Illegal minors: Some came ‘accompanied by a stranger’
“I was introduced to a man I’d never seen. He held my hand, as I boarded an airplane for the first time.” This is how Jose Antonio Vargas (Jose), a Pulitzer prize-winning Filipino journalist, described his departure for the United States. It was 1993 and he was 12 years old at the time.
Fast-forward to 2011: Jose revealed publicly that he was an undocumented immigrant.
Ordinarily, young Filipino travelers are accompanied by their parents or guardians on a flight to the United States. This is not, however, always the case. What happens when young immigrants enter fraudulently, unaccompanied by their “real” parents and are left in America for many years without documentation?
Paul was 15 years old when his mother told him that he was going to the United States for a vacation. He was a junior in high school and could not contain his excitement. Unknown to him, his mother paid a consultant/agent a significant sum of money to obtain a US visa for Paul.
Just like Jose, Paul was met at the airport by the consultant/agent and was introduced to a couple. His mother exhorted Paul to follow instructions from this couple who would accompany him to the United States. Paul trusted his mother and obediently accepted whatever “guidance” the couple gave him.
A few minutes prior to landing in the United States, Paul was told that he should henceforth answer to the name “Rob.” He was shown a passport for “Rob” but with his photo on it. Paul, while he found it strange, did not question the change. After all, he was very excited and looked forward to meeting his cousins who were to take him to different tourist destinations in California. Upon his arrival in the United States, Paul and the couple who accompanied him presented their travel documents with their visas to the immigration officer. They were admitted. As expected, Paul was met by his cousins at the airport. They took him to their Los Angeles home. Paul had no knowledge of what happened to the “Rod” passport that he used to enter the United States. He last saw it in the possession of the couple who accompanied him.
After a few weeks in the United States, Paul began to realize that he was not going home. He was not averse to staying as he preferred to continue his studies in the United States with his cousins. But Paul would also face the fact that he could not apply to enter certain colleges because he did not have the proper legal documents. Nevertheless, he finished his studies at a city college. After graduation, he could not get a job because he lacked the necessary authorization to work. What happens to Paul now? Will he be deported back to the Philippines? Why are some parents sending their children abroad without ensuring that their children’s immigration papers are in place?
Liability of minors for fraud
After many years of residing in the United States, those who arrived as minors with fraudulent travel documents and visas find it difficult to adjust to lawful permanent resident status. Current US immigration laws provide only limited ways to gain legal status. In June 2012, the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (commonly called the “DACA”) allowed undocumented youths who arrived before 2007 and who are between the ages 15 to 31 to obtain permission to work and travel under the DACA policy of President Obama.
Those who are not eligible for DACA will have to find other options to legalize their stay. But the bigger issue is whether children like Paul, who entered with an assumed name, may be prevented from obtaining legal status because of the fraud that was committed in gaining entry to the United States.
Generally, the US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) imputes the parents’ fraud on the minor children. There are precedent cases that USCIS uses as basis to deny visas because of the fraud. In 2008, the case of Malik v. Mukasey (7th Circuit) imputed the fraud of a parent to a 17-year-old child, depriving the latter of the ability to obtain legal status. There are, however, cases from other federal circuit courts that hold a contrary ruling. This means that the issue is still open to argument, depending on the circumstances of each case.
Undocumented children
Unlike Mexico and the Central American countries, the Philippines is halfway across the world. While circumstances differ, there is one thing in common among these undocumented children: the actions of their parents are fueled, in large part, by a desire to do what they believe is in their children’s best interest. As in the case of Jose Antonio Vargas, he recounted that his mother wanted to give him a “better” life. But regardless of the reason behind such actions, it is clear that the minor children do not have the capacity to make these life-altering decisions for themselves.
There could be a distinction among the unaccompanied children at the US-Mexican border and the innocent “accompanied by strangers” children of Filipinos who were transported here. Many of those coming from Central America are escaping from “life or death” situations in their homeland. The young Filipinos are oftentimes victims of unscrupulous agents/consultants who prey on innocent children. Unfortunately, both are suffering because of the unintended consequences of decisions made by their parents. Both are vulnerable to being deported back to their homeland.
(Atty. Lourdes S. Tancinco may be reached at [email protected], (02) 7211963, www.tancinco.com or find her at facebook.com/tancincolaw)
