Scarlet12's Blog

Sen. John Kerry Intervenes on Behalf of Missing Soldier's Illegal Immigrant Wife

Wednesday, June 20, 2007

by Greg Simmons

WASHINGTON —  Sen. John Kerry, D-Mass., has asked the Department of Homeland Security not to deport the wife of an Army specialist who is missing in Iraq while the search continues for him, his office said Wednesday.

Army Spec. Alex Jimenez has been missing since May 12, when his unit was ambushed by insurgents. His wife, Yaderlin, entered the country illegally in 2001, according to Kerry's office, and the two married in 2004. Procedures to deport Yaderlin Jimenez have begun, although an immigration judge has halted the proceedings while the search for her husband continues. The two live in Lawrence, Mass.

"Under no condition should our country ever deport the spouse of a soldier who is currently serving in uniform abroad," Kerry said, in a statement provided to FOXNews.com.

In the letter to Homeland Security Department Secretary Michael Chertoff, Kerry wrote: "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 (in) 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," the letter continued.

Vincent Morris, a spokesman for Kerry, said the senator is also looking into whether this is a more widespread problem in the Army.

A spokesman for the Department of Homeland Security was not immediately available for comment.

But it remains to be seen if Kerry's efforts will be enough to prevent the deportation of Yaderlin Jimenez, whose maiden name is Hiraldo.

Jimenez family attorney Matthew Kolken, reached briefly at his Buffalo, N.Y., office, said the letter won't change his client's legal status, but "that letter is very good in that they (authorities) have it in their power to make a motion in her case" to reopen the proceedings.

Another immigration attorney said only an act of Congress would ensure the wife's legal status in the United States.

"Unless Congress passes a private bill on her behalf, she is subject to deportation," said Charles Kuck, an immigration lawyer and president-elect of the Washington, D.C.-based American Immigration Lawyers Association. The group has more than 10,000 members.

Morris said Kerry's office is "taking it one step at a time," and could consider other options including a private bill, although this letter seemed to be the fastest method available.

"The senator wanted to put up a bright red flag and say, 'hold on,' " Morris said.

Kuck, speaking with FOXNews.com from his Atlanta office, said he suspects this is a widespread problem among military families. He said he believes that throughout the country, there are between 1 million and 3 million families where one spouse is not a legal resident.

"I get a call like this at least two to three times today: 'What can I do to help my spouse, but he came in illegally?' " Kuck said.

Boston television station WBZ-TV reported that Alex Jimenez, 25, had requested through U.S. immigration services a hardship waiver to gain legal status for his wife.

"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.

Kuck said that immigration laws right now pose a Catch-22 for families like the Jimenezes. The process that they likely went through requires the spouse who needs the waiver to first leave the country, and then go to the U.S. consulate in his or her home country. In this case, the Dominican Republic.

The waivers are rare. Kuck said only a few thousand a year are issued, and they favor Mexicans because of the volume of applications. But because Yaderlin Jimenez had been in the country illegally for longer than one year, she would be forced to stay away from the United States for 10 years once she left the United States, Kuck said.

Kuck said he does not fault Immigration and Customs Services for enforcing the law, but this particular problem penalizes the legal U.S. citizen spouses of the illegal residents. He said the law should be changed so the waiver hearings can be held inside the United States.

"When you're deporting the spouses of U.S. soldiers, I think the law's harsh enough," Kuck said. "Essentially we're punishing U.S. Citizens. That's why it's so essential to have comprehensive immigration reform."

Alex Jimenez and Pvt. Brian Fouty, 19, of Waterford, Mich., remain missing more than a month after the attack on their 10th Mountain Division unit. Their identification cards were found in an Al Qaeda safe house near Baghdad this weekend. A video posted earlier this month by a group affiliated with the terrorist group claimed the men had been killed, but did not provide specific proof of the claim.

The body of one soldier who was captured with Jimenez and Fouty has been found, and four other U.S. soldiers and an Iraqi interpreter were killed in the attack.