Posted by
Catmman on Sunday, August 26, 2007 10:11:54 AM
Oh. My. God!
From the
Oregonian:
A federal immigration judge on Friday allowed a prominent Portland-area union organizer and illegal immigrant to return to Mexico voluntarily instead of deporting him, calling his repeated use of a false identity "unfortunate" and a "tragedy."
The decision was what Jose Alfredo Cobian of Molalla had been hoping for and allows him to leave the country with one less black mark on his immigration record. It also preserves a greater possibility that he can gain permission to return to the United States legally some day.
Cobian entered the United States illegally in 1989. He later purchased the birth certificate of Jose Luis Mendoza, a California boy who had died as a child, and assumed the little boy's name. In 1996, he used the name to apply for a Social Security card and later used the false identity to obtain a U.S. passport as well as legal residency status for his wife, also a Mexican immigrant. His wife was unaware that her status was based on fraudulent documents. When the couple's children were born, they also took on the last name of Mendoza.
The judge made it clear that Cobian's crimes -- especially his use of a false identity to obtain legal residency status for his wife -- were serious. He said deportation would have been the expected outcome.
But he said that he had the legal ability to exercise his discretion in the case and had decided to do so, describing the decision as a "close call." The judge said he wanted to bring finality to the case.
"I do wish you the best, sir," Bennett told Cobian.
I gotta go throw up now...
(H/T:
Hot Air)