of the United States. My heart goes out to the family of Specialist Jimenez and I am determined to do everything in my power to make sure his wife is not deported from our country while our military is frantically searching for him.”

The Senator’s letter to DHS Secretary Michael Chertoff is below:

June 20, 2007

The Honorable Michael Chertoff
Secretary of Homeland Security
U.S. Department of Homeland Security
Washington, DC 20528


Dear Secretary Chertoff:

I write today on behalf of one of my constituents Yaderlin Hiraldo. Yaderlin entered our country illegally in 2001. She was married to Army Specialist Alex Jimenez in 2004 and it was then that her status was first brought to the attention of immigration officials. Removal proceedings were brought against her however an administrative closure was placed on her file in 2006 due to her husband’s first deployment to Iraq. No further action has been taken since then.

Specialist Jimenez returned home from his first deployment with a Purple Heart and then returned to Iraq for a second tour of duty. On May 12th of this year Specialist Jimenez went missing after an attack on his unit by Iraqi insurgents. Two other members of his unit went missing in this attack, and as you know one of the soldier’s bodies has since been found but Specialist Jimenez and the other soldiers are still missing. Four other American soldiers and an Iraqi translator were also killed in the attack.

U.S. Special Forces are still searching for Specialist Jimenez. Recently his identification card was found, along with those of his unit members, in an al-Qaeda safe house north of Baghdad. An al-Qaeda front group has also posted a video claiming that they have killed the soldiers and buried them in Iraq. However no further information about the fate of Specialist Jimenez has been uncovered.

This is, obviously, a tragic situation, and Yaderlin Hiraldo and her family continue to wait for information about her husband. I do not believe that Yaderlin should have her stress and grief compounded by additional worries about her own immigration status. I request that no further action be taken Yaderlin’s case while her husband is missing in action. As Yaderlin waits to hear what has happened to her husband I ask that she be allowed to stay in our country. I believe this is a very real test of our government’s compassion for a military family which has already made enormous sacrifices for the United States. I appreciate your consideration of this matter.

Sincerely,

John F. Kerry

[Democrafty]

4. Thanks! n/t

[karynnj]

5. I can't believe that this wasn't already stopped

The DHS people are heartless if they don't do as the Senator requests.

[LostinVA]

10. Hey, she's illegal -- the law is the law, and she's a criminal

I totally do NOT think like that, but there are many on here who do. I'm surprised they haven't shown up yet. I bet you they would have if this poor woman was a maid.

[kelvinyany]

15. We have heartless Republican, but we also have heartless Democrat

Just unbelievable

[LostinVA]

18. Read post #16

[Name removed]

27. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[LostinVA]

31. Yup, I just checked -- this is DEMOCRATIC Underground

"They"? Who then hell are "they"? Oh, right, HISPANIC illegal aliens. I don't think you're talking about Irish "illegals," eh?

Oh brother.

[Spoonman]

16. I can't afford a maid,

because illegals co$t me too much.:sarcasm:
Give it time, and you will start feeling the same as those of use living with this nightmare.
Sorry to sound callous, but after being hit by a drunk illegal with NO insurance, my car was totaled (no full coverage), my wife had $23000 in hospital bills, I was told I had no recourse. He's still in the country nine months later (saw him at the grocery store two weeks ago), and I'm making payments to the hospital, and had to buy another car!
SHIP HER HOME!!!! SHIP ALL OF THEM HOME!!!!!!!!!

P.S. To all those who will start to scream racism, I'm 1/2 Mexican (my mother is Mexican and came here legally!)

[karynnj]

20. So, one illegal alien hurt you and you want to take it out on this poor woman?

Amazing!

Her husband is at minimum a captive in Iraq and she is likely going through hell. Not to mention, consisder that, if he is alive, this is what he will see his country do to his wife. I think they even have a small child - though I may him mixed up with someone else. This country owes this family support and respect at this time. Thank God, that she has the support of her Senator.

[POAS]

24. I was once robbed

by a white man. He broke into my home and stole possessions that were hard for me to replace because I was not making much at the time.

I say ship all the white people back to Europe, they don't belong here.

Don't call me a racist! I'm white!

[Name removed]

26. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[LostinVA]

32. Your beef is with HISPANIC illegal aliens, not illegal aliens, which is racist

I wonder if you're at the right site. I do, however, know one place where you will be in about 30 seconds: my ignore list.

[proud2BlibKansan]

23. Unless this soldier's wife was the one who caused the accident,

you have no beef with her.

[heliarc]

29. Why not get rid of nation states all together

If nation states like America and Mexico are going to make people like you into rabid xenophobes who will blame everything on someone because of their immigration status than we should seriously think about getting rid of the whole concept. I'm really bored of this sort of holier than thou talk. And just because you're half Mexican doesn't absolve you from making racist comments. I was born in the US and have a US passport and I still couldn't afford insurance for a while. I'm just lucky that I didn't get into an accident like yours and ruined someone's life. But it isn't because I'm American or caucasian or black or asian or whatever. Don't confuse the issue with your weird associations.

[saigon68]

40. They are Gangster Cheney's handpicked thugs and hoodlums

[Luftmensch067]

6. Saw this on local news this morning

Very glad Senator Kerry is taking quick and decisive action. It is clear from his comments and letter that he genuinely does feel strongly about this case, which is in keeping with his consistent concern and active support of all troops, veterans and their families.

[Barrett808]

7. Missing Soldier's Wife May Be Deported

Source: Associated Press

BOSTON -- The wife of a soldier missing in Iraq could face deportation, her lawyer told a television station.

Army Spec. Alex Jimenez, who has been missing since his unit was attacked by insurgents in Iraq on May 12, had petitioned for a green card for his wife, Yaderlin, whom he married in 2004, Boston's WBZ-TV reported Tuesday.

Their attorney, Matthew Kolken, said Yaderlin illegally entered the United States from the Dominican Republic in 2001. Her husband's request for a green card and legal residence status for her alerted authorities to her situation, Kolken said.

The attorney said his client would not be eligible for a green card under normal circumstances, but he is seeking a hardship waiver for her. If she were to have to leave the U.S., she would have to wait 10 years before reapplying.

"I can't imagine a bigger injustice than that, to be deporting someone's wife who is fighting and possibly dying for our country," Kolken told the station.

Read more: http://www.nbc30.com/news/13534579/detail.html

[DemSoccerMom]

8. Talk about adding insult to injury.

I do not believe in amnesty for those here illegally, but this woman has suffered enough, don'tcha think? I don't necessarily understand the push to remove her from the U.S. so quickly, and while her husband is MIA in a hostile nation. And, I can't help but wonder if the State Department would be so quick to deport this woman if her name was something like, say, Ingrid Svenson (an obviously European/Norwegian name).

[amandabeech]

36. If the name is SvenSON, then I'd bet on Swedish.

Also, I'm not sure that Svensen is a name in Norway or Denmark, which use the "e" not the "o".

Not from the upper Midwest, are you?

[alfredo]

9. I hope she can stay. She's already sacrificed too much.

[Dhalgren]

11. Wasn't Jimenez an American citizen? How can they deport the wife of

a citizen? Have they changed the law that allows for the spouse of a citizen to have legal status?

[Behind the Aegis]

17. That was what I was wondering.

If the MIA solider is an American citizen, then his wife should have automatically become a citizen when they married. Or is there something else at play?

Regardless, under the circumstances, to deport her, especially now, is beyond the pale.

[fudge stripe cookays]

19. You don't automatically become a citizen by marrying an American.

You'd become a resident alien, and would still need to get a green card, but you have more rights than you would just staying here on your own, illegal or otherwise.

I am married to a Canadian. Having lived here with me for seven years, he is now a PERMANENT resident alien, but is not a citizen.

[Behind the Aegis]

21. Thank you for that information! It helps.

I really appreciated it! :toast:

[heliarc]

30. Not to mention the fact that...

Permanent residents don't get to vote... They pay income taxes but don't vote... No taxation without representation, yo.

[fudge stripe cookays]

34. Yup!

And we sure could have used him in the last couple, believe me! But we kept his Canadian citizenship-- we might still need to use it one of these days, if ya know what I mean.

[heliarc]

37. I do know what you mean. nt

:-)

[fudge stripe cookays]

35. You're welcome! n/t

[LuckyLib]

25. And, depending on when they filed, it can take YEARS for the paperwork

to grind through. You think the passport fiasco is a nightmare. Try getting your spouse's status changed. Our government is collapsing on itself. But we have the money for Halliburton and Blackwater, of course.

[fudge stripe cookays]

33. That's probably true now.

We scraped through right before 911 (used the fiance visa). I had bought a book about getting a green card, which was an awesome resource. I think it gave about 6-9 months as an expected time period for the initial processing.

He moved down in May, we were married in July, and went to INS in about September or so, I think for his temporary green card. I can't remember how long it took for his permanent one-- a year or so, I think? We had to have signed statements, photos of ourselves taken on various visits before marriage, cards we sent, copies of e-mails, letters from friends and family testifying to our relationship, etc.

But I couldn't imagine what it would be like to be illegal, then marry and make it legal, and the all the hoops you would have to jump through for INS to believe that you actually married for love...all the same things we had, but you'd have to be a helluva lot more convincing!

[proud2BlibKansan]

12. Bush administration trying to deport widow of soldier killed in Iraq

Source: Howard Dean

Howard Dean just told the audience here at Take Back America conference that the Bush administration is deporting the widow of one of the three soldiers kidnapped in Iraq a few weeks ago. He said the story had just come out this morning. I searched this forum but don't see it.

No link yet.

[silverweb]

13. Here you go.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=102x2887031

[proud2BlibKansan]

14. Thank you

[OldschoolDem]

38. I thought if you marry someone who is a citizen from another country

and you are a citizen of the US that person immediately is a citizen. I could be wrong, but it makes sense.

[LostinVA]

39. No, that's not true at all

A friend is married to a Canadian man. It was a huge pain for him to be able to come here, even though they'd been married for several years already (they had lived in Toronto). He didn't even get a Green Card for a very long time.