Rete

I read this article this morning about a Georgia teen who was deported to Mexico. He is 17. In the news article, it states that his estranged father is now a US Citizen. If the father was still in contact with his son when he became a US Citizen, the son is automatically a US Citizen. Wonder if ICE looked into all aspects of this case before deporting him.

Why Georgia teen who left Mexico as a baby was deported

carcajou

Having read your link, I do not believe the child is a US Citizen.

My understanding is that there are multiple criteria that have to be met for a child to acquire US Citizenship if one parent naturalises after birth.

One of those conditions is that the child has to be in the legal and physical custody of the US Citizen parent - which he was not if the parent was "estranged."

It does not matter that he "feels American" and "doesn't consider Mexico [his] home even though [he's] from there."

Getting arrested twice on five counts of, among other things, drug possession, lying to police, driving without a licence and then violating probation are all rich grounds for deportation.

The Southern Poverty Law Centre guy who was quoted saying “I don’t think he had a care in the world when he was making the mistakes that any kid would make" is totally out-to-lunch. The vast, vast, vast majority of American teenagers have never been arrested and this was certainly not normal teenage behaviour.

Rete

As I noted, it depends on the circumstances of the parental relationship. The boy is 17. How long has the father been estranged? Were they estranged at the time the father became a US Citizen?
Definitely, pertinent information has not been included in the article. Also it does not note how he entered the US as a child. Was it legally with inspection? Did he cross the border illegally?

It has long been a subject debated on these forums. And the opinion varies from poster to poster. This plight of teenagers brought to the US illegally as children/infants who were raised in the US and know no other life but this is the reason why we have DREAMERS.

scrubbedexpat099

I read the article and there is nothing to suggest he is a USC, if his father is involved in his life, sounds unlikely you would have thought he would have petitioned for him, he would have had plenty of years to do so.

He has an impressive list of crimes for one so young.

Lion in Winter

It would also seem that the US should have much, much bigger fish to fry in terms of poverty, gangs, drug running and violence. Deporting one teenager who has zero connection to Mexico and is therefore very likely to return anyway and be part of the underground economy would seem to be neither here nor there.

scrubbedexpat099

Presumably his Parents had zero connection to the US when they came. But you make a good case for border security.

Lion in Winter

I don't know and nor do you. But it would seem that the US has more pressing problems than someone caught for personal marijuana possession (which isn't even illegal where you or I live), driving without a license (I think once) and lying about his age.

Focusing on real problems would make more sense.

scrubbedexpat099

Not everybody has such a flippant attitude about drug use by minors. And yes it is illegal for a minor where I live plus of course this is Federal issue not a State one.

carcajou

Yes there were some blanks but the other three siblings were US Citizens and therefore I doubt this one was just forgotten about and fell through the cracks. He did not get citizenship because he wasn't eligible. I suspect the reason it took months to get through the removal proceedings was precisely because multiple lawyers got involved to sort it out.

I don't care that situations like this are "debated" by Usual Suspects on this forum. We would not be discussing this at all had it not been for his multiple arrests and a probation violation. After his first offence, the police actually drove him home and just left him alone. It was only after he became a repeat offender that deportation proceedings began.

Multiple offences resulting in multiple arrests are excellent reasons to deport a non-citizen.

Lion in Winter

Oh FFS, stop being such a pompous ass!

I used weed at 17, just as I did alcohol. And they still do. You can buy it in every high school in the country, and a good deal more. I'm sure my son tried weed, although I didn't press him, and he's doing just fine at university thanks very much.

Tell you what, let's focus on stopping the sale of weapons from the US into Mexico for the cartels, shall we? That's resulting in thousands and thousands of dead people. Wouldn't that be a better use of resources?

carcajou

Drugged-up drivers on the streets without a licence is a real problem.

Nor did the article say it was for personal use.

I also take issue with your flippant attitude towards drugs. It is a real problem that tears apart families.

Lion in Winter

I wouldn't call Rete a "usual suspect" if I were you.

Lion in Winter

Nor did it say he was driving under the influence. Had that been the case, I doubt they would have just taken him home.

Various sources say he was charged with possession, not possession with intent to distribute or any such.

scrubbedexpat099

Fast and Furious? I think Obama got away with that.

Lion in Winter

Indeed. But not a quiet kid smoking a bit of weed. Gangs tear families apart, and kill children and adults, and incarcerate young men. Yes, completely agree. Arresting a person for personal use will do absolutely zero to address that, which is why so many states are now going down the legalization road.

It is also why the US should focus on its exportation of weapons to the cartels.

Edit to add: And "flippant"? No. A friend of my son's was killed in a drive by, by a gang, only a few days after his high school graduation. Had his head blown apart. He wasn't in a gang, but he was with other kids some of whom were and a rival gang did the drive by. Let's focus on that, hmm? Because it's young people like that dying or having their lives ruined to run an illegal business for grown ups making a profit off using kids to sell an illegal substance, and kill and die for it.