Wife of 7th Special Forces Group vet faces deportation under tighter immigration rule

[GMDino]

No one respects the troops more than the Trump Administration!   

https://www.militarytimes.com/news/your-military/2018/02/28/wife-of-7th-special-forces-group-vet-faces-deportation-under-tighter-immigration-rules/

Quote:A Virginia immigration court on Monday could decide to deport the wife of an Army 7th Special Forces Group veteran, despite provisions in the law that allow her to remain in the United States.


Retired Sgt. 1st Class Bob Crawford, 52, and Elia, 44, married in 2001 when he was still on active duty and deploying regularly with 7th Group to conduct counter-narcotics operations and training missions in Latin America.


Elia illegally crossed into the U.S. in 1999, after she fled the devastation of Hurricane Mitch, which killed 7,000 people in her native Honduras.

After they married, the Crawfords filled out paperwork to seek legal residency for Elia and learned she was under deportation orders.


“We’ve been fighting this for years,” Bob Crawford said, listing the filings and attorneys the family has pursued to get Elia legal status.




The pair has two sons, ages 12 and 9, and Elia has been the foundation that has allowed Bob to keep deploying — as many as two or three times a year — first as an active duty soldier and now as a Defense Department contractor.


“My wife supported me the whole time I was gone — she ran the house,” Crawford said. “Behind every good soldier is a good woman.”

Crawford hasn’t discussed his family’s predicament publicly before. He decided to now because he is fearful that the administrative limbo she is caught up in will force the family to split.






Spouses of active-duty troops or veterans are eligible for “Parole in Place,” or PIP, a relief that allows spouses, children and parents of active duty, National Guard and Reserve troops and veterans who entered the U.S. illegally to remain in the country and pursue a green card.


The law was put in place in 2007 to come to the aid of Yaderlin Hiraldo, the wife of Army Sgt. Alex Jimenez. Hiraldo entered the U.S. illegally, and Jimenez was killed in Iraq before they could complete her green card request.


The PIP provision has been “extraordinarily important for military families,” said Leticia Corona, the Crawfords’ attorney. “It’s a tremendous amount of stress for military personnel in general who deploy to dangerous places to be worried about their loved ones who are undocumented back home.”


That policy has not helped the Crawfords, because they can’t file for the relief while removal proceedings remain against her, and the Department of Homeland Security won’t clear Elia Crawford’s order.


“The government won’t terminate that removal so she can get the PIP,” Bob Crawford said. “So she’s caught between ICE and DHS.”


In recent hearings, the Crawfords have requested the DHS removal proceedings be cleared so they could proceed with the paperwork to be granted PIP. Getting the orders cleared in earlier cases had been fairly procedural, Corona said. That’s changed under President Donald Trump’s administration, which has taken a harder line on immigration and deportation issues.


In late December, DHS declined the Crawfords’ request.


“They provided no reason as to why they came to that decision,” Corona said.


There was no one immediately available at DHS for comment.


Bob Crawford, who was honorably discharged in 2006 after 20 years of service, including in the 75th Ranger Regiment, a deployment during the Gulf War, and then serving in Latin America with 7th Group, said he has watched over the past year as both Defense Secretary Jim Mattis and new Army Secretary Mark Esper have talked about the importance of military families. He said it’s a juxtaposition to what he and other military families facing deportation are going through.


“I know the military takes care of families — because I lived it for 20 years,” Crawford said. “I just feel, right now, we’re caught in this limbo.”


Crawford continues to deploy in his contractor role to support the military. He is worried about Elia’s safety if the government decides she must return to Honduras.


“Honduras is one of the most dangerous countries in the world, especially for a female if they know she’s a military dependent,” he said.


The Crawfords return to an immigration court in Arlington, Virginia, Monday to see if there are other options available to them to get the deportation orders cleared. The family is fearful.


“This is kind of my last hope,” Bob Crawford said. “I don’t know what’s going to happen.”



This story has been edited to clarify that deportation proceedings are now identified as removal proceedings.

[BmorePat87]

Terrible. You attack hard working, honest people who contribute to this country because you're playing to an uneducated, ignorant, and racist base.

So many of them have been trying to go through a complicated system to get right.

[StLucieBengal]

She should leave then file for the relief. They can’t make the deportation order go away.

Take the hit for a couple of months. Will be cheaper than paying an attorney to keep going to court. Especially when his only job is to delay the inevitable

Two years of irresponsibility is costing her.

[GMDino]

(03-05-2018, 05:36 PM)StLucieBengal Wrote: She should leave then file for the relief.  They can’t make the deportation order go away.

Take the hit for a couple of months.   Will be cheaper than paying an attorney to keep going to court.  Especially when his only job is to delay the inevitable

Two years of irresponsibility is costing her.

You didn't read the article or have no soul.

I got it 50/50 on that one.

[StLucieBengal]

(03-05-2018, 05:46 PM)GMDino Wrote: You didn't read the article or have no soul.

I got it 50/50 on that one.

I read the article.

There is zero reason to be emotional over this issue. She broke the law prior to being married. She now has to pay that bill. Once she pays it then file for relief and come back.

Sorry but she has only herself to blame and for that she should take responsibility to answer for those choices.

[fredtoast]

(03-05-2018, 04:10 PM)BmorePat87 Wrote: Terrible. You attack hard working, honest people who contribute to this country because you're playing to an uneducated, ignorant, and racist base.

So many of them have been trying to go through a complicated system to get right.

"Hey, somebody is doing the raping!"

[fredtoast]

(03-05-2018, 07:18 PM)StLucieBengal Wrote: She broke the law prior to being married.   She now has to pay that bill.

There is no "bill to pay".  There is no reason for her to have to leave the country.

Here is the law


Spouses of active-duty troops or veterans are eligible for “Parole in Place,” or PIP, a relief that allows spouses, children and parents of active duty, National Guard and Reserve troops and veterans who entered the U.S. illegally to remain in the country and pursue a green card.

[StLucieBengal]

(03-05-2018, 07:33 PM)fredtoast Wrote: There is no "bill to pay".  There is no reason for her to have to leave the country.

Here is the law


Spouses of active-duty troops or veterans are eligible for “Parole in Place,” or PIP, a relief that allows spouses, children and parents of active duty, National Guard and Reserve troops and veterans who entered the U.S. illegally to remain in the country and pursue a green card.

Ok... obviously that isn’t entirely accurate since...

Quote:they can’t file for the relief while removal proceedings remain against her,

[*Nately120*]

If my wife had to be thrown out of the country for the good of us all I wouldn't fight it.

[GMDino]

(03-05-2018, 07:18 PM)StLucieBengal Wrote: I read the article.  

There is zero reason to be emotional over this issue.   She broke the law prior to being married.   She now has to pay that bill.   Once she pays it then file for relief and come back.  

Sorry but she has only herself to blame and for that she should take responsibility to answer for those choices.

Not about being "emotional" Spock...it's about human decency.

Oh wait...I guess you'd have to know about that too.

My bad.

How about the ability to adjust rules for special circumstances?  Better?  She's not a freeloader, not a gang member, etc.  

Ah crap...she's still brown skinned.  My bad.

[StLucieBengal]

(03-05-2018, 07:52 PM)GMDino Wrote: Not about being "emotional" Spock...it's about human decency.

Oh wait...I guess you'd have to know about that too.

My bad.

How about the ability to adjust rules for special circumstances?  Better?  She's not a freeloader, not a gang member, etc.  

Ah crap...she's still brown skinned.  My bad.

Why do you default to skin colour?

Everyone can almost fall into “special circumstances”. Yes it sucks for them but the law makers have the option of changing the laws. It’s not me being heartless.... it would be the Democrats and progressive gop members who are blocking progress on an immigration deal. Send your complaints to chuck Schumer and dick durbin.

[GMDino]

(03-05-2018, 08:01 PM)StLucieBengal Wrote: Why do you default to skin colour?

Everyone can almost fall into “special circumstances”.   Yes it sucks for them but the law makers have the option of changing the laws.   It’s not me being heartless.... it would be the Democrats and progressive gop members who are blocking progress on an immigration deal.   Send your complaints to chuck Schumer and dick durbin.

Or, and this is just spit-balling, the GOP could have passed a bipartisan bill anytime in the last 8 years.

Or, again just a wild idea, the POTUS could lose his rigid member about immigrants and accept the deal they were working on without worrying more about his vanity wall.

But sure..."progressives".

[BmorePat87]

(03-05-2018, 07:18 PM)StLucieBengal Wrote: There is zero reason to be emotional over this issue. 

Agreed, there's zero reason to use the emotional argument of "she broke the law and I don't like that" to justify hurting our country. 

[*bfine32*]

Could folks address the issue and not attack someone that has an opinion counter to theirs?

Of course very few on this forum understands the dedication that comes with being the spouse of someone that goes through numerous deployments, but the law is the law. What do folks want Trump to do: continue to kick the can down the road or force Congress' hand?

I feel those that are upset about this current state would be just as upset if an exception were made simply because she's the wife of a Soldier.

[Dill]

(03-05-2018, 07:50 PM)Nately120 Wrote: If my wife had to be thrown out of the country for the good of us all I wouldn't fight it.

[Dill]

(03-05-2018, 03:46 PM)GMDino Wrote: No one respects the troops more than the Trump Administration!   

https://www.militarytimes.com/news/your-military/2018/02/28/wife-of-7th-special-forces-group-vet-faces-deportation-under-tighter-immigration-rules/


In late December, DHS declined the Crawfords’ request.

Need to find out why.  

[*Nately120*]

(03-05-2018, 08:33 PM)bfine32 Wrote: Could folks address the issue and not attack someone that has an opinion counter to theirs?

Of course very few on this forum understands the dedication that comes with being the spouse of someone that goes through numerous deployments, but the law is the law. What do folks want Trump to do: continue to kick the can down the road or force Congress' hand?

I feel those that are upset about this current state would be just as upset if an exception were made simply because she's the wife of a Soldier.

In my defense, my bitter scoff comes from the notion that a country that decided to elect either Trump or another Clinton into its highest office could say "the law is the law" with a straight face.  Yes, the law is indeed the law, no exceptions...and we have Saint Donald on the ready to enforce it.  

[Sociopathicsteelerfan]

(03-05-2018, 08:33 PM)bfine32 Wrote: Could folks address the issue and not attack someone that has an opinion counter to theirs?

Of course very few on this forum understands the dedication that comes with being the spouse of someone that goes through numerous deployments, but the law is the law. What do folks want Trump to do: continue to kick the can down the road or force Congress' hand?

I feel those that are upset about this current state would be just as upset if an exception were made simply because she's the wife of a Soldier.

Well stated on all fronts.

[StLucieBengal]

(03-05-2018, 08:05 PM)GMDino Wrote: Or, and this is just spit-balling, the GOP could have passed a bipartisan bill anytime in the last 8 years.

Or, again just a wild idea, the POTUS could lose his rigid member about immigrants and accept the deal they were working on without worrying more about his vanity wall.

But sure..."progressives".

Obama didn’t try and pass immigration. They wanted to keep things as is.

Trump’s position is widely supported by the majority of Americans. Denis need to get on board and let’s toughen up the immigration policy.

[StLucieBengal]

(03-05-2018, 08:33 PM)bfine32 Wrote: Could folks address the issue and not attack someone that has an opinion counter to theirs?

Of course very few on this forum understands the dedication that comes with being the spouse of someone that goes through numerous deployments, but the law is the law. What do folks want Trump to do: continue to kick the can down the road or force Congress' hand?

I feel those that are upset about this current state would be just as upset if an exception were made simply because she's the wife of a Soldier.

Great post top to bottom.