US Immigration Gestapo continues pattern of human rights abuse

Ivan Pavlenko came to the US from Ukraine in 2004. His mother had married an American and gained permanent resident status. Being under 21, Ivan applied for similar status under a special provision applicable to minor children of permanent residents. After years of failing to process that application, the Immigration Gestapo now says he is subject to being deported. Because – can you believe this? – he turned 21 before his application was approved. (See details at this link.)

What kind of [expletive deleted] Kafkaesque country do these Immigration pricks think this is?

Pavlenko’s is not an isolated case. In fact, for quite a few years, the U.S. Immigration Gestapo has pervasively treated immigrants in this absolutely abominable manner. Many upstanding and contributing members of our society have been thrown out of the country for stupidly indefensible reasons, causing great trauma to themselves and their (often American) families. This is one of our greatest national disgraces.

I had hoped that the new Obama administration might bring a more enlightened approach. It has not. The Homeland Security Gauleiter, Janet (“the system worked”) Napolitano, seems intent on continuing every misguided, misconceived and misbegotten policy in place when she took office, including all these immigration horrors.

One aspect is how hard we make it now for highly skilled people to come here to work in, say, science and engineering jobs; though we desperately need them; and while we do let people come here to study, when they’re done, do we try to keep them here with their skills? No, we throw them out! Suicidally insane.

And just yesterday, the local weekly Metroland featured a story (click here) about how the Immigration Gestapo recruits, as informers, immigrants with problematic status, promising in return to help them get proper green cards. Some have been a great help to the government, in catching criminals, often at great personal risk. And when the Gestapo is done with them, guess what? Deportation! The pair featured in Metroland, Emilio and Analia Maya, spent four years helping the Gestapo to bust a prostitution ring, human traffickers, and even worked in a factory hiring undocumented aliens to gather evidence. They have meanwhile been working very hard building a restaurant business in Saugerties, they are the kind of people we should very much want here, and the local community has been terrific in rallying to their support.

I am pleased, at least, to note that the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit has recently ruled against the Immigration Gestapo in a case similar to Ivan Pavlenko’s, holding that the government’s position “violates basic principles of common sense and fairness.” And the Mayas’ case got enough attention that Congress has passed a “private bill” applicable to them only, helping them.

God bless America.