Disabilities: A Deterrent To Deportation?

Though Luis Cervantes is an illegal immigrant, he may not have to worry about getting deported. The 30-year-old Omaha resident is autistic and moderately mentally retarded, which may have contributed to the decision to let him stay in the U.S., Omaha.com reports.

Back in August, the Obama administration said that it would stop deportation proceedings for students, military family members and primary caretakers, according to The Washington Times. The move demonstrated the government's intent to focus its attention on illegal immigrants who pose a threat to the public.

"This case-by-case approach will enhance public safety," the article quoted Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano having said. "Immigration judges will be able to more swiftly adjudicate high-priority cases, such as those involving convicted felons."

Although the Omaha Immigration Court judge didn't elaborate on his decision, and the Immigration and Customs Enforcement didn't offer a comment, Cervantes' attorney, Kristin Fearnow, said she's confident that her client was helped by the government's recent directive.

Cervantes, who was arrested for stealing a shopping cart and didn't have identification to offer police, is one of up to 300,000 people eligible to have his deportation case suspended, according to The Washington Times. The number of people with mental problems in ICE detention centers, according to the ACLU, falls somewhere between 7,000 and 9,000 people, The Latin American Herald Tribune reported.

But while Cervantes' case was wrapped up in a matter of weeks -- some immigrants with mental illness aren't as fortunate. Guillermo Gomez-Sanchez, a 50 year-old man diagnosed with paranoid schizophrenia who speaks little English, for example, has languished in detention for five years, the Huffington Post reported.

Gomez-Sanchez was sentenced to two years in prison in 2004 for his involvement in an altercation. His legal status was challenged, but his deportation case landed in administration limbo when a judge ordered a psychiatric evaluation. It wasn't reopened until 2008. Two years later, the ACLU filed a lawsuit in a U.S. Federal District Court in Southern California charging that it had violated federal anti-discrimination laws.

The lack of a clear approach to resolving immigration cases for people with disabilities has left advocacy groups feeling frustrated and angry.

"It is outrageous that our immigration prison system drops individuals with mental disabilities like Mr. Gomez-Sanchez into a legal black hole for years on end," San Riordan, a staff attorney at the ACLU of San Diego & Imperial Counties stated on the organization's website.

The next hearing in Gomez-Sanchez's federal court case is scheduled for Oct. 12.

While organizations, like the ACLU, continue to push for more compassion in the treatment of illegal immigrants with disabilities, politicians who staunchly support deportation demand a more stringent strategy.

Instead of reprioritizing the immigration cases, Rep. Steve King, R-Iowa, the top Republican on the House immigration subcommittee, said that Congress should have "asked for more judges, more prison beds and more prosecutors," so that it could try and deport more immigrants, ProPublica reported.

But, for those who disagree with the King camp, and hope to bring sweeping change to the policies for immigrants with disabilities, even the Cervantes win leaves them feeling uneasy when it comes to the final outcome for such cases.

Because while Cervantes' deportation has been halted, his fate remains uncertain. He does not possess legal status and he could potentially get dragged back into drawn out court proceedings, his lawyer told Omaha.com.

All Fearnow could confirm is that "for now, he is not going to be deported."

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Comments

[dtairtime]

11:34 AM on 10/06/2011

This is really a slippery slope.

I feel very badly for the disabled and as I am slightly disabled I have a great deal of empathy for them.

Where the issue goes south is over resources and sheer numbers. Most people have some understanding that the world has tens of millions of extremely disabled people. Hundreds of millions of otherwise or less disabled. Most diabled are fairly expensive to the government if that government provides services on any scale - such as the US. The more disabled they are the higher the cost to taxpayers.

Knowing this and also knowing our own disabled citizens get less then adequate care already how can we afford to take any more in let alone in any numbers that would have any impact.

Aren't there better methods of dealing with this issue where we can maybe help these people and their governments provide some basic care in their own countries. For instance a severely disabled person would likely cost well north of 50k to have them here to taxpayers. But if they were from a 2nd or 3rd world country they could get care for a small percentage of that amount.

Maybe asking citizens to donate the funding for such a project to help many rather then forcing all citizens to help a few.

[AHMatron]

04:19 PM on 10/05/2011

A few years ago a mentally handicapped man was mistakenly picked up by ICE in Texas and dumped in the middle of Mexico. It turned out that he WAS a U.S. citizen, son of Hispanic Texans and he was basically left to wander in a foreign country uncared-for for months while his frantic parents searched for him here. Special people do need to be handled specially. If you don't believe that, then you lack humanity.

[spytheweb]

12:49 PM on 10/05/2011

So now people with mental problems who are pushed across the border by the Mexican government is our problem? How about any medical condition? Unemployed, uneducated, when will it stop? The US government are such suckers.

[greyhound2]

02:17 PM on 10/05/2011

The Feds have passed immigration laws but refuse to fund enforcement as it costs them nothing. An unenforced law is a joke. It is local county property owners who get stuck with the costs of welfare, healthcare and education for illegal aliens. It's not that they are suckers, they just don't care and can afford to be generous with other peoples money.

[violettefemme]

12:30 PM on 10/05/2011

OK so let me see if I have this right....we want to keep screaming about being the "best", the "richest country" etc etc, all the while making more and more room, and paying more and more of the bills for people who are uneducated, unskilled, disabled and more...is that what we are supposed to make room for?

He belongs back in his home country, with family to care for him, just like most citizens here would have--if they're lucky.

I can't get the services needed for my own autistic child, and they are reduced on a regular basis....but I'm supposed to let my heart bleed all over the place for someone who never should have been present here, and will never have an obligation of any kind, nor be able to repay anything...and his family will just collect and collect while I'm here wringing my hands in despair over what I can not get for my daughter.

Cause other countries rightly have criteria and standards for immigrants. There's both a purpose and a reason to have standards, and it benefits everyone. Just sayin'.

[AHMatron]

04:21 PM on 10/05/2011

Please read my comment above and imagine YOUR autistic child grabbed up in a warehouse raid and attempting to explain her status to officers. Get a heart!

[dtairtime]

11:37 AM on 10/06/2011

You get a heart.

You tell this CITIZEN that her child who needs help and has a RIGHT to that help that she now needs to share a ever decreasing slice of pie with an never ending foreign population!

If you had a heart you would use YOUR money until you had no more left to help these people you elevate above citizens.

[MT59501]

11:23 AM on 10/05/2011

Remember, 14 TRILLION dollars in debt . How much can the American taxpayer (I'm talking middle class) afford to spend to make life better for people who have come here illegally and in this case(s), thousands of people who will need free medical care for the rest of their lives (as they can't afford to pay for it themselves)? Empathy is one thing. This is just stupid.

[BlairCase]

10:21 AM on 10/05/2011

Health care in Mexcio, the prime source of illegal immigration, is very good and in many places excellent. It's generally considered comparable to health care in the United States , and it's mouch more affordable. Americans routinely cross the border for treatment in Mexican medical clinics because it's high quality and cheap. Some California insurers sell health insurance policies that require members to go to Mexico for health care where costs are 40% lower. Mexico also has mental health clincs, of course. Ethnic barriers is an acknowledge problem in treating patients with mental disabilities. They are probably best treated in their home countries.