Things That Matter

This DACA Recipient Was Assured He Could Get A Visa In Mexico To Start His Green Card Process But Got Denied

By April 11, 2018 at 10:53 am
National Immigration Law Center / Facebook

Mexican-born Marco Villada traveled to his native country on the promise that in order to get his green card, he’d have to first get a visa from the U.S. consulate. It was the last step Marco needed to have full protection from deportation because his Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) status just wasn’t stable enough — at least not under the Trump Administration.

Villada is eligible for a green card because his husband, Israel Serrato, is a U.S. citizen. However, during his interview at the U.S. Consulate things didn’t go according to plan for the DACA recipient.

The U.S. Consulate denied Marco his visa, which meant he couldn’t return to the U.S. with his husband.

CREDIT: Facebook/National Immigration Law Center

Villada and his husband traveled to Mexico for two weeks in order to be interviewed at the U.S. Consulate and get his visa. He was promised re-entry to the U.S. through a provisional wavier provided by the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) back in January.

In an op-ed in The Washington Post, writer Catherine Rampell notes that under U.S. law, U.S. citizens can sponsor green cards for their immigrant spouses, which is what Serrato intended to do for Villada. However, the immigrant in question must first go back to their birth country and apply for a visa through the U.S. Consulate in order to return. Then, they can continue the process of a green card legally.

“Leaving the country is risky, though,” Rampell writes. “Normally if you’ve spent more than six months here unlawfully and you leave, you’re barred from coming back for years. Sometimes forever.”

Villada left Mexico at the age of 6 and has been in the U.S. ever since. Now he’s with family that he’s never really known.

CREDIT: Facebook/National Immigration Law Center

“I’m an American stuck in the wrong country,” Villada said, according to the National Immigration Law Center (NILC). “I don’t belong here. I belong in Los Angeles. My husband, my family, my job, my life — everything is there.”

Serrato adds that Villada’s absence has devastated not just his life, but his family in the U.S. as well.

“This isn’t just hard on us, it’s impacting our family, Marco’s coworkers, and so many other people in our lives,” Serrato told NILC. “But despite all of this, we remain hopeful that our government will do the right thing and we will be together at home again soon.”

The 34-year-old is now suing the U.S. State Department and immigration services.

NILC states that the U.S. Consulate denied his visa on ungrounded terms.

“USCIS also failed to properly notify [Villada] that the information he provided in his visa application could render the provisional waiver he received invalid,” the NILC stated in a press release.

The lawsuit alleges that immigration services neglected to inform Villada that his waiver would be nullified based on his case.

“I don’t know if they were lazy and sloppy or looking for ways to trap people,” Villada’s lawyer Stacy Tolchin told The Washington Post. “Either way, they have an obligation to do their job, and they didn’t do it.”

“Immigrant youth like Marco are an inextricable part of our communities,” Nora Preciado, senior staff attorney at the NILC said in a released statement. “Marco is a loving spouse, a model employee, a brother to an active duty military member, and a vibrant member of the LGBTQ community. Our anti-immigrant policies don’t just hurt immigrants — they hurt all of us.”


READ: The Trump Administration Says It Won’t Protect DACA Recipients Unless Democrats Make Deals With Them

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Amy Coney Barrett Has Refused To Acknowledge That Systematic Racism Exists

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Amy Coney Barrett Has Refused To Acknowledge That Systematic Racism Exists

By October 22, 2020 at 5:26 pm
BY  | October 22, 2020 AT 5:26 pm
Pool / Getty

We know LGBTQ rights, birth control, and race are under threat as Amy Coney Barrett as President Donald Trump’s Supreme Court nominee. We know that that conservative judge has been evasive in answering comments about her beliefs which, if appointed, would steer her in making fundamental decisions that could affect American citizens’ lives for decades. Still, though we knew things are bound to go sideways as most things under the Trump administration have, we didn’t realize that an educated woman living in today’s world would refuse to acknowledge a basic societal fact: that “systemic racism” exists in the United States.

In written responses submitted Tuesday night, Barrett repeated her refusal to say whether “systemic racism” exists in our country.

After Sen. Mazie Hirono, Democrat of Hawaii asked her to explain her view of the existence of “systemic racism” in the United States, Barret refused the opportunity to acknowledge its existence.

“At the hearing, you acknowledged that racism persists in our country, but you refused to answer where there is systemic racism, calling it a ‘policy question.’ You also refused to answer other questions based on your view that they are ‘policy questions,’” Hirono wrote in his questions. “What makes a statement a policy question rather than a question of fact?”

“I believe that racism persists in our country, but as I explained at the hearing, whether there is ‘systemic racism’ is a public policy question of substantial controversy, as evidenced by the disagreement among senators on this very question during the hearing,” Barrett replied. “As a sitting judge and judicial nominee, it would be inappropriate for me to offer an opinion on the matter.”

Barrett’s approach to the question is not totally uncommon. Previous Supreme Court nominees have avoided answering questions concerning precedent. Barrett clung to the approach during her confirmation hearing last week while sitting before the Senate Judiciary Committee. Barrett used this as a standard and repeatedly cited it as a reason for dodging questions.

Systemic racism exists within our country without question.

It persists in our academic settings, workplaces, as well as in our court and judicial system. The fact is that when a certain group dominates a majority of positions of decision-making power, others struggle to exist and get by let alone get ahead. For generations and right now, white people have been the dominating group with decision-making power and people of color have suffered as a result. Acknowledgment is a vital part of making this change. Particularly from our leaders.

The Senate Judiciary Committee will vote on Barrett’s confirmation on Thursday afternoon.

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Mexican President Criticizes DEA For Role In Former Army Chief’s Arrest

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Mexican President Criticizes DEA For Role In Former Army Chief’s Arrest

By at 12:42 pm
BY  | October 22, 2020 AT 12:42 pm
Hector Vivas / Getty Images

President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador criticized the historic role of the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration in Mexico after a former Mexican army chief was arrested Thursday in Los Angeles on drug charges at the request of the DEA.

The former Mexican Defense Minister was arrested by the DEA on drug charges.

Salvador Cienfuegos Zepedas was the secretary of National Defense in the government of President Enrique Peña Nieto from 2012 to 2018. President Lopez Obrador claims that the arrest is proof of corruption from past governments.

President Lopez Obrador used the arrest to criticize the U.S. government and the DEA.

President Lopez Obrador, speaking at a press conference in Oaxaca, claimed that there is a double standard. While Cienfuegos Zepedas has been arrested by the DEA, the president claims U.S. officials have not been held accountable for trafficking arms into Mexico to track them to the cartels. According to the president, Mexican officials are being held at a higher and harsher standard than U.S. officials.

“Why is it that it’s just the people in Mexico who took part in these acts being accused or implicated, and (the DEA) aren’t criticizing themselves, reflecting on the meddling by all these agencies in Mexico,” Lopez Obrador said at the press conference. “They came into the country with complete freedom, they did whatever they wanted.”

The former defense minister’s arrest sent shockwaves through Mexico.

Cienfuegos Zepedas was the first high-ranking Mexican military official to be arrested in the U.S. with drug-related corruption. He was arrested at the Los Angeles International Airport and will be facing drug and money-laundering charges. It’s been less than a year since Genaro Garcia Luna was charged with taking bribes from the Sinaloa drug cartel led by Joaquin “El Chapo” Guzman.

President Lopez Obrador wants to protect the military’s reputation.

Lopez Obrador also said he hopes that the armed forces aren’t blamed for this scandal and that Mexico must take care of institutions as important as the Secretary of National Defense. Mexico does not currently have an ongoing investigation of the retired general and will await the result of the U.S. investigation, according to the president of Mexico. 

Cienfuegos Zepedas is due to make a court appearance related to four charges in California on Friday, Oct. 23, 2020.

READ: This Is What Mexico’s AMLO Wants From The Pope For The Churches Crimes Against Indigenous Mexicans

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