Well Kris Craig, you are exactly the type that should not open his mouth since you obviously did not read and/or comprehend the article.

She drives without a drivers license, has no SS card, and most likely no car insurance. How does that grab you? Just the person I want to hit me in my car and take no responsibility!!! And that you assess to have the same right as I to stay in this country? What is the matter with you?

She had plenty of time to get her illegal status in order in the last, lets say at least 5 years. But no, her husband admits to having joined the military to gain an edge on the process. Not my kind of dude to trust with a gun. He clearly admits to an ulterior motive for having joined the Military. So please, don't give me this BS that he will be better prepared to fulfill his mission knowing that his illegal wife and conspiracy to keep her here are making life easy for him.

Sneaky little bastards using all the angles to circumvent the law! Not nice.

Willy, a couple of overzealous cops committed crimes. That happens in every state for a multitude of reasons. They need to prosecuted. It doesn't mean the entire system or state is crooked.

I have to say. The biggest reason that we have so many Mexicans in this country in the first place is because of farmers, Construction company's and many other company's that want cheep labor. Cheep labor means more money for them. That is a Rep battle cry. We have seen this in the past several years. Farmers In California and other big farm states. They can't get anyone to pick there crops. So it seems the Rep's have shot themselves in the foot again. So the very people that caused the problem in the first place want the Dem's to clean up there mess again. We and I mean all of us have caused this problem in some way or another. We want these people here to do the work we don't want to do. Then they must go home when the work is done. Something seems wrong with that. I think AZ, TX, and any other boarder state should close off the boarders themselves. They say it puts a stress on Education, Medicare, and everything else. Why don't they spend that money closing off the boarder?

To Willy_Wonka787:

Yup, your name says it all.

Aztec, I agree 100%. The Police is not the little girl's granny. They are there to enforce the law and if the lady did not produce her spousal ID card, how whould they now that she has a special status ? Both spouses are whining that the Police have no feelings. Wake up ! This has nothing to do with being nice, but with what's legal and what is not. And the man's explanation that he joined the Army in order to help along his wife's case is - BALONEY !!!!!

Neither of them seem to have an appeciation of the real issues in this case; they take it personnally, like little children.

soaz

But liberal SOP is to believe the illegal before law enforcment.

Everyday you hear about a cop being arrested. Just yesterday, an orange county sheriff (12 year officer) being arrested for breaking into cars and stealing stuff. He was on duty and in uniform. His office had set up a sting because of tips. He has been doing it for a long time. Another sheriff, same department, was arrested for stealing two bottles of wine from a 7-11. I could go on and on. So yea, I would take what the cop said with a grain of salt.

Yes, we all know law enforcement spokespersons, in communicating with the press on issues potentially embarrassing to the department, always tell the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth, regardless of the amount of criticism that might flow against the department. NOT! You really think under the circumstances she wouldn't show her military ID? What did she have to lose, particularly given the respect typically shown by law enforcement toward members of the armed forces and their families? Think about that in a open-minded and balanced way, and recognize that the sheriff's office isn't actually denying that she showed her military ID (only that the report is silent on the subject) and you will logically conclude that it is more likely that she did show her military ID than not. Anyone who concludes otherwise based solely on what is in the article would appear to be just another RWNJ who wants to make up their own facts to support a racist agenda.

Welcome to the world of SB1070. Where is the Dream Act when we need it?

"Green said her detention runs counter to an immigration policy the Obama administration introduced in 2010 called “parole in place,” which allows illegal immigrants who are spouses, parents and children of American citizens serving in the military to complete the process of becoming legal residents without having to leave the U.S. An ICE memo at the time said the new approach was aimed at keeping military families intact and addressing Defense Department concerns about "soldier safety and readiness for duty."

"According to her lawyer, Sanchez came to the U.S. illegally at age 4 with her parents and has no criminal record. Garcia was also born in Mexico but is a U.S. citizen. The couple were married four years ago."

"Garcia and the lawyer both said the couple was in the process of applying for legal status for Sanchez. Garcia said he enlisted in the military in part because he thought it might help his wife's case."

People need to learn to read.

You are clueless. You don't know what you are talking about. There is no way, there is no "process", there is no legal pathway for her to "become legal". There is literally no way, none at all, for her to "achieve legal immigration status".

I know quite a few people who got married to illegals, went to a hearing, paid a small fine and everything is fine and legal. So you my good sir are lying through your teeth!!!! They easily could have turned her in and did everything while he was here but they tried being sneaky about, now they are having much deserved troubles...

Three little words....no driver's license.

I agree with the less-than-sympathetic posters here. The woman was illegal, made a traffic violation, drove without a license, and didn't have a SSN. She may or may not have shown her military ID to the cop, who may or may not have known about the military spouse exemption. It also reads as if her husband joined the military just to keep her from being deported and to hopefully speed up her naturalization.

Military members and spouses are not legally required to get driver's licenses in the states where they are stationed, especially if it is a different state then their home state. That's why the military spouse's ID is important.

My "day job" involves helping individuals to legalize their status in the United States. Yes, it is correct to say that she has no pathway to become legal. Since May 1, 2001, the law is that spouses of U.S. citizens cannot legalize their status unless they were "duly inspected and admitted," that is, they came to an airport, presented their genuine documents to an officer, and thereby were allowed to enter the United States upon showing a valid entry visa and a passport. People like Ms. Sanchez who came into the U.S.A. without any documents (referred to as "EWI" or "entry without inspection") cannot legalize even if they are married to U.S. citizens, unless they can establish that they are covered by the subsection of the immigration law that expired on April 30, 2001, which allowed such individuals to legalize through payment of a special thousand-dollar penalty. The requirements for "grandfathering" under this subsection of the immigration law are quite technical, and most of those who are EWI in the U.S.A. (without documents, without a lawful entry) are not able to legalize their status. Most of these individuals, who came to the United States as very young children and call this their only home, were hoping for passage of the DREAM Act. They were not responsible for the choices of their parents to illegally cross the border, and most are law-abiding and taxpaying (through use of a legitimate taxpayer ID number).

Sneaky, read it again they have submitted documents they do have an attorney working on it, her only fault was because of the stupid laws not allowing her to get a drivers license. For whatever reason she is married to a United States soldier that is awaiting deployment. Thank you for your service PFC Garcia, doesn't matter why you joined you're doing the same job as everyone else, I too was an infantry man and I have a CIB that I will cherish all my life. Came here as a child, 4 years old, what is wrong with you morons that thinks she is a criminal. The crime has been against her, I'm sure she didn't make the decision to come here. There ought to be a way for these young people that know no other country or culture to have a path to citizenship that doesn't require being sent back to a country they know nothing about and waiting years to come HOME.

Actually her PARENTS were the criminals, she is guilty by association. The whole family has benefited from being here....illegally. I have nothing against immigration....legal immigration. No driver's license and poor driving skills to boot (or poor choices in driving which seems about the same).

WillyWonka ...

You are clueless. You don't know what you are talking about. There is no way, there is no "process", there is no legal pathway for her to "become legal"

From the ABA website:

http://www.americanbar.org/content/dam/aba/events/legal_assistance_military_personnel/ls_lamp_cle_nov11_session3_parole_in_place.authcheckdam.pdf

That's known as a "clue".

Misscreant Yes, but she still needed a valid driver's license from some state to operate a motor vehicle. Apparently she did not have one. The dependent's ID card is mainly used for identification purposes in obtaining health care at military bases, admission to military PX/BXs and commissaries and other benefits due to military members and dependents.

It does not act as a driver's license.

Misscreant

Military members and spouses are not legally required to get driver's licenses in the states where they are stationed, especially if it is a different state then their home state. That's why the military spouse's ID is important.

However they ARE REQUIRED to have SOME STATES Drivers License. She does not have ANY legal license.. Not in the USA, Not in Mexico. She was driving without a license. THAT is an arrestable offense. The PD followed the law. Upon learning she was not in the USA legally, they handed her over to border patrol... Again all within the LAW. Now once BP had her there was a screw up in handing her over to ICE under the directives in place.

Neither a Military ID nor a Dependent ID is a License to Drive nor is it a license to violate any laws of the area one is in.

I know that. I just wanted to illustrate why the spouse ID is important.

Great, another illegal driving without car insurance! Like every other illegal in this country, she should have been deported. I don't give a crap that her husband is in the military - go ahead and discharge him. I'm not for our military personnel harboring illegals. Doesn't say much for their character either.

What her parent(s) did to her by bringing her here illegally is their problem! Unfortunately, once they are here they become very much our problem. Our school systems where illegal numbers are high (example - Los Angeles Unified) are in the toilet - drop out rate 60%. And our local hospitals are going bankrupt due to their use of the emergency rooms.

I don't care what it costs - I support every illegal being deported to their country of origin. In the long run, the cost would be nothing compared to what they cost us by being here!

It does not sound like the police did anything wrong. She committed a traffic infraction and was driving without a license or any other ID. Apparently she did NOT present a military spouse ID to the officer who stopped her, it was only presented later to the ICE officials after she was in their custody. Even without the fact that she was illegal, she was subject to arrest for driving without a license. Military and spouses may not be required to have a license from the state they are stationed in, but they are still required to have a valid license from some state.

This guy joined the military to try and improve his illegal wife's chances of getting permanent resident status and eventually citizenship. Not exactly a noble motive for joining the armed forces. He will probably get out as soon as his wife becomes legal. Of course for some reason they had failed to get her a visa to remain in the country which she is eligible for while her residency status as pending, probably to avoid the expense of paying the required fees.

This article is ridiculously biased. They bring up the kids birthday to try and invoke sympathy for this illegal. Then they conveniently forget to mention that she did not provide the military spouse ID to the police officer, that is unless you think that several officers are all lying and like to create problems for no reason. I do not know many cops that would purposely hassle a military spouse, most have a respect for those who serve and would not create problems for their families while they are deployed. I fully believe that this woman did not have her military spouse ID with her, or at least did not show it to the police officers. Under those circumstances, the police did exactly what they were supposed to do. In the end the system worked - her status was verified and she as released. If you do not carry the proper ID with you and it causes you some inconvenience, you have no one to blame but yourself. I certainly hope that they will proceed on the case against her for driving without a license or insurance. If she had hit someone, instead of just committing a traffic infraction, the other person or their insurance would have been stuck with the bill because she had no insurance and probably would not have the money to make good on damages.

Sam: There are laws in place to adjust your status if you are here illegally and you married a US Citizen. The catch 22 on that piece of legislation is that in order to be able to claim that benefit (and it is not a petite fine, for you have to disburse something in the realm of 2 to 3 grands) is that in order to claim that adjustment you have to have entered the US legally. If she came with her family and entered illegally (completely different from the person who ovestayed their visa) she does not qualify for adjustment of status. The same exception runs for people who come on a ship (crews), and stay after the departure of their ship. The trick to that adjustment is 'entered legally' in the US. If you came with a tourist visa and overstayed your visa, or you came with a waiver and overstayed the time granted you qualify because you entered the US legally.

And if she did show her military spouse ID, whcih she says she did, the deputy violated the law under the color of authority.

If she had the card in her posession (which she would have needed to get onto base or buy anything on base which the story does say thats where she was headed to) then there is no excuse and the husband needs to file a law suit against that deputy and department and everyone involved who violated the law.

To the other idiot who said she should have been deported no matter who she was married to, your butt needs to be deported to Afghanistan, at least her husband has the balls to fight for this country while you don't...

Just because a police officer didn't write it down in his report doesn't mean it didn't happen. Cops leave out little details all the time in order to hasten the completion of the paperwork.

I believe that the woman DID show her military ID card because if she could not produce a driver's license, the cop would have asked if she had ANY photo ID. Military people carry their ID's almost all the time not only so they can get on base and shop, but because the card also serves as proof of health insurance in case of accident or emergency. We're used to showing it all the time for stuff.

To get a military ID card, "Typically, you will need your marriage license, birth certificate, photo identification, and Department of Defense Form 1172 (application form) to apply for an ID card." So this woman could have gotten a military ID card without a driver's license or SSN. I'm not sure what she used for photo ID, but maybe she used an ID card from her work or her bus pass.

While it was correct for the police to detain her and the car because she didn't have a driver's license, she should have been released quickly with a citation and a warning not to drive. My goodness, she had her little 3yo daughter with her.

Also, for the mistaken comment above: military people may not have to get a driver's license in their state (laws vary by state), but they DO have to have a valid license from another state to drive legally.

Bet the police officers were racist Republicans...

MilSpouse said:

The article also states that if you are married to a military member you could apply for you visa and still stay in the US. So there was really no excuse for them not getting the situation taken care of. It was unfortunate that this happen when her daughter was having her birthday but she should have gotten her paperwork in order before then.

See this clip from the article:

Garcia and the lawyer both said the couple was in the process of applying for legal status for Sanchez. Garcia said he enlisted in the military in part because he thought it might help his wife's case.

Just FYI for people who have never had to deal with USCIS; they are backlogged on applications and it takes ages for them to get anything done. In 2010 they were just getting to applications filed by immigrants from Mexico in 1994. That's a wait of 16 years.

The next most-backlogged country, China, has a wait of 10 years.

It can take the better part of two DECADES to get an application filed from visa to naturalization. You can do everything you can to get your paperwork in order but you're only going to go as fast as the government will go and that's exceedingly slow.

From visa application to green card costs about $5200. That's the average annual salary for a person from Mexico. Now, if they want to come here legally they save up, they apply for the visa, they come here, they wait the six months, then apply for permanent residency. And then they wait. And wait. For 16 years. Their paperwork expires but they are still waiting for word from USCIS on whether their applications have been approived so they wait. Then ICE knocks on the door and deports them for being 'illegal' when all they are is 'undocumented'--in limbo while they wait for USCIS to get their applications processed. Their houses/cars/bank accounts/personal posessions are confiscated as civil asset forfeiture and they are deported back to Mexico, right back where they started, minus the money they saved for the immigration fees, minus all the posessions they have accumulated during the time they lived and worked in the US, and even in some cases without their children, which they had in America while they were waiting for USCIS to process their paperwork.

Given all that, do you see why some risk everything to try to slip in illegally? Why do it the legal way when you're just going to end up right back where you started--minus a year's income and your children?

SHocking how many people seem to understand so little about immigration.

She married an American citizen. She has right to eventually become a citizen. That is the law. However, IT TAKES TIME.

amazing how few caught this and thus, say "they could have done it before he left "they had plenty of time". LOL!

the DID do it before he left. they FILED the paperwork...as a citizen he has a RIGHT for his spouse to eventually be a citizen BUT they might hassel her first BECAUSE she was an illegal. IT takes YEARS for some cases to wind their way forward. It USED TO BE FASTER, but in today's climate...after 9/11 at least...it got slower. It took people I know nine months in the 90's and in around 2003 it was taking 3 years...so who knows how long? It's not quick. AND THEY DID IT.

What they were mad at is that they threatened to deport her. She is supposed to be allowed to stay here and complete her process of immigration, as a military spouse. I believe her that she showed the ID that she was a spouse (she wasn't trying to get out of a ticket...she wasn't thinking it counted as a liscense that's just unclear reporting...she was trying to NOT have the police report her to immigration for deportation BECAUSE she is a military spouse. That is proper.). I am SURE she carries that ID with her because it is the ONE thing she has that gives her any leverage and I am SURE she showed it at fisrt sign of trouble. If you think this through it seems IMPOSSIBLE TO BELIEVE she did not show it. Unless she forgot it at home.

Occums razor. The officer either didn't know the policy with the military spouse ID not to send them to immigration, OR he didn't care. EIther way he wants to cover his butt and feels it's a small lie to cover it. I grew up respecting police officers until, as a law abiding adult, I had to tangentially deal with them as a citizen. There are plenty that would lie like this. Especially if they disagree and would like her kicked out of the country.

The husband needs to get off his high horse, however. He can be mad that the police made a mistake I assume, but it is a new law. ALthough it is not her fault she came at four and was forced by parents to break law by becoming illegal here, she DID in fact as an adult "choose" to stay under ground until marrying an American. Like it or not, she WAS breaking the law. Such people brought here as kids deserve some sort of punishment or fine or to put something in, but then should be allowed to be citizens. THeres is an understandable choice (to stay as adults illegally) that almost everyone would break if they were raised here. We need to acknowledge that fact. SOmthing (dream act or something like it) needs to be

but no citizen should complain if he marries an illegal and she gets caught up in the system quite as hard as he does, in my mind. Because he DID choose to marry an illegal who WAS in fact driving without a license which is NOT a great thing to do.

He and his wife are NOT only victims here. Probably the officer wasn't sure of the law that he wasnt' suposed to call immigration on here with the military ID, and then, when it became an issue, he lied and said it wasnt' showed to him. Of couse it wasn't in his original report....he can leave out whatever he wants. Maybe he wanted an "illegal" who was driving without a liscense to be reported.

I don't know...I think there needs to be some modicum of ownership that unfortunately she did have an illegal status so was subject to this, and he married some one who did

spoken from someone who understands what it is to marry someone in the country illegally

The process takes the better part of 20 years. I personally know of cases taking 18 years. Can't the process be sped up at all?

Mister Fids

Republicans/Conservatives cannot move fast enough to throw Gay Service members & people like those in this article under the Bus and trash them . (Very Poor assumption)

It used to be a serviceman on active duty was HONORED without reservation (yeah vietnam vets received a warm welcome huh?)

THEN the anti American TEA drinkers divided the R/C's who had no coalescence to begin with . (reaching for air here my man)

I expect these malcontent racists extremists to begin burning the American Flag in protest any day now and claim it is their RIGHT . (yes every person who is a republican/conservative are racist pathetic pigs...all of them !!! /sarcasm)

There is NO DEPTH that they won't stoop to in the rush to take America back to the dark ages of segregation & white rule . (segregation and white rule??? OMFG get real)

LOL... dude are you on meds?

What a pile of vile hatred in your words. You my friend are a great divider of America just like Obama.

Your partisan rhetoric is blantant and poor....

this women is illegal... her husband joined the army to get through red tape. I commend his service and for that alone his wife should be admitted without reservation.

But you see, she broke the law in many different ways... and her husband joined the military for the wrong reasons.

Spewing Tea party nonsense and hatred in a article of this nature is pathetic.

I can't help noticing that a number of comments in this posting train, as well as the original article, make reference to using one's (her) Social Cecurity card/number for identification. My Social Security card, issued some 55 years ago, is clearly emblazoned across the bottom, in 14-point type, with the text "For Social Secutiry use. Not for identification." I realize that the law has changed since 1957 (1956? CRS), but that text still leads me to conclude that I might rightly refuse to use my SSAN for identification, in accordance with the law as it was written when it was issued.

Otherwise, he is a GI, awaiting deployment to God knows where, to go into harm's way at the behest of what is apparently a totally uncaring Government, and his wife/family get treated this way?! This disabled Viet Nam combat veteran objects strenuously. I did not get treated like s&*t when I came back to the World, to see my spiritual descendents treated like I was. NO BLEEPING WAY! Take that cop/deputy, and all the ICDE pukes, put them in military uniform, send them overseas to await combat assignment, and see how they like it when somebody starts to hassle their families for no good reason.

Those so-called law enforcement types should try using their heads for something beside a hat rack.

Nothing will be done with the problem until the Pubs are willing to give up the cheap labor and the Dems are willing to give up the votes.

My wife is a Philippina. I can assure you the INS is very slow even when all the documents. Her Temp Visa was for 3 months. We immediately filed for a Perm Visa. We did not receive the Perm Visa for 1.5 years, so did that make her illegal in AZ for those 15 mo.?

My sister-in-law got her citizenship in no time. She was her on a student visa but then pretty much violated the conditions on that as she quit school and started to work. My brother met her and they got married but he got things going fast as they were worried that something might happen as she had not been going to school. It didn't take long for her to become a citizen and I am estimating that it may have taken less than two years.

If you ain't a citizen, you don't belong here, even if your hubby is a soldier. No excuses, no exceptions.

TROW DA BUMS OUT!!!

Bum? She was married to a SOLDIER REPRESENTING OUR COUNTRY. Good enough to die for you but not good enough keep his wife in the country? Wow. That's a piece of work right there.

News Flash: not only does the law say she's has every right to stay because he's currently serving signed up to lay down his life for United States, but also because SHE'S married to an AMERICAN. That means she has an automatic right to be with her husband. She didn't need a VISA to be here when she was stopped.

Shosyn-many people join the military for various reasons. Some reason is to avoid jail time, some reason is to get a job, some reason maybe to get the GI Bill, some reason maybe because their father and grandfather was in the military, and some reason maybe to become citizens. Being in the U.S. Marines Corps, I have only met one person that had over a million dollars in her bank account and that’s through 20 years of service and she join so she can become an American Citizen. The majority of the people who joins do it merely for the college money and the others is to become citizen. You’ll never see a rich kid from a rich family join the military, it’s not going to happen. In the military, old man makes decisions and young men dies. Those old man is part of the 1% club while the young men that dies are the sons of the 99%, it’s a simple facts of life. Perhaps if you were in the military you would understand why people join the military for a reason and their reason to join is not a reason for you to criticize their motives.

I understand that O.J. Simpson had some legal nightmares, too.

If you want to avoid legal nightmares, DON'T BREAK THE LAW!

FUNNY,

how does this girl have her husbands military ID if he is in germany?

in germany, i assume, he can leave base and return. he needs it in the PX and various other stores on base.

So does she have a 2nd illegal copy of his ID?

you cant have multipul copies of one govt issued ID, it illegal.

so lets get this strainght.

she is here illegal!

she has no drivers licenses!

she has no SS!

she makes an illegal uturn or something!

no insurance!

driving on public roads illeagly!

and the cops messed up?

maybe she shouldnt have been turned over to ICE, but she needs to be ticketed to hell and back!!

Maybe jail time!!!

there is too many wrongs here for her NOT to get introuble!!

OURDOC

And if she did show her military spouse ID, whcih she says she did, the deputy violated the law under the color of authority.

If she had the card in her posession (which she would have needed to get onto base or buy anything on base which the story does say thats where she was headed to) then there is no excuse and the husband needs to file a law suit against that deputy and department and everyone involved who violated the law.

She was headed to a store nothing about base store, to drive on a military base you also need a valid drivers license, how many times has she driven on the base or public highways. Even though its illegal for her to drive, be in the US, it's ok to her and her husband to participate in illegal activities as long as she doesn't get caught.

Stay under the radar thinking has to be the norm for all the illegals until they can afford to pay the high price of staying here. Our government officials will find no solution to this problem or any others until they can put a price on it that somehow benefits them monetarily.

omg really people said:

how does this girl have her husbands military ID if he is in germany? in germany, i assume, he can leave base and return. he needs it in the PX and various other stores on base. So does she have a 2nd illegal copy of his ID? you cant have multipul copies of one govt issued ID, it illegal.

She has spousal/family military ID stating she is related to a serviceman. family IDs are issued to every member of a serviceman/woman's immediate family.

so lets get this strainght. she is here illegal!

She was brought here illegally by her parents at 4 but is not at the moment illegal since she and her husband filed paperwork with USCIS and they are simply waiting for it to be processed.

she has no drivers licenses!she has no SS!she makes an illegal u turn or something!no insurance!driving on public roads illegally!and the cops messed up?

Driving without a license is a ticket, fine, possible court date. So is the uturn and the not having insurance. Not having a Social Security number is NOT illegal--there are older Americans who don't have them since they were born before social security numbers were issued, or who were born during the times or in places (not really that long ago) when birth records weren't regularly kept. The cop who stopped her for the driving had every right to stop her and give her tickets and citations for traffic violations. I agree with you there.

maybe she shouldnt have been turned over to ICE, but she needs to be ticketed to hell and back!!Maybe jail time!!!there is too many wrongs here for her NOT to get introuble!!

Few people who are not DUI or carrying drugs get jail/prison time for no DL, insurance. Where I live if you show ID but you don't have DL or insurance, the cop pulls you over, asks you to call someone to pick up you and the car because you can't drive until you get those fixed. You also get hefty fines and a summons to appear in traffic court to answer those citations.

But no, she should NOT have been turned over to ICE. Her paperwork is in the middle of being processed, which means she is 'legal' if you define 'legal' as 'the government knows you are here.' The laws allowing immigration considerations for spouses of serving military are quite clear. The officer should have been trained on how to deal with those and what to do in certain situations. That he wasn't speaks of a clear miscommunication between ICE/Immigration authorities and the local officers and just serves to point out the problems with the 'papers please' laws that AZ and other similar states (except Utah) have passed.As I understand it, the Utah law only specifies checking immigration status when felonies have been committed and I agree wholeheartedly with that one.

Guys, you don't understand. This is the propaganda MSNBC machine's way to make the immigration laws look bad to us, the general public. Same way they do with every time some nut shoots somebody, they attack the 2nd amendment and all gun owners as killers of humanity. They continue to lead their sheeple along. It's sad fewere and fewer people can see the media for what it has become, and fom their opinions on lies and deceit.

A simple ticket for traffic violation. Driving into private property. Did she get a ticket? Thats all she should have got. And Skiddy, the second amendment doesn't give the right to be an idiot. It only gives the right to have a powerful NRA leader CEO the power to influence the minds and lobbyists of the the entire government to do whatever he wants. And at a profit. So don't change the subject.

Real situation: 1. Woman is not in country legally, so she can't have a SS #. 2. Woman is not in country legally so she can't get a drivers license. 3. Woman is driving a car. 4. Woman makes an illegal move through private property to avoid a construction zone. 5. Police stop and find she does not have a driver's license, warranting the arrest and towing of the vehicle. 6. As a result of the arrest, they find she is here illegally.

Nothing in this is all that strange. The only issue is what do we do to fix this. Forcing people who have never been anywhere but the US to leave in order to become legal residents/citizens is just illogical. I know it would suddenly allow a whole bunch of not white people to suddenly be US citizens, but we have to face reality. Guess what, white men are NOT going to be running this country for very much longer. White men are in an ever shrinking minority.

Sally; why is it that you often accuse Liberals of "grenade trolling", but I've never once seen you boot a Conservative for doing the same? Isn't the post above yours an example of grenade trolling about how MSNBC does business? I see plenty of articles at MSNBC that are counter to my way of approaching being a Liberal, only those who choose to see one side, think MSNBC is their enemy (if you see MSNBC as the enemy, why come here?).

I have a feeling that many Conservatives go looking to be upset over something. I'd bet they would go chastize their neighbor for the way they mow their lawn... If it wasn't for the risk of getting a fat lip.

@drain - on these forums, the moderators - and the software used to register gripes and collapse comments - are not up to the job. It is however pointless to point it out.

The headline of this story is unnecessarily inflamatory...you have to read down quite aways to see that she didn't have a driver's license (and yet she was driving)...she didn't have a SS card or number ...not sure which...I'm really surprised she didn't have a SS# because illegals use numbers already assigned to legitimate citizens...maybe she never had one in the 1st place. She apparently was guilty of a an infraction of the vehicle code...yes, her husband is serving our country and is to be commended for his service...and the story does say that she has started the process of filing for citizenship...but she took a chance, and drove without a license...she must take some responsibility for her actions...and don't blame others for what she did.

kugelman, who changed the subject, that's called an example, meant to help people like you understand. I think you have the NRA wrong too, they only try tp protect Constitutional Rights, not throw them out for conveniance. You probably think the right to free speech gives you the right to be an idiot.

And when she hits and injures someone and cannot produce insurance, what then? Seriously. She is responsible for HER actions. She drove without a drivers license, and hence without insurance. I really don't care if her daughter is having a birthday, or she has to drive to the store, or....

The police did what they are supposed to do. Stopped her for a violation. Found she didn't have a driver's license, a SS# or anything else. Went back to their vehicle and probably ran the plates and her information to find out that she is in the country illegally, and turned her over to the proper authorities. They did what they are supposed to do. She needs to take responsibility for her actions.

Actually, she presented a valid military spouse's id. The officer was wrong to arrest her.

Also, would you be willing to leave the country for several years? Because that's what she would've had to do to get legal citizenship.

So it's okay to break the law because you aren't willing to do things the LAWFUL way. Okey-dokey

Kris, above you stated reread the article. I recommend you heed your own advice. Or is it as simple to you as she said she showed ID so it must be true and the sheriff's dept is lying?

She was 4 years old I'm pretty sure she didn't know she was breaking the law. I'm sure you knew everything you were doing at 4 yrs. old. unfortunately I don't even remember being 4 yrs. old. Okey-dokey

i think she knows she's breaking the law now.. she not 4 years old anymore...okey dokey.

i'm clueless? i'm a teabagger? glad you have it all figured out. i think the only clueless one here is you.my family came here in 1946 and it was a hell of a lot harder to become a LEGAL citizen back then than it is now. she has a pathway but neglected to use it because it takes too much work . too many of todays immigrants want it all right away....we are a instant gratification society and illegals act the same way.

Kris Craig

Actually, she presented a valid military spouse's id. The officer was wrong to arrest her.

WRONG... She does not have a Drivers license from ANYWHERE. That is an arrestable offense in most states, whether you are in the military or not. At minimum they will remove you from the vehicle and tow it to impound until a licensed driver recovers it.

She was in violation of the law and knew it. She was lucky to not have been caught and deported earlier. Did she have a drivers license and proof of insurance?

Why didn't they get her made legal earlier? The her husband is in the military doesn't void the law.

No sympathy from me and I'm a Latina immigrant who follows the rules. I'm sick of all the excuses and whining from people who are here illegally when they get caught.

Oh I'll never understand all the bleeding hearts who think everyone deserves the right to come here illegally and plop down and expect everyone to welcome them with open arms. I'm sorry... It doesn't matter if her parents brought her here, or she walked her happy ass across the boarder at 4 years old and came here. Illegal is illegal, just because she was so young and had no choice in the matter, that everyone should look the other way.

If I went to another country, and decided, fk it, I'm going to stay here, hide out, and expect their governments to give me everything a citizen gets because I believe I deserve the right to have it... How well do you think that's going to fly?. None of those countries are going to think twice about shipping my ass back where I belong. But... Then you have the bleeding hearts of America who believe everyone should be allowed to plop their asses down and call themselves citizens and have every advantage of everyone else. No matter if it breaks the law, laws are in place for a reason. It doesn't matter also, how long it takes whether it takes her a year or 5 years. Talk about insulting those who have done the whole process. What a slap in the face.

I'll never understand you people.

TexasLaw...I wuv u. You said it perfectly!

Willy_Wonka787

LN1958362 --

You are clueless. You don't know what you are talking about. There is no way, there is no "process", there is no legal pathway for her to "become legal". There is literally no way, none at all, for her to "achieve legal immigration status".

It's not up to her to "get legal status years ago", it's up to the government to PROVIDE HER WITH A MEANS AND A PROCESS FOR HER TO BECOME legal

How can you call someone else clueless when you clearly didn't read the article? Her husband was even quoted saying they were working on her citizenship and that's why he joined the army - to help her case. So apparently they are lying about being on the path you say doesn't exist.

People who think illegals are entitled to instant rights and benefits with zero identification are just as bad as the so-called teabaggers. If you are sore about being obligated to right the crimes your parents committed then blame your parents. Not the gov't.

There isn't a single country in the world that doesn't require you to apply for citizenship. SO stop whining about it. If you think we should have open borders with no regulations then you are just as crazy as the people you like to call bigots! Your opinion is just as extreme as theirs.

LN1958362,

i'm clueless? i'm a teabagger?

Yeah. You are.

my family came here in 1946 and it was a hell of a lot harder to become a LEGAL citizen back then than it is now.

An utter lie. It was a hell of a lot EASIER to become a LEGAL citizen back then than it is now.

she has a pathway but neglected to use it because it takes too much work

Prove your claim or else kindly withdraw it for the lie that it is. You have utterly no clue what "path" if any at all is open to her. Here's a clue: There IS NO pathway for anyone who was brought here as a child and who has never known any other home than the US to legalize their status. It does not exist.

out in the woods,

Willy Wonka, you pervert. it is "TEAPARTY". Try to remember if it does not hurt too much.

Actually no, it is "TEABAGGER TRASH". As in "racist hate-filled in-bred misogynist anti-immigrant garbage".

Secondly, why is it up to the government to provide her with the means and access to bedome a legal citizen ?

Because it is the right thing to, obviously, And because said pathway to legalization does not exist, at this time, AT ALL.

She was brought here by her parents, she had nothing to do with that, the US is the only country she has ever known, this is her home, this is where she belongs.

She has been here for 20 years. She knows exactly what is going on and would have been able to set the wheels in motion.

Your claim is utter lying garbage, but of course I'm sure you can "prove" what she "knew" and what she was "capable of doing" by explaining what the so-called "process" is - won't you? Or don't you have a clue?

Here is a "clue" for the in-bred Tea Bagger Trash - there is NO way for anyone who is here without benefit of papers to "set wheels in motion" at all, because there IS NO "pathway" for people who are undocumented to change their status or become legalized.

She just wanted both - Mexican citizenship and the economic blessings of the United States.

Why don't you prove that false and lying claim, or else accept being called out for the liar that you are?

And remember: it's 'TEAPARTY." YOU PERVERT.

It's "in-bred Tea Bagging racist white trash who will get their fannies kicked at the ballot box in 2012", actually.

Milspouse, you are not required to have a valid Social Security card to get a miltary dependent ID card. Only two forms of ID and a Marriage certificate. And, the article states that he is in Germany, awaiting deployment.

Some people just do not have compassion or empathy. I see a lot of hate and rigidity and bet most of you think you are 'good Christians'. Those aren't virtues.

TexasLaw? Yep, I hasta' say it, you are exactly right on this one! No doubt about it!

n! ^..^~~

Wille, you are not correct about all members of the EU having the ability to move into any other EU country. Citizens from most of the eastern European countries are still not permitted to do this and there is still passport checks at the borders between east and west Europe. And, even if the borders between wesern European countries are "open" most of the time, you better have a passport with you, because they do randomly close them and check for passports. Esp, for non EU citizens.

Arrested yes..deported no..she has no drivers license that means no insurance coverage even if driving husbands vehicle that's insured. If she killed someone driving..what happens???

Oh sweet willy I wondered when you would turn your know it all ranting in my direction. First off thanks so much for taking the time to make me apart of your night. Truly appreciate it. I can honestly say someone has thought of me today.

Onto the rest of this pointless argument. I am not talking about someone in Germany picking up and moving to Ireland. I am not talking about someone in England picking up and trotting over to France. Those are their rules, we have our own. If you want to become a legal American Citizen, you do what it takes the legal way, you don't come flop your ass down and say you deserve it just because. What about all those people who HAVE done it the legal way? Is that not an insult to them? They had to pay and spend time and work hard to get it, while others come and just expect it to be handed to them.

I love Australia, so lets use this as an example, if you will. One day I get this big urge to go visit the land down under, I get all the necessary documents, passport and what not. I get there and I am suppose to return after 2 weeks... yet I decide I love it so much there in fact, I want to hide out and stay indefinitely. It doesn't matter how much I love it, how great I think the people are or how much I want to Bs and tell anyone how much I deserve what they have, nothing more or less. What do you figure they are going to tell me?. Suppose I tell them it is unfair to deny me the rights all their citizens have, suppose I tell them how horrible it is to send me back home because "home" isn't as great as it is in Australia ( figuratively speaking ). Think they will have a soft heart and tell me ok!, you have convinced us, you may stay, it's unfair of us to deny you any right we give our own people. No... They would send me home so fast my head would spin.

If I want to live in another country, Australia, Europe, New Zealand or wherever, the only way I am going to be allowed to become a transplanted citizen is by following their rules, and doing whatever it takes to become just that. Whether it takes a year or 10 years. If you want it bad enough, you'll do whats necessary, not cry because it takes too long. But America has all these bleeding hearts who just want to open the country to any and everyone, they should all be allowed to come over and never have to leave unless they want to. And anyone who says different is just a plain ole hateful person pure and simple.

Like I said, laws are laws and they are in place for a reason. Just because you see differently or don't agree with it, doesn't make it cease to exists. They still have to be followed. You can't turn your cheek to one person because they are brought here by parents or grandparents, and hold a different view for someone who knowingly walks or sneeks across. While that's a shame her parents put her in that position, it doesn't change the facts. I guess that makes me a truly evil and hateful person. I will live with that.

Fred Craven

I can't help noticing that a number of comments in this posting train under posting #1 and its follow-on, as well as the original article, make reference to using one's (her) Social Cecurity card/number for identification. My Social Security card, issued some 55 years ago, is clearly emblazoned across the bottom, in 14-point type, with the text "For Social Secutiry use. Not for identification." I realize that the law has changed since 1957 (1956? CRS), but that text still leads me to conclude that I might rightly refuse to use my SSAN for identification, in accordance with the law as it was written when it was issued.

Otherwise, he is a GI, awaiting deployment to God knows where, to go into harm's way at the behest of what is apparently a totally uncaring Government, and his wife/family get treated this way?! This disabled Viet Nam combat veteran objects strenuously. I did not get treated like s&*t when I came back to the World, to see my spiritual descendents treated like I was. NO BLEEPING WAY! Take that cop/deputy, and all the ICE pukes (correct acronym?), put them in military uniform, send them overseas to await combat assignment, and see how they like it when somebody starts to hassle their families for no good reason.

Those so-called law enforcement types should try using their heads for something beside a hat rack.

SHE'S not in the military. Why hasn't she become LEGAL? I gather she is MORE THAN 4 YEARS old now, right? She has had PLENTY of time. No driver's license - why not? It is still ILLEGAL to drive without a driver's license. What would happen to you if YOU had no driver's license and insurance? OR is it okay for it to happen to you and NOT ILLEGALS just because she came here when she was 4 years old?

Law enforcement: They have pulled their heads out - it's called breaking the law and she was called on it. This is a simple cry for 'poor pity me help'. Oh - a lot of them are probably prior military anyway.

Pull your head out and see the light.

Who pays for this gals accidents or injures??? Will she cry what??? The car should have been impounded and she should have gotten a nice big BIRTHDAY PARTY FINE!!!

Who pays for this gals accidents or injures?

Regular, non traffic issues (auto insurance issues) Tricare would pay for it... She is still a military dependent, being an American citizen doesn't have any impact on that.

raddave44- not accurate. Any person with EU member status does not need a passport to enter into another EU country. They have ID cards (kind of like the IDs US people can get if they are just going to Canada or Mexico). You are confusing EU and "Eastern Europe", and while there are some countries in eastern Europe that are not EU (Ukraine for example), many of the former Soviet countries (which is what I am guessing you are thinking of) are EU member states, and have equal protection under EU law (like, Poland, Slovakia, and the Czech Republic, where I live). Also, it is very rare to find border checks between EU countries, sometimes if you take a bus or train, but you will almost never get stopped at the border for driving.

The EU also makes legal residence (not citizenship) easier than the US does. For example, I moved here to work, but met a Czech man and we are now having a baby. We do not need to get married for me to stay in the country (or EU for that matter), in fact, just showing proof of living together can get me classified as an "EU dependent", and able to work, get health insurance and travel anywhere with the same rights as an EU citizen. The path to citizenship is more difficult, but the EU overall makes it easier to remain a citizen of your home country while still having the basic rights to live and work here.

We are planning on moving back to the US with our daughter (who will be a US citizen because I am) when she is about a year old, and to get my fiancee in LEGALLY is quite tedious and time consuming. The immigration process does need to be reformed, and I can understand why people from countries like Mexico will simply break the law to get into the states. I would love to come home with my fiancee now and have my baby with my family and friends, but because the paperwork can take from 6 months to a year to get approved, I (a native US born citizen) cannot move back to my country without my family being seperated. Its quite annoying, but I am still doing it legally.

The poster who mentioned the "World's open borders" is being a little too idyllic in their world view. Yes, EU members can freely travel to other EU member states, but everywhere else you still need passports and sometimes visas. One reason the EU opened up was for ease of commerce. Comparing North American immigration to that of the EU is silly, because travelling to another country in Europe is more like going to a different state, not to Mexico or Canada. It would be like people living in New Jersey who travel to NYC for work, getting checked at the border every day. The EU opened up for financial benefit, not because they all have warm fluffy feelings for each other and understand its a "modern" world. Most Europeans are just as nationalistic as Americans, and there is a LOT of dislike (sometimes hate) between many countries over here. Its not a liberal paradise as you may think...

@Kris Craig

Actually, she presented a valid military spouse's id. The officer was wrong to arrest her.

Actually that seems to be in question and even if it is true a military ID is NOT a drivers license and last time I checked you needed one of those to operate a motor vehicle on a roadway.

TEXAS-LAW:

I love Australia, so lets use this as an example, if you will. One day I get this big urge to go visit the land down under, I get all the necessary documents, passport and what not. I get there and I am suppose to return after 2 weeks... yet I decide I love it so much there in fact, I want to hide out and stay indefinitely. It doesn't matter how much I love it, how great I think the people are or how much I want to Bs and tell anyone how much I deserve what they have, nothing more or less. What do you figure they are going to tell me?. Suppose I tell them it is unfair to deny me the rights all their citizens have, suppose I tell them how horrible it is to send me back home because "home" isn't as great as it is in Australia ( figuratively speaking ). Think they will have a soft heart and tell me ok!, you have convinced us, you may stay, it's unfair of us to deny you any right we give our own people. No... They would send me home so fast my head would spin.

Actually, no, YET AGAIN you demonstrate that you are utterly clueless and have literally no idea what you are talking about concerning the world outside your trailer park.

In fact, yes, let's use your example of Australia. Not only are you completely and totally wrong in fantasizing eagerly that Austarlia would "send me home so fast my head would spin", it obviously never occurred to you to even invetsigate if you had a shred of credibility in any of your remarks.

In fact, not only would Australia NOT "send you home so fast it would make your head spin", they would, in fact, LEGALIZE YOU AND INVITE YOU TO STAY WITH OPEN ARMS.

And just how do we know this?

Because IT'S WHAT THEY'VE ALREADY DONE.

Once again, if you had the faintest clue of WTF you were talking about, or bothered to do the slightest bit of what most of us refer to as "research" (but which Tea Baggers refer to as "listening to the dangerous Communist Socialist Muslim Jew voices of the Unbeliever furriners") you might have known this.

I will now prove my statements by giving you the facts which you appareently lack in your fact-free Tea Bagging Lush Dimbulb-controlled trailer park universe. I do this purely as an act of charity to the obviously "differetly abled" who can't be bothered to do something as routine as finding out whether they even know what they are talking about before they spout utter lying nonsense. Next time around, please take the time to find out if you even know WTF you are talking about before spouting nonsense. You are not a "university erfessor", I am not your "research assistant" and you just might look slightly less foolish if you were to do some lernin', even if doing so dos cause you to discover that so many of your most cherished and precious beliefs are merely out-and-out lies.

In 1973, Australia passed laws making it easier for tourists to enter the country while at the same time tightening immigration controls. This resulted in a large number of people entering the country legally on tourist visas and then overstaying. When their visas expired, the people who entered under them become illegal residents. To cope with the increased amount of illegal aliens in the country, Australia conducted a legalization program in 1974 to grant status to those who could prove that they had been brought into the country under false pretenses such as being told their status was legal when it was not. This occurred when immigrants were brought into the country be travel agencies on a three day tourist visa while being told that it would be okay for them to remain. When the tourist visa expired, they lapsed into illegality. Because of the specificity of this requirement, only 400 people received legal status under this law (Rhodes, 598).

After reports were published in 1975 estimating the illegal population in Australia at between 35,000 and 45,000 and detailing the depravity of the conditions that illegal immigrants were living in, Australia began to prepare for a second legalization program. This amnesty would allow those who had overstayed their visa in 1975 apply for legal resident status provided they did not have a criminal record and met standards of physical and mental health. During the three month period of the amnesty, just over 8,000 – 25% – applied for a change of status. Since the purpose of the program was to eliminate illegal immigrants in Australia, the program was considered a failure. Among the reasons proposed for why the amnesty failed was the small time frame that immigrants had to apply for amnesty, a lack of publicity for the amnesty program in the media and in ethnic communities, and a lack of trust towards the government (Rhodes, 569-571).

Faced with an ever increasing amount of illegal immigrants, Australia conducted another immigrant legalization in 1980. The legalization law stated that all immigrants in the country before January 1, 1980, were entitled to apply for regularization of status. The law excluded foreign students, criminals, and foreign diplomats. To be approved, prospective immigrants and their immediate families had to state that they were willing to remain in Australia forever and had to conform to physical and mental health requirements. Of an estimated 30,000 to 60,000 illegal immigrants in Australia, 14,000 applied for amnesty (Rhodes, 574-576).

With each amnesty, Australia loosened the criteria needed to qualify for regularization of status and increased the level of publicity for the amnesty. In all three amnesties, the government’s goal of regularizing all immigrants was hurt by the lack of trust that immigrants had towards the government. To ensure more successful outcomes for future legalizations, the Australian government should work with immigrant leaders to explain the policies to immigrants so they will not be afraid to apply.

http://www.carsch.net/?p=204

willy wonka, you don't know what you're talking about. You can't just pick up and move to another country, even if they're friendly with the USA. If you don't have enough income to properly satisfy that governments doubts that you can take care of yourself, you can't move, simple as that.

No sympathy here. She shouldn't have been driving without a license in the first place.

I actually lived in Arizona during part of the six year period that the stupid Child Support had my drivers license suspended. They thought it would help me to get caught up quicker, if I couldn't drive to work. I didn't just drive around with no license. I got a State ID and didn't drive. You know, the easier, more legal approach? If she had done the same she'd have had no problem.

The husband should be kicked out of the Army because he knew and was hiding an Illegal immigrant

Blanca Pez said:

Why didn't they get her made legal earlier? The her husband is in the military doesn't void the law.

LN said:

she has a pathway but neglected to use it because it takes too much work .

See this clip from the article:

Garcia and the lawyer both said the couple was in the process of applying for legal status for Sanchez. Garcia said he enlisted in the military in part because he thought it might help his wife's case.

Just FYI for people who have never had to deal with USCIS; they are backlogged on applications and it takes ages for them to get anything done. In 2010 they were just getting to applications filed by immigrants from Mexico in 1994. That's a wait of 16 years.

LN said:

my family came here in 1946 and it was a hell of a lot harder to become a LEGAL citizen back then than it is now. she has a pathway but neglected to use it because it takes too much work .

My coworker's mother was brought to the US for adoption in 1945, an orphan from Germany after WWII. Her adoptive parents were never told that they had to file for citizenship by Immigration at the time, who finalized the adoption papers and said have a nice life. In early December of last year after 60+ years of living here, working here, and getting married, havng children and gotten widowed, she got a call from Immigration saying that they found out that citizenship had never been filed. she asked to be allowed to file paperwork to correct the error, but they refused, seized her house car bank account as civil asset forfeiture and deported her to Germany two days before Christmas without ever giving her a chance to see a judge, lawyer, or have a trial. My coworker is now homeless, having been living with her while she was undergoing cancer treatments, and once she touched down in Germany a church took her in gave her a place to stay and set up a bank account for her so that my coworker could dump his college fund into the account so she has something to live on. And she has to stay for the next ten years before my coworker can apply to bring his Mom back in--he hopes that she'll be back in the States by her 80th birthday.

Is it harder now? You bet. I was adopted as an infant from an international orphanage for stateless children--children abandoned with no paperwork, no birth certificate, nothing. My parents legally adopted me, had a birth certificate issued to show them as my parents, filed everything with INS and went on their way.

18 years later ICE comes looking for me because USCIS found out they lost/misfiled my adoption paper. Dad and Mom had passed away in a car accident before they told me I was adopted (if they ever planned on telling me) so I had zero idea what they were talking about. They decided that since I couldn't produce the paper, that made me illegal (despite the fact that I had a legal BC, DL, and SS card) and they placed me in a deportation camp. They couldn't deport me because I didn't have a home country prior to my adoption, so they told me I would remain in deportation until I produced the adoption paper. I spent three years in ICE detention writing letters to every courthouse in three states trying to find that paper.

I am a Native American Indian apparently all of you came here from somewhere else so i am the only one who has the right to complain! All of you came here illegally an stole my land but that was ok for you to do so? Would any of you like to go live in Mexico? Try to raise your children their? That is if you live to the age to do so? NO YOU WOULD NOT!!!!! They have all the drug cartels, and all the other horrible deplorable things going on over their it is not safe! Do you watch the news why do you think they are telling you not to travel over their because it is not safe to do so!!! The only illegals i have a problem with are the ones that come here and commit crimes. I don't have a problem with the ones who come here to work, keep themselves safe and try to raise their children in a better place where they can go to school have clean water and half a chance at making a better life. That is exactly why all of your ancesters came to America correct? And no their is no way to become legal anymore. Born and raised in Arizona! To bad sheriff joe didn't go after the wanted/law breakers bad ones like he was suppose to. Oh wait that would of required work and it was easier to go after the ones that were jus trying to make a better life and take care of their families!!!! I could go on all day but if you have half a brain you get the jist????

My3cats said:

We are planning on moving back to the US with our daughter (who will be a US citizen because I am) when she is about a year old, and to get my fiancee in LEGALLY is quite tedious and time consuming. The immigration process does need to be reformed, and I can understand why people from countries like Mexico will simply break the law to get into the states. I would love to come home with my fiancee now and have my baby with my family and friends, but because the paperwork can take from 6 months to a year to get approved, I (a native US born citizen) cannot move back to my country without my family being seperated. Its quite annoying, but I am still doing it legally.

Just a heads up--even if you are a citizen, your child, if she was born overseas, can still be deemed illegal later. Don't take the word of the immigration official who is helping you, ask several different officials and double-check with a lawyer. See this clip from am AP article.

Angela Boneva is living in limbo.

For years she, and the U.S. government, thought the Bulgarian-born 34-year-old was an American citizen. But, when she went to renew her passport in 2003, the State Department reportedly told her something terribly different.
Boneva's father was born in Indiana, and the consulate in Bulgaria gave her U.S. citizenship while she was growing up in the country in 1981. She was able to visit relatives in Chicago and eventually move to the area in 1997, the Chicago Tribune reported.
Then in 2003, the married mother of a now 7-year-old U.S.-born boy received a letter from the U.S. State Department saying there was a mistake and she wasn't an American citizen, according to the Tribune.
"I thought it was some kind of joke," she told the Tribune. "I grew up believing I'm an American, and now they want to take that away? This is like a bad dream."
The State Department said in the letter that an employee at the consulate broke a rule that required her father to have lived in the U.S. for 10 years before she was born, the Tribune reported. Her father had only lived in the U.S. for six years before moving to Bulgaria.
The letter also pointed out that that requirement changed in 1986 to five years, meaning that someone in the Boneva's position today would be eligible for U.S. citizenship, but she isn't.
Another letter sent later that year then told her "it does not appear" she qualifies to be a U.S. citizen anymore, the Tribune reported.

Since then, Boneva has made numerous attempts to get he situation cleared up, but has never received a straight answer from the State Department, the Tribune reported.
State Department spokeswoman Adriana Gallegos declined to talk with the Tribune about Boneva's situation, but told the paper in an e-mail, "We don't revoke citizenship, we revoke documents." Gallegos wouldn't specify to the newspaper what that meant for Boneva.
The experience has left Boneva frustrated, and afraid to apply for a new driver's license, look for a new job or even travel to visit her sick grandmother in Rousse on the chance that she could be accused of identity fraud.
"I don't want to go back because I'm afraid it would be a one-way ticket," she told Tribune.

my family came here in 1946 and it was a hell of a lot harder to become a LEGAL citizen back then than it is now.

That's a lie.

Some of you seem completely incapable of a little bit of moral imagination. Put yourself in her shoes. If you were brought here at 4 years old from, let's say: Serbia, and this is the only country you know, would you SERIOUSLY be like "oh, well I better leave my husband, family, friends, and move on back to Serbia, because oh boy - I'm one of them illegals"... seriously? What if you found out TODAY that you were brought here at 4 years old? Illegal is illegal right? Just gtfo? You're fkn kidding me.

Illegal is illegal, just because she was so young and had no choice in the matter, that everyone should look the other way.

Wow, what jackbooted tripe. This is her home, it's the only place she knows. She should be provided with a better, faster, easier means of cirtizenship than someone else fresh across the border. Hell, she's already naturalized ffs. It doesn't mean 'look the other way' it means provide her with a FAIR and APPROPRIATE path to citizenship since she lived in this country HER WHOLE FKN LIFE.

How did they get married if she is an illegal???? I mean you have to provide a Drivers License and SSN Card? Also how did this solider gain a security clearance when he is with a KNOWN illegal???????

Her, and her husband are idiots. Being in the military does not exonerate anyone from their legal responsibilities to obey the laws of this country. He enlisted thinking it would give him a leg up in getting his wife legal status! His wife has been here illegally since she was a small child, and only recently started seeking legalization? I'll bet there's an article in the U.C.M.J. he could be charged with for knowingly violating the laws of this country (http://www.americanpatrol.com/REFERENCE/AidAbetUnlawfulSec8USC1324.html). Is she going to pay back the tax dollars spent on educating. etc. her while illegally here? And don't give me that "her husband is in the military" garbage as though that gives either of them some sort of special status to violate the law. He admits to enlisting to help his illegal alien wife! Something that should've been addressed "before" he enlisted. I enlisted in the U.S.M.C. in 1964, and I met some real hero's, and some real scumbags too , check out the military brigs, and the charges of some in them. Same as any jail in our country. There have been organizations that help illegal aliens become legal for many years. At what age did she attempt to become legal? The picture shows them with their 3 year old daughter. Was that another leg up, having a child that's an American citizen? No confirmation has been reported by any agency that she was attempting to clear up her illegal status in this country. We only have this couples word for that, and "after the fact" of being caught!

She is an Illegal who had a total of 18 years to apply for Citizenship. Of those 18 years, she was considered an adult for 4 years and could have applied herself, but she did not and chose to be in violation of our Immigration Laws. If any of her parents or siblings are found in the U.S. and have not applied for LEGAL CITIZENSHIP, they (and their families) should be immediately sent back to Mexico. Her husband has knowingly also violated Federal Law, being a Solider/Veteran does not give a person the ability to be exempt from U.S. Laws.

The only law she broke was a misdemeanor traffic violation. Since her marriage to a soldier she is allowed in the U.S. while her paperwork processes. The policeman should have known the immigration laws and policies in order to attempt enforcement. Poor training and stupid bureaucracy.

First off I agree that she is illegal.

The article states her hubby was also born in Mexico, is 22 yrs old and is now an American citizen, and from his rank, entered the Army recently in order to speed up the process of her citizenship. So the whole "she may not have not known she was illegal" doesn't wash. It also states:

"Trish Carter, a spokeswoman for the Mohave County Sheriff’s Office, said there was no indication in the police report that Sanchez showed her military spouse card. The deputy “followed standard procedure” in turning her over to the Border Patrol, Carter said."

So her getting special privileges from showing a military ID, also doesn't pass the smell test.

What I am not seeing on these posts, is anyone mentioning the photo at the top of the article. You know, the one with adorable Alexia in the middle? You would have a hard time deporting her due to the fact that she has (do disrespect to the child) an "anchor" attached to her. This along with a naturalized US citizen for a husband the chances of her actually being deported just went down a few more notches. This being said, her not being arrested for driving without a license and being fined for no insurance, is ludicrous at the very least.

Mario 69,

The only law she broke "other than being here illegally", and driving without a license, or insurance. They're adding up aren't they? I haven't seen anything documenting "when" she started her attempt to become legally here! I guess you missed the part where she had no drivers license, proof of insurance, and the officer stated she didn't show her military I.D. Without a drivers license, or insurance, if she gets into an accident and injures or kills someone, should she get a pass on that too?

Mr. Root -

Those are all misdemeanors, of little meaning to the immigration situation. Removal of criminals from this country is based on felony conviction, not trivia.

Mario,

Federal Immigration and Nationality ActSection 8 USC 1324(a)(1)(A)(iv)(b)(iii)"Any person who . . . encourages or induces an alien to . . . reside . . . knowing or in reckless disregard of the fact that such . . . residence is . . . in violation of law, shall be punished as provided . . . for each alien in respect to whom such a violation occurs . . . fined under title 18 . . . imprisoned not more than 5 years, or both."

Looks like her husband who "Knowingly encouraged", and induced an alien to reside, could be prosecuted under the law!

Facts are facts! He enlisted to grease her path to being legal, she had an anchor baby to solidify her status, there's no evidence she attempted to become legal until those things were in place! And we still don't know "when or if" she actually started the process to become legal before this incident!

Your citation is agains the soldier, and not one the prosecutors are likely to pursue. She is temporarlily protected while she processes her application. She is not currently removable.

Among criminal grounds for removal from the U.S. are "agravated felonies", eg: rape, sexual abuse of a minor, money laundering, crimes of violence for which the term of imprisoment is at least one year, theft, burglary, kidnapping, child pornography, RICO offenses, running a prostitution business, Fraud >$10,000, forgery, obstruction of justice, etcetera.

Misdemeanor traffic offenses are properly ignored.

NONE OF YOU KNOW WHAT YOU ARE TALKING ABOUT!!!

First, if she was actually going through the process there is no doubt she had paperwork indicating such. When I got my wife into the country. legally, we from day one had paperwork indicating the process was ongoing. If she had that it should have stopped the deportation process (and it apparently did). Either way, paperwork can be forged (there is a whole industry for forged immigration documents) and the TSA had every right to hold her while her status is verified. Just like the cop had every right to stop her and then hold her for not having a license, even I an American citizen will get in trouble for that issue. Nothing that happened to her was out of the order or unexpected. She could have prevented it all by not driving without a license. The system works but you have to have just a little patience. If she had been a terrorist and then bombed something you same gomers would have been calling everyone who let her go idiots.

Second, the EU is not monolithic in its immigration policies. Member countries are in the Union under different rules. Not all of them have open borders and neither do they all participate in the Euro. So all of you spouting your analogy how it works for you are only stating how the EU effects you and NOT how it affects everyone everywhere.

Third, the guy who said the world works on open borders has not a clue at all. Not even the EU allows everyone else in the world to enter or work without permission. There is NOT a single country in the world that is legal open borders to the rest of the world.

Fourth, for all of you bashing her for waiting, she is likely very young and these things take time. She may have been illegal in the past but not willingly. She was brought here when she was four. I am sure you were managing you life at four right? NOT!! Her husband is putting his life on the line for this country which is likely more than any of you have considering the rate of military service in this country. For that service his wife is entitled to citizenship just like the likely millions of war brides that have come to this country over the past 100 years. That doesn't excuse her for driving without a license, she should know better, but it doesn't make her a horrific criminal either.

Move on, nothing to see here....

No one is trying to make her a horrific criminal. Her husband enlisting to help her status was the honorable approach. But all these people vilifying the police for doing their job is ridiculous. Every day they go to work with their family's not knowing if they're coming home! And they're supposed to get this type of garbage thrown on them? They put their lives on the line for us everyday, yet so many want to give the benefit of doubt to someone caught driving without a license, no insurance only because they're an illegal alien who's spouse is in the military over a police officer? But again, I haven't seen anything that confirms "when" she started the process to become legal, before or after the incident. Nothing in the article articulated that, your "it apparently did" comment didn't either! You gave her the benefit of doubt, without knowing, why?

You condemned her without knowing, Why?

I am confident she will pay (or already has paid) the fines for her misdemeanors.

William Root said:

No confirmation has been reported by any agency that she was attempting to clear up her illegal status in this country. We only have this couples word for that, and "after the fact" of being caught!

The immigration detention facility in Eloy called Garcia back in Germany and confirmed that they knew paperwork was ongoing. Please read the following clip from the article:

Finally, a representative of the detention facility called back Thursday with the news he had been anxiously waiting for."She explained to me that they were not charging her with any crime and that her status was going to remain the same. They want me to continue working with my lawyer and wait on the response from the immigration packet we had submitted," Garcia said.

Facts are facts! He enlisted to grease her path to being legal, she had an anchor baby to solidify her status, there's no evidence she attempted to become legal until those things were in place! And we still don't know "when or if" she actually started the process to become legal before this incident!

Your last statement quantifies the previous facts. We do know she DID start the paperwork process to become legal, but we don't know when. If she had disclosed her legal status before marrying her husband, she would have been deported then because there is no pathway to legalization for someone who walks in at 18 and says 'I just found out I'm illegal, I want to do things the right way and become legal, please help me'. Their only option is to accept deportation and return to country of origin for 10 years, then get a the US citizen to apply for them to re-enter. And even then Immigration can refuse to allow her to re-enter since she has a former charge of being 'illegal' against her.

The assumption here is that she married him, filed her paperwork, then he enlisted.The child is three, So it is possible either the little girl is not his or she was born out of wedlock and her parents were married later (which is the likelier scenario since she is 22 now and would have been 19 when she had Alexia.)

Vincent-970634

The husband should be kicked out of the Army because he knew and was hiding an Illegal immigrant

Hell vincent...why stop there? We can have a US Soldier, his wife and child executed!
Have a nice day vincent.

While her papers are processing she is exempt from removal. While her paperwork is in process and the soldier is proceeding in good faith, he is also pr0tected from most prosecutions in this situation.

"Before you judge a man, walk a mile in his shoes. After that, who cares? He’s a mile away and you’ve got his shoes."

~Billy Connolly

. . . then try an infantryman's boots.

Mario said:

While her papers are processing she is exempt from removal. While her paperwork is in process and the soldier is proceeding in good faith, he is also pr0tected from most prosecutions in this situation.

In an ideal world, I'd agree with you, but seeing as how this is ICE were dealing with, they seem to ignore paperwork and legal niceties at will:

Lack of proper training of immigration inspectors resulted in their mistaken conclusion that Sharon McKnight’s passport was fraudulent. McKnight spent eight days in Jamaica before returning to New York. While there, her luggage, containing all her money, was stolen. Airport workers contributed money so she could reach family members. Once there, her mother flew to Jamaica from New York to take her case to the US consulate in Kingston. With the help of Rep. Michael Forbes (D-NY), consulate officials determined that the passport and birth certificate, which immigration officials had declared fraudulent, were in fact real, and established McKnight’s US citizenship.

When Angela Boneva, a 34 year old went to renew her passport in 2003, the State Department told her she was no longer a citizen. Boneva's father was born in Indiana, and the US consulate in Bulgaria gave her U.S. citizenship while she was growing up in Bulgaria in 1981.The State Department said that an employee at the consulate broke a rule that required her father to have lived in the U.S. for 10 years before she was born, the Tribune reported. Her father had only lived in the U.S. for six years before moving to Bulgaria.

The son of a decorated Vietnam veteran, Hector Veloz is a U.S. citizen, but in 2007 immigration officials mistook him for an illegal immigrant and locked him in an Arizona prison for 13 months. Veloz had to prove his citizenship from behind bars. An aunt helped him track down his father's birth certificate and his own, his parents' marriage certificate, his father's school, military and Social Security records. After nine months, a judge determined that he was a citizen, but immigration authorities appealed the decision. He was detained for five more months before he found legal help and a judge ordered his case dropped.

Mr. George Ibarra, 46, was born in Mexico but was raised since infancy in Arizona. In his late 20s he enlisted in the Marines and served three years on active duty, including time in Iraq, before being honorably discharged. On February 23, 2011 Department of Justice adjudicator Richard Phelps ruled in Eloy, Arizona that George Ibarra had by a preponderance of the evidence proven that he is indeed a citizen of the United States. Rather than apologize to Mr. Ibarra for previously wrongfully detaining him, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) is holding Mr. Ibarra in solitary confinement at the Eloy Detention Center, in clear violation of the U.S. Constitution and a memorandum requiring Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) to release anyone with "probative evidence" of U.S. citizenship.

Hans Joachim Keil was arrested in Dutton in September and accused of being an illegal alien. He was an official representative of Samoa, a current Member of Parliament and a prominent businessman with many family links. He had diverted to Missouri on the way home from trade talks in Brussels where he represented Samoa. “They were going to lock me up for five years plus five years. Five years for impersonating a US citizen and five years for using an illegal US passport. On the day of my arrest when I brought to their attention, that I served in the US military … they threw that out the window and said that I’m an illegal alien and I have no right to be in the United States. They knew I was a Samoan diplomat but they had no regard for my diplomatic passport.”

According to her birth certificate, Diane Williams was born in Metairie, La., on Aug. 23, 1974. So Williams was shocked on Jan. 18 when, hours after she was released from a Houston jail on prostitution charges, immigration agents showed up at her apartment and arrested her, saying she was a deportable alien. "I had a copy of my birth certificate, but they said they didn't know if it was real or not," she said. She at first refused to sign a deportation order waiving her right to court review, but did so after agents threatened that she would be jailed for years and deported anyway, Williams said. On Feb. 9, she was deported to Honduras, where she spent nearly two months. Eventually, the U.S. Embassy in Tegucigalpa issued Williams a temporary passport, after her mother sent documents proving her identity.

Thomas Warziniack was born in Minnesota and grew up in Georgia, but immigration authorities pronounced him an illegal immigrant from Russia. Immigration and Customs Enforcement held Warziniack for weeks in an Arizona detention facility with the aim of deporting him to a country he's never seen. His jailers shrugged off Warziniack's claims that he was an American citizen, even though they could have retrieved his Minnesota birth certificate in minutes and even though a Colorado court had concluded that he was a U.S. citizen a year before it shipped him to Arizona.

In violation of a federal immigration judge's order, U.S. officials placed plaintiff Victoriano Lorenso Jeronimo in shackles and illegally deported him to Guatemala before the court could rule on his application for political asylum in the United States. Lorenso Jeronimo had fled Guatemala in 1982 after the Guatemalan army accused indigenous villagers of being guerrilla sympathizers, massacred the villagers, and burned their homes.

Willy Wonka, sorry to disagree with you but you are way off base on the issue of Australia's immigration laws. During the early 80's I was in the U.S. Navy stationed in the Republic of the Philippines at the Naval Communication Station San Miguel. This was about an hours drive North of the Subic Bay complex. During my time there we were inundated by refugee "boat people" fleeing the communists in Vietnam. Most of the refugees wanted to go to the U.S., but a fair number wanted Australia. The Philippine government did not have the infrastructure to process the thousands, so they asked for our help. Being in the medical field I was involved in quite a bit of it. Australia and New Zealand are generous countries and took quite few, even they became overwhelmed after a while and their social welfare systems became overtaxed by the inflow. They found that they thus had to stringently tighten their immigration laws. I was later stationed in New Zealand in the late 80's. Nowadays, the only way one can emigrate to Australia or New Zealand is if you are still of working age, have a particular skill set that will allow one make a living at, and have a company that is willing to sponsor and has a job waiting for you. You may be a member or family of a foreign military or diplomatic corps there with proper documentation. The last criteria be that you are indepently wealthy or successful enough that you can have and keep a significant amount of funds in a savings account in one of their banks. Anyone else in summarily deported unless they can qualify for political asylum.

Willy, the end results of all this, is that if you are going to try to quote other countries and thier immigration laws, make sure you know what you are talking about and/or have been there.

Amanda-2017567,

The immigration detention facility in Eloy called Garcia back in Germany and confirmed that they knew paperwork was ongoing. Please read the following clip from the article:

Finally, a representative of the detention facility called back Thursday with the news he had been anxiously waiting for."She explained to me that they were not charging her with any crime and that her status was going to remain the same. They want me to continue working with my lawyer and wait on the response from the immigration packet we had submitted," Garcia said.

First of all, I didn't see that in the article, where is it? Again, I still haven't seen a link to anything where any "immigration official" confirmed as to "if and when" (before or after she was stopped) she filed any papers regarding her immigration status. Taking her husbands, or her lawyers statements as gospel is a little naive!

Hey Mario,

You mentioned that a way to be deported is theft, well this ILLEGAL is a thief if she is married in the US because you are required to show an ID and either a Birth Certificate or SSN. All of those things she could not have provided with her LEGAL info on it. So that alone should get her ass deported and the Marine should be JAILED as well for HABORING a known ILLEGAL!!!!

So the next time you forget your license at home, I take it you won't mind spending the next two days in jail, threatened with being shipped off to a foreign country and separated from your family?

how did she get a license if she is an illegal alien? you people who stick up for her need to get your identity stolen and your life ruined financially by an illegal.then lets see how you feel about illegals stealing your ss # and your life.see how much time and $ it takes you to straighten it out.

Hey LN1958362, my home was invaded by 3 black hoodlums, with guns, I and my son almost died that night, our wounds ended up costing 10's of thousands of dollars, so do you think I should hold that against all black people. You sir/madame are a racist.

I see two separate issues here.

If she was driving without a valid driver's license of some state or possibly some country, she should be ticketed for driving without one.

The military spouse's ID should have prevented her from being arrested/turned over to the border patrol.

Being illegal is a status, not a race.

bullet...i'm a racist? how do you figure? what you went through has no bearing on anything related here.did i say you should hold a grudge against african americans? i think you need a date with a psychiatrist.

Gotta love all the responses to this that want being a military spouse to exempt her from the law. Sorry, that's not how a country of laws works. If there was a process to make her legal it should have already been done. It's no one's fault but her own.

She doesn't have a valid drivers license or a SSN... She didn't leave it at the house, it doesn't exist!

Blanka, as you can see from the picture, her husband is a PFC. He has been in the army probably all of a year. The process takes time.

No drivers license, and no car insurance, NO right to drive either, if I have to have license and insurance then so do you, oh I forgot you are ILLEGAL.

He has been in the army probably all of a year. The process takes time.

It even states in the article that he joined to hopefully make it easier for her to get her citizenship. You are correct though- he hasn't been in long, less than 18 months I'd say (Time in Service/Time in Grade is waiverable to 18mos/3mos for SPC, so if he were in that long he would already have been promoted- that rank is automatic- unless he did something to get in trouble and get flagged or demoted.)

Kris Craig, in my state you can drive without a license so long as you know your license number. :) Which I have mine memorized. I also keep a copy of the number in my car. So I'm not too worried about accidentally leaving my license behind. :)

Bullet171

Hey LN1958362, my home was invaded by 3 black hoodlums, with guns, I and my son almost died that night, our wounds ended up costing 10's of thousands of dollars, so do you think I should hold that against all black people. You sir/madame are a racist.

Bullet 171,

"You're the one" who injected race/color into this!!! Sadly that's the usual response of people who have no intelligent arguments left, Play the Race Card where it was never an issue!!!! That's getting real old, should've died by now.

Hey ace, while I appreciate his service to our country, you can't think that driving without a license is a "privilege" his wife should enjoy? I served, but I had to get a license and insurance. Where's my privileges?

Wow! So of all the things for our Government & cops to worry about they wasted their time and tax dollars they could have spent really catching bad guys but chose to harrass this poor mom and wife of a soldier, took her away from her daughter all because she's been here illegally since four and instead of asking someone to drive her to the store, she chose to be independant and drive herself to the store to get paper plates. So when they saw her wife of a soldier id card and no criminal record they still kept her in jail because these asswholes are so bent on getting the illegals out. Give me a flippin break. I deserve to be here just the same as she does. Isn't she the ideal person to be in America, a mom who is a great person throws a birthday party for her daughter instead of it being just another day. i'm sure shes practically a single mother since her husband bravely signed up to defend his and her country the land of the free if I remember right. Go bust some real criminals. Sheesh!

An Untitled James Bond Film, starring Sean Conerey.

Act II, Scene 2

[Setting: Tropical foliage on hill above the Bay of Guanabara with Governor’s Island in the distant background. The camera pans left and we see Bond in black tie and tuxedo, having just left the Casino. He is aiming his Walther at your chest.]

You: “James?”

Bond: “Never say @!$%# again, you petty bickering racist!”

You: . . . ?

{As yet unfinished}

driving without a valid license is a crime, regardless of legal status. i would get arrested for it, and my family has been here since colonial times. it is RACIST to hold people to different standards just because of their skin color. if the law applies to one person it applies to everyone, PERIOD. she should not have been turned over to immigration officials after producing a military spouse ID, but she still should have been arrested for driving illegally. no valid license also means she was not insured, which is also a great way to go to jail. it is sad that this happened on her 3 year old daughter's birthday, but that does not mean the police officer did not do his job properly.

also, if you are going to drive without a valid license (which i have done once or twice without getting caught), at least have the sense not to break traffic laws that will give the police a reason to pull you over. just a thought.

Ignorant is ignorant. She's every bit as much of an American as you and I are. Or are you saying it's her fault her parents smuggled her here as a small child? If you found out tomorrow that your parents smuggled you here from Russia, would you be willing to pack-up your things and leave? After all, "illegal is illegal," right?



Ignorant is ignorant. She's every bit as much of an American as you and I are. You don't have a clue about what you post Kris. If saying she is as American as you or I means you think she's a citizen you're dead wrong. Just because she married a serviceman doesn't make her a citizen. There is a process to go through.

I wonder if the Native American feels that way everyday they wake up marginalized on their lands? I'm sure they'd like for your amnesty to be revoked or at the very least that you appreciate what your fore father's stole and try to be better than that. Lizard's about right!

@soaz Do you understand the difference between legal context and cultural identity? I'm asking because it seems as though you do not. She is an American. She identifies as an American. She speaks American English. She embraces our culture. She grew up in an American neighborhood and went to American schools just as we did. If you ask her what she is, she'll say, in perfect English, "I am an American."

So yes, she is every bit as much an American as you or I. That doesn't necessarily mean that she's a citizen; the two are not mutually exclusive. She may not be a citizen on paper, but she is an American. The "paper" needs to reflect that. She's not the one at fault here; we are. We're at fault for not fixing a gaping hole in our immigration law that treats Americans who grew up here as criminals simply because their parents were refugees.

@V-#### I'm part white, part Cherokee. In fact, one of my direct ancestors' signature can be seen on the Constitution. So for me, I have a unique perspective on this. Should I feel guilty for taking away my land? I'm not accountable for my ancestors. I grew up here. I lived here all my life. That's what makes this my land. What my ancestors did or didn't do is of no relevance to that. We should learn from the mistakes of the past, but not allow ourselves to become bound by them.

Yes, but she identifies that way because her parents came with her ILLEGALLY. American paid education, health services, etc....but they weren't supposed to be here in the first place. No other country would be this lenient. They would have already sent her back to her country of origin.

Very well stated Kris. Finally someone on here that gets it.

Nice job Kris! I have a friend who married an Indonesian man in his country and she had to come back here alone and live without her husband for a year before his paperwork to enter the U.S. was complete and then after he was here they still had to jump through hoops before he was finally able to be sworn in as a U.S. citizen. All that and they did it the legal way. I can only imagine what the process is for those who have lived here illegally nearly their entire life. I watched an interview with an hispanic woman, who if you didn't know it, she is as American as you and I. She said the decision to come out of the shadows as an illegal(she was brought here when she was about 5 or 6 years old from Mexico) was one of the hardest, yet liberating experiences. She is an advocate for the Dream Act and she is still illegal(she didn't indicate if she is going to try and go through the process). I think this is a really hard thing all the way around. The illegals who have it easy are the "all white" people who come here from countries like Norway and Sweden on a Visa but stay long after their Visa has expired. What are we doing about them? From all accounts they seem to sail through life here in the good old USA. The asian population seems to fare well in all this. It would seem to me that it is as it always has been a "brown" problem with many people.

lizard legs,

You know nothing about which you speak, President Obama has been a hell of a lot tougher on illegal immigration than any president before him. In 3 almost a half years, he's deported more illegals than Bush did in 8.

Kris Craig

"Ignorant is ignorant. She's every bit as much of an American as you and I are."

No she isn't. Being an American is being a legal resident at the very least. I'm sn immigrant who followed the rules and I am an American.

"Or are you saying it's her fault her parents smuggled her here as a small child?"

No. I'm saying the under current law, like it or not, she's illegal. If the pro-illegals that wrote the original DREAM Act has been reasonable, it might have passed but it had such broad application, it lost. In any case, it wouldn't have helped her unless she was in the military or was in college.

"If you found out tomorrow that your parents smuggled you here from Russia, would you be willing to pack-up your things and leave?"

Only after exhausting all ways to get some kind of legal status.

"After all, "illegal is illegal," right?"

Indeed it is.

"Do you understand the difference between legal context and cultural identity?"

Yes. One is very specific and well-defined. The other is nebulous and arbitrary. This incident was based on the law in a country of laws.

"We're at fault for not fixing a gaping hole in our immigration law that treats Americans who grew up here as criminals simply because their parents were refugees"

Then get your LaRaza and MALDEF lobbyists to get some congressman to write a reasonable DREAM Act that's not a virtual amnesty so it has a chance of passing. One that doesn't apply to people who came last tear just because they were 17 tear old minors, one that doesn't apply up the 35 years old, one that requires some evidence of the claim of how and when they were brought, one that has some consequences if you don't satisfy the requirements of the Act (if you don't complete college or enter the military).

VirginiaDemocrat78

"President Obama has been a hell of a lot tougher on illegal immigration than any president before him. In 3 almost a half years, he's deported more illegals than Bush did in 8."

Really? From the Congressional hearing of The House Judiciary Subcommittee on Immigration Policy and Enforcement:

Unfortunately, worksite enforcement has plummeted under the Obama Administration. Administrative arrests have fallen 77% from 2008 to 2010. Criminal arrests have fallen 60%. Criminal indictments have fallen 57% and criminal convictions have fallen 66%.

And Bush being not good doesn't make Obama good either. Bush was pretty much the worst president of my lifetime.

Blanca, there was zero chance of the DREAM Act of being passed, because wingnuts like you would be crying "amnesty."

I would like to have the real facts of this story verified: (1) was this woman driving a car on a AZ highway without valid driver's license and (2) without a valid license how could this woman drive a car with proper insurance.

Had this woman had an accident who would have paid for the damages? Had this woman injures someone who would have paid the hospital bills? She is not an American citizen or an Arizona citizen so does this giver her a free pass to drive without a driver's license or proof of insurance. SHE IS A PERSON WHO IS BREAKING ALL KINDS OF LAWS WITH IMPUNITY WHICH AMEriCAN CITIZENS DON'T HAVE. THIS LADY SEEMINGLY BELONGS IN JAIL ... THE CRY BABY BIRTHDAY STUFF IS BALONEY. How in the HELL is she driving on a military base without a license or insurance????? What the HELL????

You are not supposed to be able to drive on base without any kind of insurance or driver's license. AND if she 'just forgot it at home' all she has to do is just show up and prove she has a license. It is an ALL together different process if you do not have one to begin with.

You are not supposed to be able to drive on base without any kind of insurance or driver's license.

You're assuming she was driving on base- she lived in Arizona, while her husband is stationed in Germany- likely she wasn't on base, and probably never went while driving.

There also is the possibility that he got a post sticker on their vehicle before he left (or some time on leave visiting) and they normally wave you through without checking anything if you've got one of those... There are random stops even in those cases, but much less likely.

VirginiaDemocrat

I would have to look up the source as I don't remember. I'll try to find it after posting this.

Under Bush, most immigrants caught at the border were a "catch and release" deal. They never finger printed them, took photos or any of those things so it never went down on a record. That being said, it was never counted as a "deportation."

Under Obama, every person crossing the border illegally is caught, photographed, finger printed, and recorded before being "officially deported."

So yes, Obama has "deported" more illegals, but he hasn't actually gotten rid of anymore than Bush did.

They still check your driver's license! How did she get a base pass? Does she NEVER take her daughter to the on base doctor? I seriously doubt she takes her to a private off base doctor! So if she was caught with NO license - they restrict her from driving to her ON BASE house. So what would she do then? Cry about it some more? GET LEGAL! Being an Army wife is NO excuse NOT to be legal.

Oh - if they don't just 'wave you through without checking' - your career could be TOAST. Military rules and laws to be followed. Remember 9-11? They don't do that any more.

They still check your driver's license! How did she get a base pass?

Learn to read- her husband could have gotten a base pass on THEIR VEHICLE while he was in town on R&R from OSUT (Basic training for the non military types.)

Does she NEVER take her daughter to the on base doctor? I seriously doubt she takes her to a private off base doctor!

Likely not- she didn't live anywhere near Ft. Huachuca, and since she was more than 50 miles away from the nearest MTF (Military treatment facility) she has Tricare Prime Remote, which allows her to go to a civilian doctor.

FYI, I'm currently a SGT in the Army, so if you've got any questions feel free to ask- but I'm not someone just guessing the answers, or pulling stuff out of my ass...

They don't do that any more.

Once you get a base tag, they do- the only thing they'll do is salute if the tag is blue (denotes an officer.)

FYI, that also depends on the FPCON/THREATCON level of the day... Rarely do they go to the point of 100% ID checks anymore, and if they do it is for something specific (I'm sure Ft. Hood was on elevated FPCON measures when Maj. Hassan went ballistic... but not daily are they like that.

Oh, and if you're wondering how I know she doesn't live anywhere near Ft. Huachuca- She lives in Mohave county, likely in Bullhead City (that is the recruiting station her husband signed up with- don't ask how I know that, just suffice it to say that he hasn't been at his duty station in Germany long enough for his AKO to update from his initial entry...) which is 400+ miles from Ft. Huachuca.

You obviously don't understand the process involved in becoming a legal citizen if you're already here illegally. It's not as easy as that, otherwise she would have done just that.

You are clueless. You don't know what you are talking about. There is no way, there is no "process", there is no legal pathway for her to "become legal".

Willy, you are the clueless one. when a foreign national marries an American serviceman there IS a process to get her citizenship. Depending on what country she is from it can take longer because of background checks, political considerations etc. Her country of origin can also affect the servicemember's security clearance-if he get/maintain one or the level of access he is entitled to. I did 20 years in the US Army so I know a little about this. I don't expect an answer Willy.

@Willy This is not debatable. Do your research. These are facts that are publicly available and easy to verify. Yes, it is possible for illegal immigrants to achieve legal status, but it is prohibitively difficult, forcing most to choose between destroying their lives or remaining here in limbo.

Again, do your research. I'm not going to get into a, "Yes it is-- no it isn't!" back-and-forth with you on facts that you can easily look-up on your own.

Considering the article itself stated that she has applied already to become a citizen, then obviously there is a process in place allowing her to become legal.

@Willy My apologies, I thought you were responding to me lol.

For the record, there is a path to citizenship, but it's prohibitively difficult, to the point to where there may as not be.

SOAZDAN --

You are obviously the ignorant and clueless one. There is NO process, NONE AT ALL, for someone who is already in the USA illegally through no fault of their own to become an American citizen.

It doesn't matter whether they marry an American serviceman or not. The ONLY process that exists is for the non-American spouse to apply for a Green Card through a US Embassy in their home country, and for the non-American spouse to languish in their home country and be prepared to wait anywhere from 8 months to 3-4 years to get an answer back one way or the other. The process costs hundreds and hundreds of dollars, money that is not refundable even if the application is denied and which that is an economic burden on people in a country that is already desperately poor.

In the case of someone who was brought here as a small child and who was raised in the USA since a very young age (which is exactly the situation this woman is in), what you are advocating is that she should be deported "back to" a country she has never even lived in, a place she knows nothing about and where she has no work prospects and probably does not even speak the language, while waiting potentially for years for an answer that will probably come back "no" anyway.

And by the way I am married to a non-American, I followed all the rules to bring her to the USA legally and it still took well over a year for her to get a Green Card just to be allowed to live with me legally as husband and wife. Therefore it should be obvious that I kn ow what I am talking about while you have no clue, so maybe you should do yourself a favor and sit down and be quiet instead of humiliating yourself further by spouting off ignorant nonsense on things you know nothing about.

John, she's 22, meaning she's been an adult for 4 years. The citizenship process, under ideal circumstances, takes 5-7 years. That's for someone who entered the country legally and possess a good paper trail of birth and residency records.

In her case, she entered at 4 years old, illegally, through no choice of her own. Odds she has any paperwork, birth certificate, anything like that-pretty slim. Are you going to hold her parents choices against her as an adult? If so, what crimes of your parents should you be held accountable for? If your parents stole money to finance your education, should you go to jail for it, or be expected to pay the money back?

Title Eight, United States Code, Section 1255, discusses "adjustment of status to lawful permanent resident," which in ordinary English means the process for noncitizens to obtain a Green Card. Pay careful attention to subsection 1255(i), which expired on April 30, 2001 but is still valid law for certain individuals who can prove they are "grandfathered" (became eligible under this subsection before it expired). Ms. Sanchez can't get a Green Card through her marriage to a U.S. citizen because she was not "duly inspected and admitted" into the United States (that is, she was brought in over the border without documents rather than presenting herself at an airport for inspection with a valid passport and a visa).

Sorry Kris,

Please re-read the article. It clearly states that hubby is also 22 yrs old, also BORN in Mexico but now a LEGAL citizen. If he had the time to become legal, she certainly did.

And for everyone else spouting military spose ID, also in the article it states:

"Trish Carter, a spokeswoman for the Mohave County Sheriff’s Office, said there was no indication in the police report that Sanchez showed her military spouse card. The deputy “followed standard procedure” in turning her over to the Border Patrol, Carter said."

There is a process. They may not like it because it means she has to go back to her home country and go through the waiver process due to that illegal entry and overstay, but it's the only option for anyone who entered without inspection, but it's still a process (one that people undertake every year). Ironically, if they had dealt with this when they got married (or just before), they wouldn't be in this hole. As she's 22 and the marriage is 4 years old, she was 18 when they married. You do not start accumulating illegal presence until 6 months after your 18th birthday. She could have gone back before the marriage, they could have applied for a fiancé visa, and she'd have been back in 3-6 months. No entry bar. No need for a waiver. No issues at all whatsoever. They could have gotten married, and she'd be eligible for citizenship by now.

As a legal immigrant myself, it galls me that her family and her husband refuse to take any personal responsibility. Her parents knew what she'd be facing when they brought her to the US. Her husband, a legal immigrant turned citizen and presumably not oblivious to immigration law, knew the risks when he married her. The only truly innocent victim is their daughter.

So you are above the law if you marry someone in the military? Interesting...

No, but being in the military does give you certain privileges. For example, the privilege to live here. How do you think it would affect our soldiers if we started deporting their loved ones while they were serving overseas? You Teabaggers love pontificating about troop morale. Well, turnabout is fair play.

No, but being in the military does give you certain privileges

It most certainly does not. I did my 6 years and never did it cross my mind that I deserved anything more than my paycheck.

It doesn't? So were you dishonorably discharged, then? Or have you just never heard of the VA? Or the GI Bill? Or military discounts? Or citizenship being granted to non-citizens on active duty? Or.... The list goes on.

Benefits of service. Just like your 401(k), health insurance etc. Those are not privileges.

I might be mistaken, but you can't join unless you are a legal resident and it does not grant you immediate citizenship. I could be wrong about that , though.

@Ruger You've fallen to the level of arguing over word-semantics. Privileges and benefits are both terms that are essentially interchangeable in this context. It bears no relevance to this argument.

And yes, there are numerous cases of illegal immigrants serving honorably in our military. Some of them are granted legal status as a reward.

I am not arguing semantics here. There have been too many occasion where I have been called names not printable because I would not bend the rules for a service member. Sorry, pal. You have all my respect and gratitude, but you will not get special treatment. Benefits are compensation for employment. Privileges are earned. There is a difference and it very much applies to this argument. His service should not allow her the privilege of driving a car. Taking drivers ed, passing a written and driving test grants you that privilege.

Taking drivers ed, passing a written and driving test grants you that privilege.

None of which makes the slightest bit of difference since you can't even get in to the DMV to take a driver's test without showing an American birth certificate -- something she never would have been able to produce, since she was brought into the USA as a very small child through no fault of her own and was not born in the U.S.

The fact that you don't appear even to understand this, gives us a clue as to why you were called all those unprintable names.

None of which makes the slightest bit of difference since you can't even get in to the DMV to take a driver's test without showing an American birth certificate

Absolutely false.

(1) Legal first name, middle name, OR middle initial, and current last name; (2) Date of birth; (3) Social Security Number (SSN), if ever assigned; (4) U.S. citizenship OR U.S. legal presence; and (5) Resident street address in (state deleted by me)

No need for a Birth Certificate, but you do need to show you are not breaking the law by being here illegally. My guess is that her Military spouses ID would satisfy most of these requirements in my state.

Absolutely false.

It's hilarious, how you dig yourself in deeper and reveal even more clearly that you have no idea WTF you are taliking about every time you post.

(4) U.S. citizenship OR U.S. legal presence;

She DOESN'T HAVE "U.S. citizenship or U.S. legal presence". That's PRECISELY WHY she CAN'T get a drivers license. Her parents brought her to the U.S. when she was a small child. She had no choice in the matter.

No need for a Birth Certificate, but you do need to show you are not breaking the law by being here illegally.

She is not breaking the law at all because she had no 'say' in being here illegally, she was brought here as a small child and had no 'choice' in the matter.

What you are espousing in a nutshell (an appropriate choice of words for Tea Baggers) is that:

(a) she "shoulda got herself a drivers' license"

at exactly the same time as you are espousing that

(b) she "absolutely shouldn't be allowed to have a drivers license because she's here illegally".

Which is typical Tea Bagger "logic" for blaming the victim for their own situation, over which they never had any control in the first place.

That you apparently do not even recognize the inherent contradiction between those two positions or recognize that this young woman is in an inherently "Catch-22" situation not of her own making, is exactly why you fit the appropriate description of "Tea Bagger".

My guess is that her Military spouses ID would satisfy most of these requirements in my state.

Your "guess" is entirely wrong. Nothing about a "military spouse I.D." conveys any proof whatsoever of citizenship. Neither, for that matter, does a Social Security card. My wife is a proud Canadian citizen, has lived with me in the U.S. for 25 years, will absolutely never become a US citizen. She has her Green Card, she has a Social Security card but she is not and never will become a US citizen.

RugerSR9c, when I moved to my present state of South Carolina, I just couldn't turn in my old state's driver's license and get a new SC one. I had to present an original, unlaminated SS card, original birth certificate with raised seal, and documents showing that I resided in the state. AND the names on the Birth Certificate and the SS card had to match EXACTLY. It was such a hassle as when I was confirmed (I was catholic) I took a Middle Name that was the same as my father's and thus became a Junior. When I received my SS card it read FIRST NAME MIDDLE INITIAL LAST NAME JR. It didn't match my Birth certificate. It took over four months to straighten it out. I finally had to change the name on my birth certificate.

She DOESN'T HAVE "U.S. citizenship or U.S. legal presence". That's precisely WHY she CAN'T get a drivers license.

So we agree she was driving without a DL. That is illegal in ALL states and most countries. It does not matter WHY she does not have a DL, only that she was driving without one.

Perhaps she should cross the state line and get a DL in CA where they have opened the door to anyone with a pulse and a few dollars.

Trust: Then she will be held liable for falsifying information to obtain a public document. So, in order to avoid being caught she needs to commit another crime? Wow, brilliant logic! (Sarcasm intended).

Kris Craig

"No, but being in the military does give you certain privileges."

Sure, but not this one.

"How do you think it would affect our soldiers if we started deporting their loved ones while they were serving overseas?"

About the same way as for any other arrest for breaking the law.

Trust, to get a license in California One mus show they are here legally. Blanca, if you read above, it does give military personel a privelege. Just like being in the military allowed my wife to get her citizenship two years after getting her immigration visa, instead of having to live in the states for 5 years.

My bad raddave.. I thought they had passed the undocumented immigrant DL before they granted them in state tuition.

Still doesn't change the FACT she was driving without ANY DL. DL is a privilege not a right.

There are a couple of states that allow illegal immigrants to get a drivers license. The basic thing with this is that she was driving illegally without a license and even if she was in the country legally she would have been in trouble as she was not driving with a license.

Up above one person said that it can take a few decades to get citizenship as the US is so behind on their paperwork to grant citizenship to immigrants. I know this isn't true as my sister-in-law came to this country legally under a student visa but then quit school and started to work even though she didn't have a work visa. Her and my brother met and they started to get papers in order to get her citizenship and it didn't take long. I also have an adopted brother and sister from South Korea that my mom put in citizenship paperwork for both of them through a regular attorney. The paperwork didn't take long at all in getting approval for their citizenship. Some instances do take longer and that is because people don't fill out the paperwork right and it causes things to have to be resubmitted which can cause huge delays.

Dean said:

Up above one person said that it can take a few decades to get citizenship as the US is so behind on their paperwork to grant citizenship to immigrants. I know this isn't true as my sister-in-law came to this country legally under a student visa but then quit school and started to work even though she didn't have a work visa. Her and my brother met and they started to get papers in order to get her citizenship and it didn't take long. I also have an adopted brother and sister from South Korea that my mom put in citizenship paperwork for both of them through a regular attorney. The paperwork didn't take long at all in getting approval for their citizenship.

See the below from an AP interview with an AZ immigration lawyer named Rachel Wilson. The amount of time it takes depends on what country you're from and what the wait times are for applications from that particular country.

"If a person wants a work visa in the U.S., and eventually to become a citizen, it's easier if they have a relative in the country who has legal status and can file a petition on their behalf. In those instances there are lines of people waiting -- a wait that can go from a period of a few years to sometimes almost a decade.

"If you have an immediate relative who lives in the United States that is your spouse or a child over 21, then you can apply for a visa relatively quickly. It has to be your immediate relative and that person has to be a citizen. So then let's say you have a spouse who is a legal permanent resident; then you have to get in line and wait probably three or four years. Or you go all the way down to the farthest relative away who can invite a person in, who is a brother or sister who is a citizen, and that line for Mexican citizens is long. There are different lines based on what country you are from." Wilson explains.

On the bulletin posted for September 2010 is an explanation of the different visa categories -- employment-based visas and family-based visas are all based on specific numbers of visas allotted each year for each category and five countries that have a specific visa quota. Mexico is included in that list, as well as China (mainland born), India, the Dominican Republic and the Philippines.

Mexico happens to be the most backlogged of all the countries on the bulletin. For example, next month the State Department will look at petitions of brothers and sisters of adult citizens that were filed in January 1994, but if you are from China, they are going to be getting to petitions filed in October 2001. “It's really complicated. When they are talking about the preferences they are talking about the degree to the relationship you have and what preference you are in the visa system. So then let's say you're Mexican and you have a brother or sister in the United States who petitions for you. Here we are in 2010, and they are processing petitions that were filed in 1994. So that's a wait of 16 years," Wilson says.

"If you are an asylum seeker and you present yourself at the border and say, 'I'm seeking asylum,' they will immediately take you to detention, because that person is what is called an arriving alien. Arriving aliens are subject to mandatory detention. Does that make any sense? Now let's say the law is on your side. You have the correct relationship with a U.S. citizen ... you can file your paperwork, and it gets sent back to you because of some clerical error. It doesn't get resolved right away. Meanwhile that person doesn't have authorization to work and have the documents they need to get a job, even though it's just a little clerical error. ... They may not be able to work for three to six months."

If anything does work in the system it is deportation. Wilson says people who argue that the government isn't doing its job and deporting people are wrong. "It's a flat-out lie. ... The government is deporting people left and right, and immigration courts are backed up two or three years in deportation hearings. The detention centers are full of people, and Immigration has to rent out space in other facilities. For example, everyone is scattered now between the detention center in Eloy and the detention center in Florence, and the Pinal County Jail and the Central Detention Center, and women are sometimes sent out to (the Goodyear prison) Perryville."

"What the government isn't good at is processing people's (applications) -- people who have a right to be here, people who have the ability to get their green card."

I would have to say that deportation doesn't totally work as I live in an area that is flooded with illegals and some have been deported multiple times or they are just released as they are either too busy or full. I have friends that are in this country illegally and they laugh at our system of deportation as they know that they will be back here in the US as soon as they are released.

Dean said:

I would have to say that deportation doesn't totally work as I live in an area that is flooded with illegals and some have been deported multiple times or they are just released as they are either too busy or full. I have friends that are in this country illegally and they laugh at our system of deportation as they know that they will be back here in the US as soon as they are released.

Of course it doesn't totally work. This is why we need Immigration reform.

I was legally adopted as an infant but USCIS lost my adoption paper 18 years after I was adopted, came to me looking for a copy but since my parents never told me I was adopted before they passed away in a car accident, I was deemed 'illegal' even though I had a legal BC, DL, and SS card. They couldn't deport me because I was stateless/undocumented prior to the adoption-- abandoned at an international orphanage with no documents saying who I was, where I was born, or when--I have no idea exactly how old I really am. ICE told me I would spend the rest of my life in deportation until I produced the adoption record. It took me three years of sitting in there writing to every courthouse in three states trying to find the courthouse the record was filed in until I found it, and I'll tell you from personal experience that all the horror stories about deportation camps are true.

Thank God someone that gets it, they understand the word illegally

Yes, she chose to live her life. Burn her at the stake! How dare she get married and have a child?!

Let's get real, folks. This is the only country she ever knew. Who in their right mind would leave their home to go live in an impoverished dustbowl with a corrupt government and rampant drug gangs just because some inflexible dolts think they're inferior for not being born here?

She's every bit as much American as you or I. She grew up here. She went to school here. Everyone she knows is here. Her parents were refugees, so we should destroy her life now? If you learned tomorrow that you were smuggled here from Russia, would you just pack-up and leave? No.

She didn't "dodge" anything. She lived her life as an American in the place where she grew up, just like you did and just like I did. Our laws need to recognize that and give children of refugees like her the ability to become citizens without having to destroy their lives in the process.

"So you are above the law if..." No, that's only if you are a Banker, Washington insider, lobbyist, Wall Street Huckster or overpaid (who get paid even when they refuses to do the job they were elected to because they don't like their boss) Congress person (nice work if you can get it I guess)!!! There is an apparent law that was to protect her from being processed or deported - she will have to answer for her violations of the traffic laws just like the rest of us!

Question: I thought the tea party was about no taxation w/o representation as I see it not everyone claiming tea party status can or does apply under those circumstances - CAUSE THE CROOKS HAVE PLENTY OF REPRESENTATION - HINT, HINT! You people acting as if the party you claim claims you anywhere outside of an election year & you aren't just a sucker like the rest any other day of the year - make me LOL and not totally in a good way. Again Pfc. Garcia Keep Safe & remember the American experience and life is WHAT YOU & YOUR FAMILY MAKE OF IT.

She may have lived here her whole life, BUT she knew she was here illegally.

How the heck is she supposed to "know" she was here illegally? Read the article. She was brought here as a very small child. Do you think a 3-year-old understands the concept of "undocumented immigrant"? She's lived in the US her entire life. She has never known any other home in her entire life. She has never even lived in her so-called "home country" of Mexico and probably doesn't even speak Spanish, let alone have family or work prospects in Mexico that would allow her to survive there.

Something that is easily fixed since she is married to an american citizen. Shes had 4 years to file paperwork to become legal, why hasnt she done so?

Because there is literally no "paperwork to file to become legal". It doesn't exist. You are clueless. You don't know what you are talking about. There is no way, there is no "process", there is no legal pathway for her to "become legal". It is not "easily fixed", it is not even "fixable". And being married to an American citizen does not change or alter that fact.

Hey Willy, it all starts like this...

Petitions Required to be Filed in the United States

U.S. citizens and lawful permanent resident sponsors residing in the United States file Form I-130, Petition for Alien Relative, with the USCIS Chicago Lockbox facility or Phoenix Lockbox facility, following instructions on the USCIS website. U.S. employers file Form I-140, Petition for Alien Worker, as instructed on the USCIS website.

Please note that Phoenix is listed here.

Hey RUGER, please note that all of that goes completely out the window and gets thrown away the moment the US Embassy learns that she has been living in the US as an undocumented alien even though she was brought to the US as a small child through no fault of her own.

If you had bothered to actually READ THE FULL PAGE, you might have noticed that there are only two categories for non-American spouses of Americans to fall into, namely:

* Your spouse is: Inside the United States (through lawful admission or parole)

or

* Your spouse is: Outside the United States

Now, where exactly does it say there is a category labeled:

* Your spouse is: Living in the United States without benefit of lawful citizenshipor legal residency

...??

It doesn't, "genius". There is literally NO CATEGORY for someone living in the USA illegally to fit within that will allow them to apply for legalization.

Nest time, try reading the document fully and getting a clue, so that you do not embarass yourself further.

To Willy Wonka and Ruger: The Green Card process requires two steps, not one. First comes the petition: either the I-130 filed by the spouse or family member, or the I-140 filed by the prospective employer (after receiving certification from the Dept of Labor). This petition has to be approved by the United States Citizenship and Immigration Service (USCIS, formerly INS). Then the beneficiary of the approved petition (that is, the noncitizen subject) sits and waits in his/her "visa preference category," which can be nearly ten years for the sibling of a U.S. citizen, six years for a skilled worker, etc. The spouse, parent and minor child of a U.S. citizen is an "immediate relative" who does not need to sit and wait in a visa preference category. The second step, once the waiting period ends, is to file the I-485 application to adjust status, which is the actual "Green Card" application. For many reasons, individuals can be "inadmissible," that is unable to be approved for a "Green Card" and have their I-485 applications at this second step denied. Ms. Sanchez can complete the first step (get an approved I-130 by her US citizen husband) but cannot complete the second step (her I-485 will be denied because she is inadmissible).

* Your spouse is: Inside the United States (through lawful admission or parole)

Her spouse IS a US citizen and resident of the USA... Even if you have been in the service 30+ years your state of residence remains what it was when you entered the service no matter WHERE on the planet you are deployed. You CAN change it to a new state but most don't unless there is a specific benefit to doing so.

She can also return to her legal country and wait a few years before applying.

Reality though is none of that matters as far as her ARREST went. She drove without ANY drivers license. That would be two illegal actions and depending on how they charged her she may no longer be eligible due to having committed a crime in the USA, driving without a license.

Trust: The penalty for her entering illegally in the US and returning to the country of origin is 10 years. So, while her husbands wears the US Army uniform and risks his life for this country she will have to sit for 10 years for the acts her parents did when she did not have neither the knowledge nor the capacity to understand the concept of illegality. And it does not matter that now she's an adult now and understands the concept of illegal. For the immigration law, she is an illegal, even if she entered when she was days old.

And it does not matter that now she's an adult now and understands the concept of illegal.

It DOES matter. She was driving without a VALID DL. I don't care if she is unable to obtain one or not. Simply because she is protected from prosecution of her parents earlier CRIME she is still responsible for her OWN crimes.

For the immigration law, she is an illegal, even if she entered when she was days old.

I agree 100% and that is what MANY do NOT GET.

The 14th amendment needs revisited. We tried amnesty before and that got us 11-13 million more illegals. I might be convinced to allow those under the age of 16 who were brought by their parents prior to some set date... no pre announcing that date, to become citizens.. but they gotta choose. My convincing however REQUIRES all other ILLEGALS to be sent home, where ever that may be. I honestly don't care what their situation was/is. There are legal ways to enter and over 600,000 do so legally each year. It's the principle of the matter. Do you like when people cut in front of you as you wait your turn?

Trust, driving without a license is NOT a criminal offense. Neither is being in the country illegally. They are both civil violations.

driving without a license is NOT a criminal offense.

It depends on the state. Some consider it a misdemeanor criminal offense, and some consider it a civil offense with the possibility to 'upgrade' to a misdemeanor if additional issues are involved.

raddave44

from http://www.azleg.gov/ArizonaRevisedStatutes.asp?Title=28

28-3473. Driving violations; classification; restricted privilege to drive

A. A person who drives a motor vehicle on a public highway when the person's privilege to drive a motor vehicle is suspended, revoked, canceled or refused or when the person is disqualified from driving is guilty of a class 1 misdemeanor.

The AZ Drivers information manual states

Temporary residents such as out-of-state
students and their spouses, or military
personnel and their immediate family
members may apply for a 5-year license
regardless of age.

AND goes also states

Principal residence is in another state or
country.
Has a valid driver license issued by
another state or country.

There you go- I was too lazy to look up the specific state statute, but it was done already :)

It's easy to pontificate now, but what if you found out tomorrow that you were smuggled here from Russia as an infant? Would you turn yourself in to ICE right away and head back to Siberia?

She grew up here. She's an American. She's lived here her whole life essentially. Her parents were refugees escaping from a desperate situation like so many others. This is a human rights issue, not the stuff of cheap, witless Monopoly references.

And on top of all that, her husband is serving this country overseas. What do you think it would do to the morale of our troops if we started deporting their spouses while they're away?

You need to start looking at the larger issue. When a law exists that makes it impossible for you to exist without destroying yourself, the only way you can continue to exist is to violate that law. Such laws are, therefore, unjust and unenforcable.

Children of refugees like this girl need to be given some option that will allow them to hold onto their lives while getting their citizenship status squared away. If we don't give them such an avenue, we cannot rationally blame them for remaining in legal limbo.

Another person who was born here and thinks they are better then everyone else because you were made here. What have you done for your country? When/Where did you serve? If you haven't served get the hell out and keep your mouth shut! If you did serve you have every right to your opinion. I just hate people who never served this country and deserve everything just because they were born here.

Have served, retired. Dad served, retired goverment(Justice Department), Great Grandfather served, Greatx5 Uncle served 4th calvary div. VA, War Of Northern Aggression. I pay all my taxes, don't cheat on them. Pay for all my own things that I have in this world. @YUS I've seen the rest of the world, there are alot of pretty places but I am a U.S. citizen and like it here, but if I were to move somewhere else you damn well better believe I would follow whatever laws there were to be able to live in that other place so that I was not there ILLEGALLY you GD-SOB.

@ willy wonka787, First, who said I was in Iraq. Second, I have no interest to live somewhere else like I stated above I was only replying to Yus about moving to another country.Third, I noticed that you married a woman from another country was that because you could only get a mail order bride?

Willy- disrespecting a vet doesn't earn you any brownie points. My guess is bbritt or more than a few of the other peace-loving citizens that respect those in out armed forced could snap your little pencil neck in about 2 seconds and nobody would mourn your sorry a*& not being on the planet.

bbritt - thanks for your service and your families service to this country and don't let the dimwits who you protected get you down.

"War of Northern Aggression?" I'm assuming that means your relatives for for the South. So your ancestors were traitors who hated America so much they tried to destroy it and were part of a hostile armed force actively at war with America.

Seems a little bit worse than being brought over the border as a baby, and yet they were allowed to stay here fine and there's no problem with you being here.

Just interesting isn't it?

wonka

Not all of us Vets were in during the current conflicts for starters.

Should we guess you absconded to Canada to avoid the draft? Probably not but your ATTITUDE to those of us who chose to serve or were drafted don't appreciate your disrespect. How about YOU put your arse on the line since you feel the military is doing such a bang up job fighting over what the politicians started. You do realize you are disparaging her husband with your paintbrush?

The thread is about someone driving without a valid DL. She was legally arrested for breaking THAT law. She was pulled over for breaking other driving laws, such as leaving the roadway. There is no letter of understanding stating that a military spouse can violate any state law.. only immigration laws.

Got you all fooled: I invite you to read the Constitution of the United States. It grants you the right to an opinion whether you served or not. Do not stain or dishonor those who gave their life for that piece of paper so you can be that idiotic as to throw the Constitution of the United States to the floor and deny everything for which it stands. Pay close attention to the 1st and the 14th Amendment, where there is no pre-requisite of having served to have an opinion or to demand a better life. I have been serving this nation for 17 years working for the federal government in a civilian capacity. This Constitution is so great that you can hate whoever you want. Toss those rights away by assuming those attitudes and do not complain then when they pass laws against haters, because it will be too late for you.

@ RealWorldProgressive, actually I was raised in the north and lived most of my life in the north, used that particular phrase WAR OF NORTHERN AGGRESSION just as something different. Those of us with PhDs in History and Political Science sometimes like to phrase things differently, I am sorry that I confused you.Trust Verify is correct that we have gotten off the subject and the real discussion of being married to a military person giving you the right to break the law is the real discussion. Back to the main idea is that this article, along with the news and newspapers state the obvious every day, these are illegals in this country. Others have stated because of poor conditions where she came from she should be allowed to live here because this is all she's ever known. I am fairly well off, not really rich but well off, if hard times should come to me and this all that I know, should I be able to steal from others to keep up my style of life so I don't have to live a lifestyle I don't want to live. If that is so ,I lost a decent amount of money in the stock market a few years ago and since you think things should just be given to people, could you send me about $225,000 so that I can keep up my style of life that I am use to, thanks. One other thing, all my decendants came to this country from different European countries. They all came here legally and did what needed to be done to become an American citizen and the Civil War never denounced anyones citizenship but actually led to others eventually becoming citizens, legally.

@LN1958..., soaz and Texas Hick What part of FEDERALLY ISSUED MILITARY SPOUSE ID do you not understand. She is here legally! When her parents brought her here, at age 4, no. She was not legal when she graduated from high school, etc. But the day she married him, or the day he enlisted and his family was issued their papers, this became a civil matter. The military recognizes her as his legal wife. They are following the only path to citizenship available. This stupid situation would have stopped if the officer had followed her back home to get her ID or if ICE in Phoenix had a clue. But instead they wasted our tax money on a non-issue. Non-issue because she is back in her US home with her child. Her trip to Phoenix, and then to Eloy for holding we got to pay for. Nice job Arizona!

What part of FEDERALLY ISSUED MILITARY SPOUSE ID do you not understand. She is here legally!

Wrong. Even if a foreign national marries an American service member, they do not automatically become a citizen themselves. They still have to go through a naturalization process.

The military recognizes her as his legal wife. They are following the only path to citizenship available.

Wrong again- the military recognizing her as his legal wife has no bearing on her citizenship status, and the BEST path for them would have been for her to accompany him on his tour to Germany- Germany is an accompanied tour location, which means your family (spouse and children) can go with you and live there while you are there.

This stupid situation would have stopped if the officer had followed her back home to get her ID

You really should learn to read- she didn't have any id, and when they asked for her SSN, she told them she didn't have one. That tipped them off- ALL American citizens, whether born or naturalized, have SSNs.

Having an SS number does not automatically mean you're a citizen. Having a legal SS number doesn't mean you're not 'illegal' either. People who have legal SS numbers and passed eVerify can and are being deported for being illegal.

Also, the US government can revoke your naturalization and deport you anyway. Saw an article about a US soldier who was picked up for having marijuana (had a legal prescription for medical marijuana for his PTSD) but was deported to Mexico anyway.

The woman was driving without a license. Never mind the fact that she is illegal...can't drive without a license and she got caught driving on private property ? can she drive at all ?

Having an SS number does not automatically mean you're a citizen.

NOT having one AUTOMATICALLY SHOWS You are NOT a citizen.

ILLEGALS need to go away. I dont care if you are doing good, go back from where you came from and come over here when you complete the process the CORRECT WAY. Right now ICE should be finding her folks here are probably still ILLEGAL and deport them.

I hate that bill they tried to pass that if the student is undocumented or illegal they should be able to go to college here.. UM NO.. They are ILLEGAL they shouldnt be here in the first place.

You wouldnt cause you are American.

Absolutely. It's as easy as asking a couple of questions. If there is any question the local police can turn the person whose residency is in question over to ICE and they can handle it from there.

I would think that as AZ hasn't just started with the mentality they hold re: the person's they seek to minimize/marginalize that the officers of their great police force have some idea of everything involved so that way at the very least it's easier to skirt or play dumb when they violate them- that's been my observation of evil, wrongdoers & the worker's of inequity that they like that kind of thing & before you start - not everyone who wears a uniform (of any kind) is honest true or worthy (not referring to the officer in question) either way I was referring to the people within the immigration system not necessarily the cop(s).

SPANK1959 --

Obviously you have never lived anywhere other than West Bumlick and have no undersatanding of the world outside your double-wide trailer. ALL OF the things you mentioned are things that ANYONE would readily be able to "get away with" without being thrown in jail and deported.

1) Being Here Illegally

That's NOT EVEN A "CRIMINAL LAW" VIOLATION. It's a CIVIL matter. It's ONLY a violation of CRIMINAL law if you individually and intentionally tried to avoid being stopped for inspection at a border crossing. Otherwise it's a civil matter. In the case of this woman, her parents brought her to the USA as a small child. She very obviously had no "control" over that and is not to blame whatsoever for the circumstances of how and in what country she was raised.

2) Driving without a license

You would "get away with" that very easily. In most communities even within the USA, you would face nothing worse than a traffic ticket and a court date.

3) Illegal turn or traffic violation

You would "get away with" that very easily. In most communities even within the USA, you would face nothing worse than a traffic ticket and a court date.

Hope that helps.

2) Driving without a license

You would "get away with" that very easily. In most communities even within the USA, you would face nothing worse than a traffic ticket and a court date.

it wasn't she didn't have her DL on her. She does not have a valid license period. They would not allow you to drive away if you don't have a valid license of any sort.

"Hmm do you think AZ cops have the expertise to enforce federal immigration law as the state of AZ argued before the Supremes?"

It doesn't take "expertise". Just some basic training for a few hours. There's a script to follow and a checklist, just like an ICE agent would use. And yes, I think if a criminal behavior under Federal had serious negative consequences for a state, then the state should be allowed to pass laws that mimic the Federal ones and enforce them.

Bank robbery is a Federal crime. If the Feds stop enforcing that law, what should states do about bank robbers?

soazDan said:

Absolutely. It's as easy as asking a couple of questions. If there is any question the local police can turn the person whose residency is in question over to ICE and they can handle it from there.

what you're saying is, 'guilty until proven innocent.'

I thought our legal system was 'innocent until proven guilty'.

Willy,

Not everyone lives in a trailer and even if they do, do you think you are superior to them because they cannot afford to live more comfortably? You can still get your points across without all the insults.

Have a nice day.

Then don't live there, especially if you are illegal. I legally immigrated to the US and became a citizen while living in Arizona. I'd happily show ID if asked about my immigration status. It's a small price to pay to live in a country where that's the worst that can happen to check it.

She didn't have to live there- she could have been in Germany, living with her husband on his accompanied tour.

Blanca Pez said:

I legally immigrated to the US and became a citizen while living in Arizona. I'd happily show ID if asked about my immigration status. It's a small price to pay to live in a country where that's the worst that can happen to check it.

Let me address that. I'm a naturalized citizen now. After spending three years in a deportation camp writing letters to every courthouse in three states trying to find an adoption paper I never knew I had (my parents didn't tell me I was adopted before they passed away in a car accident), I now have the privilege of finally having a home country again and being able to (proudly) call myself an American without being slapped or kicked by a camp guard (previous to my adoption I was stateless so there was nowhere I could be deported, I was 'stuck'.) I was told when I was released from Ritmo in TX that I am not required to carry my naturalization certificate around with me--it is an 8/12 x 11 sheet of green paper with my photo stapled to it and the Pledge of Allegiance printed on it. I need to show it to an employer and explain why I have a three year prison record with no arrest and a clean background check, but I am NOT REQUIRED TO CARRY IT AROUND WITH ME.

If I were to be stopped and a police officer were to ask that I show it to him, what are my guarantees that the officer isn't going to decide he does not like me, tear up my certificate, and take me in for not having it? I can tell the officers at the station that I had it but the officer tore it up, who would believe me? Having dealt with ICE once, you're guilty until YOU prove you're innocent.

If I am required to show it to EVERY law enforcement officer who asks for it, who's to say that cop won't be corrupt, take it, sell it on the black market to have forgeries made of it? What's my guarantee that that uniformed officer isn't just a police imposter and I could then be arrested for not having papers when I report the theft to a real officer?

And my number one reason for not wanting to carry it around with me--IT WILL COST $600 AND TAKE THREE YEARS TO GET ANOTHER ONE! You know from dealing with them how long it takes USCIS to get anything done!

Amanda I am proud of you for saying that. To many people think it is ok to let illegals in and not have them go though the process you went through. I did the same with my ex-wife and step-daughter. the right way!

mountainstateboy said:

To many people think it is ok to let illegals in and not have them go though the process you went through.

You're crazy. NO ONE SHOULD HAVE TO GO THROUGH WHAT I WENT THROUGH, illegal or citizen!!!!

Most people in the US have NO idea what deportation camps are like. The camp I was held in was called 'Ritmo' by Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International because they said that it reminded them of Gitmo-Guantanamo Bay.

Food served was crawling with maggots and we were told there was no money in the budget to prepare more meals. Underwear assigned me after the once-weekly shower still had blood from another woman's period crusted in it because they didn't wash it before giving it to me. Lights were never turned off so it was hard to get any sleep. There were no partitions between the toilets and the living areas, and there were five toilets for each pod of 50-60 people. No toilet plungers because the wood handles could be sharpened so if a toilet was blocked you stuck your bare hands into it to unclog it. Clean towels were a joke. The strongest cleaning chemical allowed was dish soap. There was no money in the budget for bras so only lactating women or women with heavy breasts got them. We had one piece jumpsuits so if we had to go we basically had to strip down. And yes, guards got their rocks off watching us pee.

Because we were 'illegal' we didn't have the right to ask that member of the female gender perform our strip and body cavity searches; we got whoever happened to be there. The guards got their rocks off sticking their fingers in us--one guard would claim that he felt something and invite another guard to have a look...so in one search we could have more than one persons' hands on us at a time. I know of at least one other woman in the camp with me who was raped, by the camp chaplain, no less. They also made a game of randomly taking one girl out, telling her to strip, kneel, and then he would hold a gun to her head and pull the trigger--on an empty gun.

This was a for-profit private deportation facility, and it has since been shut down for human rights violations, and I've heard that in the ICE run camps things are better supervised and relatively more human, but I would still NEVER want anyone to go through what I went through!!!!

A relative lives in Arizona and she loves the law, crime is significantly down, classes are not overcrowded and english is spoken and you can get into the ER without a 12 hour wait. If you don't live with that then how can you criticize the law?

Does it matter? Her husband is serving in the military you are enjoying your freedom because of what a small percentage of people in this country do. If he is willing to risk his life for his family that's honorable. What do you know about that?

Quite bit as it turns out. Texas, Korea, Honduras and California is where I served. You?

How many innocent civilians did you murder in Iraq, RUGER? Docha just hate it when people in Third World countries actually have the gall to NOT WANT TO be "liberated" at gunpoint?

How many innocent civilians did you murder in Iraq, RUGER?

Zero. I've been out for over 25 years. Don't even begin to think that you knowing of my prior service gives you any insight into my views concerning our current state of affairs overseas.

How many innocent civilians did you murder in Iraq, RUGER? Docha just hate it when people in Third World countries actually have the gall to NOT WANT TO be "liberated" at gunpoint?

How many Iraqi citizens have you spoken to? Let me guess- NONE.

Don't be so quick to believe everything you read in the media.

yes it is. You wait five years and you apply, considering you would have a green card already as a permanent resident. You then take the required classes and it is not a thesis, especially if you speak English already which they do in Australia.

I think people like you should be deported. By the way you spell you have nothing to offer this country. I understand misspelling a couple of of words here and there but god damn that is ugly!

It is to bad that her ancestors did not have your attitude in 1492 and some way to enforce it when Colombis and his gang of thieves strolled on land with no green cards.

Sorry for typing too fast, I'll proof it next time for you.

It is not simple to return after deportation. Even the spouse of a U.S. citizen has to prove "extreme hardship" to the U.S. citizen spouse, which can be incredibly difficult. She would need to file I-212 and I-601 applications for waivers ("forgiveness") of her inadmissibility (based on being deported and on being here illegally). If the waiver applications are denied because her spouse's suffering is deemed to be only normal disruption that does not reach the level of extreme hardship, then she would be barred for ten years from returning to the United States. Daughter and mother would be forced to live apart until the child is a teenager. How can she risk that?

She is getting what she deserves. Don't forget she was disregarding the traffic cones in a construction zone. She doesn't know about all the deaths of road construction workers in such zones because she doesn't have a drivers liscense and feels that traffic laws don't apply to her. Her child's party was the only thing that was of importance, and instead of washing the dishes that would have been dirtied, she chose to drive recklessly to get paper plates. If she had paid attention to the traffic cones, she would had not had to meet the police officer who was just doing the job he is supposed to do. Guess she is learning the hard way about obeying traffic laws.

Funny thing about some people who plow right through obstacles to achieve their needs yet are unwilling to meet others half-way. If you get a chance to drive in South-Texas to Nuevo-Laredo, you start noticing trash about fifty miles from the town. It is there on every level. The closer you get to the town, the more trash you see. The worst is to witness people eat out of a wrapper and drop these items on the ground even though a trash can may be available within feet. It is a lack of respect towards others and themselves as well. If you want to see through the psyche of a person, all you have to do is observe if they care to do the "small" things that make a society positive and productive. The ones who come to the US to drop their trash need not apply for citizenship. Such a small and simple request.....

Our soldiers are supposed to be upholding the laws of our country, not breaking them. The lack of accountability, integrity, and honor in the U.S.A. today is heartbreaking to me.

idiot

NIFTY, the truth hurts, doesn't it?

See this from an AP article:

Blanca Catt, who at 19 still lives at home, wants to join the military or go to college like many in her Columbia Christian School graduating class. Instead she lives in fear she'll be deported. Catt, born in Mexico and smuggled into the U.S. as a toddler, was seized from abusive parents by the state of Oregon and placed into foster care with the Catts when she was 5 years old. The Catts adopted her three years later and said caseworkers told them their daughter automatically became a U.S. citizen.

That was not true.

When Blanca tried to apply for a driver's permit at 16, she learned for the first time that crucial paperwork had never been filed to make her a legal resident. She's been in limbo ever since, unable to apply for jobs or loans, or even fly to Disneyland with her graduating class. Now Catt is caught in a bind. Since she has turned 19, she faces tough penalties for being in the country illegally. If she is deported, she would have to wait 10 years to apply for re-entry. Lisa Catt, Blanca's mother, is frustrated that state workers never completed the paperwork and then failed to tell Blanca's adoptive family of the omission.

Yea, she should be charged with driving without a license, serve her time, and hopefully then they sould start the deporting process. Allowing people to stay in the country simply because they have a spouce in the military is wrong. I understand the great honor in serving our country, but the law is the law, and she needs to follow it.

Every American soldier who is stationed is serving your idol and Commander in chief obummer, how dare you speak about armed forces with such hatred and disrespect. They don't need to know the type of person you are (who I assume is living a nice life here )that they died so you could have. Almost all of my male family members served in WWII and the ones who weren't killed came back wounded. I will pray for you, you need God's grace, and if you don't like it here, then waddle across the border

Patriotic enough to risk his life. How many times have you risked your life for patriotism?

well put come and take it.

In order to obtain a Military Dependent ID card for his wife and three year old, you have to present a notarized birth certificate to the issuing agency.

No you don't- you are required to have a birth certificate to enroll your spouse into DEERS, but it doesn't have to be an American birth certificate.

Once they are enrolled into DEERS, you only have to show two forms of ID- neither are required to be an American birth certificate.

(i.e., Marriage License/Certificate & proof of obtaining naturalization documents)

You're under the erroneous assumption that you are required to be an American citizen to obtain a military dependent ID card. Guess what? Service members marry foreign nationals quite frequently, and before they have even started the naturalization process they have a dependent ID card.

A Military Dependent ID is better than a drivers license (which she didn't have either).

She has a military dependent ID card- a drivers license she doesn't have.

come and take it said:

Bottom line here is that this person has always known she is in violation of the law. She proved that by evading a traffic stop.

Er. The article states she tried to avoid a construction zone by making an illegal turn. That was why she was stopped. She had no idea she'd be taken in as an illegal since she and her husband have already filed the paperwork, they're just waiting on USCIS to process the application. Also she is the dependant spouse (she says she showed the military ID to the officer but the officer's report makes no mention of it) but if she did indeed give him the military ID, then under the laws she should have been issued a ticket/citation for no license and the illegal turn and that should have been the end of it.

Wait a minute, a soldier and his wife love living in America so much that he's willing to risk his life serving his country to make sure that he and his wife can continue living her unmolested by the authorities? That's not a patriotic enough motive for you for military service?

As to her bad decisions, which ones are those? The one she made at 4 years old to follow her parents across the border illegally? That's the bad decision your holding against her? Or the one she's made everyday since she was 18 to not return to a country where she knows absolutely no one and may not even speak the language? that bad decision?

Sure, she, like you or I, should get ticketed for no license and illegal U-turn. Pay whatever the fine is in AZ for that offense, maybe pick up some garbage on the side of the highway (a particular torture in June/July/August in that heat-blasted state). Those are the bad decisions she should pay for.

Well said justross.

No drivers license-illegal. Here illegally-illegal. Driving w/o license-illegal. She ain't trying to hard to be a US citizen. Besides do we want people here whos fist act is to break the law(entering US illegally). Put some guards on the border geez.

For those who care . . . You don't need an SSN to get a military family member ID card. How do you think all those foreign family members in Japan, Germany, Italy, and other places get IDs? Many of them do not have SSNs.

How about letting the Native Americans decide who is here legally?

How about letting the Native Americans decide who is here legally?

"Native Americans" immigrated here too..........

How about if you want to go back far enough, we go back to the days of Pangaea? Seems silly, don't you think?

Who the bleep are you to presume to "decide" who an American soldier serving his country is "allowed" to fall in love with and marry??

Willy, did truth just say causes more problems. Did they cause the housing collapse, high unemployment, Stocks to fall, the price of gasoline to rise, the recession, banks to fail, lying corrupt politicians, the war in Iraq and Afganistan? Please there are plenty of people born in this country that cause more than their share of problems. Being iqnorant reproducing and voting is two of them.

Minority lending caused the recession, pushed by our government specifically by the democrats even though you will deny it. very simple

Willy_Wonka787

Who the bleep are you to presume to "decide" who an American soldier serving his country is "allowed" to fall in love with and marry??

And who are you to say that exempts her from immigration laws. He knew what he was getting into and what the consequences could be. Being in the military does not change that. They had done what was necessary to get her legal, no matter how "inconvenient".

Her citizenship status or lack thereof should not have been questioned once she produced her military ID. That's one of the perks for military- special allowances for citizenship for service to country (his, in this instance). Her butt should have been dragged off to the police dept and held for driving without license and insurance, until release to the military, his CO notified and his record to reflect his dependent's malfeasance (gee , thanks honey!), impounded car sold at auction! Maybe the law should be stopping all cars to check for DL, insurance, etc.

Agreed.

While I appreciate the husband's service, he knew she was illegal and enlist for the purpose (perhaps solely) for his wife's benefit. While that's love, it's not patriotic.

falfurious

Her citizenship status or lack thereof should not have been questioned once she produced her military ID

She does NOT have a military ID she had a DEPENDENT ID. That does not show citizenship only that she is a military dependent. She STILL broke the law when she drove without having a license. She committed a traffic violation that drew the attention of police. They proceeded to ask here for DL, Insurance and Registration... OHHHH you don't have a DL?.........

Obvisiously, you don't know anything regarding the military! The ID card issued to family members is not called a "dependent id" as you have stated...it is a "United States Uniformed Services Identification and Privilege Card". On that card...the spouse and the dependent social security numbers are listed...so, if she didn't have a social security number, then whose number is listed on her id...mainly for DEERS....hmmm...someone needs to check that!

@ long arm - I was in the mortgage business so I know what caused the recession. You are wrong. In fact, you are so wrong that either you have been duped by someone you trust on TV, or you are deliberately spreading falsehoods for some sort of personal gain.

How did she even get married? No birth certificate, no social security number, no legitimate proof of her identity. So how the hell was she even allowed to be married? With all the identity theft in this country due to illegals, her background should be checked completely before she's allowed to even step foot on this country's soil. And where's her parents? Since she was brought here illegally, and since I highly doubt somehow her parents got legal but forgot about her, it means they are here illegally as well. They need their carcasses deported also.