Harvard student won’t face deportation
ICE defers action on illegal resident’s case
You can read more here:Eric Balderas, a 19-year-old Harvard biology student who became an international celebrity last week after being arrested for being in the United States unlawfully, is no longer facing deportation to Mexico, officials said last night.
The US Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency informed US Senator Richard Durbin of Illinois late yesterday that it would not pursue Balderas’s deportation, said Max Gleischman, a spokesman for Durbin. The Illinois Democrat had lobbied the agency on behalf of Balderas.
The soft-spoken Harvard sophomore’s arrest on June 7 as he tried to board an airplane back to Boston after visiting his mother in San Antonio triggered international outcry, support from Harvard officials, and a Facebook page with more than 5,500 people lobbying for him.
Balderas’s friends and supporters cheered the news last night. His parents had brought him here from Mexico when he was 4, and he was raised in San Antonio, where he was valedictorian of Highlands High School. He had feared being deported to a country he barely remembered, and hoped to become a cancer researcher one day. Balderas could not be reached for comment late last night after the decision was made.
“My reaction was hallelujah; I was just absolutely thrilled,’’ said his former history teacher, Jan Archer, in San Antonio. “It’s like somebody up there understands the situation and that he’s really a great person and the kind of people we want here in this country.’’
ICE spokesman Brian P. Hale confirmed in a statement that Balderas had been granted deferred action, a discretionary authority that federal immigration officials can use to halt a deportation based on the merits of an individual’s case.
An official with the Department of Homeland Security, who requested anonymity because he was not authorized to speak on the matter, said it was not immediately clear how long Balderas’s deferred action would last. Homeland Security oversees the immigration agency.
Balderas will be allowed to stay in the United States for a period of time, apply for a work permit, and continue his studies at Harvard. He could apply to renew the deferred action when it expires, the official said.
In the past, ICE has delayed the deportations of college students and other young people such as Walter Lara of Florida, a former college student from Argentina who won a temporary reprieve after a massive Internet-fueled campaign to prevent his deportation.
Balderas, who is spending the summer conducting research, was detained while trying to board an airplane in Texas using his Harvard student identification and his Mexican consular card. He had lost his passport from Mexico, and was ordered to appear in court for possible deportation.
His detention thrust him into the center of a national debate over illegal immigration. The Obama administration has pointed to his case and others as reason for Congress to create a path to legal residency for the estimated 12 million immigrants in the United States illegally.
But critics say it is unfair to allow people who broke the law to jump ahead of those who have waited for years to come to the United States legally. They say the economy still needs to find jobs for people who are US citizens or legal immigrants.
In April, Arizona passed the most restrictive immigration law in the country, allowing police to question the immigration status of anyone they reasonably suspect is here without papers.
Last month, the Massachusetts Senate followed suit with a battery of amendments that sought to restrict illegal immigrants’ access to government benefits and other services.
In an interview Thursday, Balderas appeared exhausted, tense, and fearful of being deported. After his arrest, he said, he felt helpless and even suicidal. He said he was grateful for the outpouring of support, but was eager just to work in the laboratory for the summer and to return to his studies.
“I can’t wait until this is past,’’ he said. “I just like being down in the lab, doing my thing.’’
Friends said he probably would continue his studies at Harvard and keep fighting for the Dream Act, proposed federal legislation that would allow immigrant youths in his predicament to apply for legal residency. Durbin is a cosponsor of the Dream Act, which has been pending since 2001.
http://www.boston.com/news/local/massac ... portation/
On the one hand:
1. By all accounts this is a splendid young man; bright, hardworking...someone who almost certainly would be a valuable asset to our society...just the sort of person we should want to have as a citizen of this country.
2.It's not his fault he's here illegally; he was brought here by his parents at the age of 4, and has been thoroughly "Americanized" his entire life.
On the other hand:
1.The guy is here illegally, whether it's his fault or not.
2. The fact that he is taking up a position at the most prestigious institution for higher learning in the country means that someone else, just as worthy, who has a legal right to be here, isn't getting that opportunity. How is that right? (this is even worse if he's receiving any tax payer funded student aid money)
3. If exceptions are made for "worthy" cases like this, isn't it "the thin edge of of the wedge"? Won't making exceptions in cases like this create enormous pressure to simply "open the floodgates"?
I have what I think might be a solution here that can address both sets of issues:
1.Let him finish up his summer program, but also let him know that at that point he will be expected to leave the country, at least temporarily so he needs to make the arrangements to do so.
2. Let Harvard then admit him as a foreign student. (No problem here, there are plenty of children of mid east potentates matriculating there...Harvard has plenty of foreign students attending on legal visas)
3. Grant him a student visa as a citizen of Mexico so he can complete his education. (While he's pursuing his education, he can also begin the process to obtain residency status, and eventually citizenship)
4. Let Harvard and his supporters raise the funds to cover the costs of his education. (This should not be a big problem since this is a celebrated case, and he has a lot of well heeled supporters.)
It seems to me that this approach, (as opposed to the one the government has adopted, which appears to simply ignore the law) has the virtue of allowing a good and worthy person pursue his goals, while simultaneously upholding the law.
