Legal resident of 20 years, mother of 4, deported for driving illegals home from work

[Alonzo]

Austin resident Luissana Santibanez is a busy young lady. The UT senior is tackling a double major of history and government, is an active member of student group MEChA (Movimiento Estudiantil Chicana/o de Aztlán, or Chicano Student Movement of Aztlán), and works with the community group Austin Coalition for Immigrant Rights. Like many full-time students, she has taken out student and bank loans to get by. Unlike many other full-time students, however, Luissana has done so because she's supporting her three younger siblings. "I take care of my sister, who's 15. She's at Travis High School," the 22-year-old said. "I also take care of my brother, who's 14 – he's in eighth grade – and another brother, who's 12, in seventh grade."

It all started 13 months ago, when their mother, Sergia Santibanez, was arrested and charged with transporting undocumented residents, an aggravated felony. Sergia, who had been raising her family as a single mother ever since her husband, who was undocumented, was deported in the early Nineties, ran an informal van company, similar to a taxi service. She wasn't intentionally breaking any laws, Luissana insists. "It was just her own way of trying to support her kids," she explained. "She would provide van service to people who needed rides, and it wasn't her job to ask whether her customers were undocumented or not. She wouldn't pick them up in Mexico or anything, it was just an inner-state transportation service." While driving a group of people from San Antonio to Dallas, Sergia got into an accident in New Braunfels. Luissana says that when the officer who came to check out the scene asked everyone in the van for their papers, some people were able to provide proof of their legal status, but some were not.

Sergia, who has been a legal resident of the United States for more than 20 years, has been held in an immigration detention center in Houston ever since and is now facing deportation. Though it worries Luissana that Sergia might be sent back to her rural hometown in Michoacán, Mexico, and though she knows the move would be a hard transition for her younger brothers and sister, all who are, like Luissana, U.S. citizens, at least they would be together. "I think the hardest thing about it is just knowing that my mom has been denied freedom," Luissana said. "Whatever we as a family go through is nothing compared to what she is going through being separated from her children."

http://www.austinchronicle.com/gyrobase/Issue/story?oid=oid%3A404291

That story is two years old, and the mother has been deported to Mexico and is trying to find a way back into the U.S. to be with her children. The oldest sibling was on on the Tavis Smiley show recently, which is how I heard of it.

[cronic]

2 years and she still hasn't found the hole in the fence?..
WoW..
Just WoW!

[Osborn F. Enready]

From Alonzo's article:
"She would provide van service to people who needed rides, and it wasn't her job to ask whether her customers were undocumented or not. She wouldn't pick them up in Mexico or anything, it was just an inner-state transportation service."

This is why you KNOW the government is failing at protecting the border...... the MAIN REASON we allowed them to collect taxes in the first place......

The sooner we physically close the border to illegals, the less of these problems we will have.

[Alonzo]

Not sure what you mean. She was driving people within Texas, she wasn't transporting anyone into the country. It even says that some of those she was driving were legal residents.

[Osborn F. Enready]

Alonzo said:
Not sure what you mean. She was driving people within Texas, she wasn't transporting anyone into the country.

Weren't some of them illegal? Yes. Is her transporting of those illegals why she was deported? Yes. If they weren't here illegally, and she wasn't transporting illegals, would she still be here? Yes.

Alonzo said:
It even says that some of those she was driving were legal residents.

And?

(from your article:
It all started 13 months ago, when their mother, Sergia Santibanez, was arrested and charged with transporting undocumented residents, an aggravated felony.)

[potter]

Would any taxi driver be deported if it was found their passegner/s was an illegal immigrant? How about city busses?

[Osborn F. Enready]

Potter said:
Would any taxi driver be deported if it was found their passegner/s was an illegal immigrant? How about city busses?

Would they, or could they?

I am sure they could be, but not sure they would be unless CAUGHT in the act specifically.

I am just pointing out how its the illegals that are the problem as much as the government that refuses to put up and patrol a fence to keep them out unless they come across LEGALLY.

[Burning Giraffe]

She shouldn't have been deported, she should have been arrested and thrown in jail.

[Easy90]

"..works with the community group Austin Coalition for Immigrant Rights..." Translation: Works as an agent to promote ILLEGAL IMMIGRATION."

"She wasn't intentionally breaking any laws, Luissana insists."

Yes, she was...and to boot...she was committing a felony.

"Sergia, who has been a legal resident of the United States for more than 20 years.."

What does that mean? If she herself entered the country illegally, (which, though unsaid, is almost a certainty) she wasn't a "legal resident." Also, she is a "foreign national?" (It doesn't say she is a naturalized American...therefore that is a reasonable assumption.) As such...since she is a foreign national...and committed a felony...she should be deported, as soon as she serves her sentence in jail...

[AlanC]

She shouldn't have been deported, she should have been arrested and thrown in jail.

She was in this country for 20 years? If she had become a citizen, that is what would have happened. Jail or a fine.

If you are here as a foreign national and you committ a crime, you can be deported. She could have prevented this in two ways. Don't do it, or become a citizen.

[potter]

She was in this country for 20 years? If she had become a citizen, that is what would have happened. Jail or a fine.

If you are here as a foreign national and you committ a crime, you can be deported. She could have prevented this in two ways. Don't do it, or become a citizen.


I'm of the mind that if you've lived in and contributed to a society for 20 years you are a citizen, even without the "legalities"

Kinda like common law marriage.

[AlanC]

I'm of the mind that if you've lived in and contributed to a society for 20 years you are a citizen, even without the "legalities"

Kinda like common law marriage.

Well that makes you a minority of one and at odds with all the legal precedence of the last 200 years.

If she wanted the protection of being a citizen, it was available to her. If she wanted to obey the laws it was available to her. She chose to ignore both options. There is no common law citizenship. Well that is until the next president thinks he can pick up 10 million votes with the proposal. I have no illusions about either Obama or McCain actually doing anything to secure the borders or deal with the illegals already here.

[Alonzo]

If she wanted the protection of being a citizen, it was available to her. If she wanted to obey the laws it was available to her. She chose to ignore both options.

Are you suggesting she refused to get citizenship? That's supported how? I've never heard of immigrants not taking citizenship when it's available.

And, regardless of law, morally, why should a person be jailed for transporting illegals, without knowing they were illegal, within a state? I didn't know driving an illegal from point A to point B, without crossing a state line or attempting to hide them, was punishable by anything.

[AlanC]

Are you suggesting she refused to get citizenship? That's supported how? I've never heard of immigrants not taking citizenship when it's available.

And, regardless of law, morally, why should a person be jailed for transporting illegals, without knowing they were illegal, within a state? I didn't know driving an illegal from point A to point B, without crossing a state line or attempting to hide them, was punishable by anything.

If she was here for 20 years, she had been more than eligible to apply for citizenship a long time ago.

And to suggest that she didn't know she was transporting illegals, is well, naive... in the extreme.

[Burning Giraffe]

She was in this country for 20 years? If she had become a citizen, that is what would have happened. Jail or a fine.

If you are here as a foreign national and you committ a crime, you can be deported. She could have prevented this in two ways. Don't do it, or become a citizen.

I thought she had become a citizen. At least, I thought that was the premise of the original post, I suppose I misunderstood it. But yes, if she wasn't a citizen, than she should be deported.

[PostmodernProphet]

If she was here for 20 years, she had been more than eligible to apply for citizenship a long time ago.


not if she had entered illegally......

[Easy90]

I'm of the mind that if you've lived in and contributed to a society for 20 years you are a citizen, even without the "legalities"

Kinda like common law marriage.

That's like saying: "If you rob a bank, and then invest the money in a legitimate business...and don't get caught for say, 20 years....the money is yours, and your crime is forgiven...without the 'legality.'

There's a principle in real estate law called "adverse possession.." It says if you encroach on your neighbor's property with, say...a fence...and do it openly, and notoriously, and continuously..and your neighbor doesn't contest the action for seven years...you then have legal claim to the new boundary lines. In effect, you've "legally" stolen your neighbor's land. Maybe Potter believes the same principle applies to sneaking into a foreign country and assuming citizenship rights without benefit of "legality" and then claiming "adverse possession" of the rights by law. Who cares if you've used false identities (or someone else's social security number, etc.?) Who cares if legal citizens have been shackled with paying for your "social footprint?" That it Potter?

[Easy90]

Here's a good way to get a handle on one aspect of the "illegal immigrant" situation.

In order to get "legitimate" employment in the US, you're required to have a Social Security Card. Your employer is required to report paying you for work, and all citizens (even children) are supposed to have a Social Security Account Number.

Google "Social Security Card Application" and go to the government web page they provide for downloading a PDF file for a social security card. Take a look at the questions you must answer to get a card/SSAN. Now....consider all the illegals in this country (estimates vary...but it's generally said there are fifteen to twenty MILLION illegals here now...) It's fair to say that millions of them work at jobs that have a fraudulent SSAN on file for them.... Where did they come up with the numbers, without falsifying the information on the applications? How many of the SSANs are simply fabricated...or belong to other people, living or dead? Given the identity theft situation in America (which is endemic)Why hasn't the government investigated all the bogus SS numbers being filed on accounting records of employers?

Obviously, millions of illegals either use fraudulent SSANs or live in an underground economy that avoids taxes and reporting laws all together.

[Easy90]

Here's a good way to get a handle on one aspect of the "illegal immigrant" situation.

In order to get "legitimate" employment in the US, you're required to have a Social Security Card. Your employer is required to report paying you for work, and all citizens (even children) are supposed to have a Social Security Account Number.

Google "Social Security Card Application" and go to the government web page they provide for downloading a PDF file for a social security card. Take a look at the questions you must answer to get a card/SSAN. Now....consider all the illegals in this country (estimates vary...but it's generally said there are fifteen to twenty MILLION illegals here now...) It's fair to say that millions of them work at jobs that have a fraudulent SSAN on file for them.... Where did they come up with the numbers, without falsifying the information on the applications? How many of the SSANs are simply fabricated...or belong to other people, living or dead? Given the identity theft situation in America (which is endemic)Why hasn't the government investigated all the bogus SS numbers being filed on accounting records of employers?

Obviously, millions of illegals either use fraudulent SSANs or live in an underground economy that avoids taxes and reporting laws all together.

[Alonzo]

If she was here for 20 years, she had been more than eligible to apply for citizenship a long time ago.

Unless you have something to show she could have attained it and didn't, it's just a baseless claim.

And to suggest that she didn't know she was transporting illegals, is well, naive... in the extreme.

So people carry a sign that says "illegal!"? It says she was driving both legal residents and illegal ones. It says she didn't know and didn't ask.

[Osborn F. Enready]

Alonzo said:
Unless you have something to show she could have attained it and didn't, it's just a baseless claim.

HUH?

What, should the state have called an escort service and provided the forms, pens and a study guide on how she should become a citizen?

Why couldn't she apply like any other immigrant who has the RESPECT and COURTESY to go through the proper process??

[Alonzo]

HUH?

What, should the state have called an escort service and provided the forms, pens and a study guide on how she should become a citizen?

Why couldn't she apply like any other immigrant who has the RESPECT and COURTESY to go through the proper process??

So every immigrant who applies gets citizenship? Is that your argument?

[Osborn F. Enready]

Alonzo said:
So every immigrant who applies gets citizenship? Is that your argument?

My argument is you DEAL WITH THE CARDS YOU ARE DEALT.

If you get it, you get it, you live legal and are a legal citizen.

If you don't get it, suck it up, re-apply, or go back to your home nation, or DEAL WITH THE PENALTY WHEN YOU GET CAUGHT BREAKING THE LAWS OF THE NATION YOU ILLEGALLY ENTERED.

You have no right to an easy life Alonzo......

Sometimes the cookie crumbles and you are stuck with the small piece.... its called life.

[Alonzo]

Osborn, she was in the u.s. legally. Do you have anything to show she entered here illegally?

[Osborn F. Enready]

NO, and I never said she did.

She did however get BUSTED transporting ILLEGALS, which is completely HER responsibility, and her blame to accept.

[Alonzo]

NO, and I never said she did.

She did however get BUSTED transporting ILLEGALS, which is completely HER responsibility, and her blame to accept.

Within state. She was not helping them get into the country or avoid detection.

Do you check the immigration status of those you let into your car?

[Osborn F. Enready]

Alonzo said:
Within state. She was not helping them get into the country or avoid detection.

Do you check the immigration status of those you let into your car?

I certainly have.... when I was a professional driver and I suspected someone of not being a legal citizen.

I used to be a Limo driver, and often had pick-ups at the airports, including Detroit Metro.
Sometimes a person will cancel, and before leaving I would see if anyone wanted a ride back to make money on the ride home.

It was MY RIGHT to scrutinize who I offered a ride to, and to turn down anyone that didn't meet the criteria required.

[ECW]

The fallacy of this argument about the border is that the vast majority of illegals who come here overstay their visa and then go underground. They don't cross the desert to get here. Tourists "become" illegal aliens. Until Uncle Sam pulls his head out of his ass and figures out a way to run a computer system that checks you in when you arrive in America and then checks you out when you leave, we'll be in this mess for decades to come.

[Easy90]

The fallacy of this argument about the border is that the vast majority of illegals who come here overstay their visa and then go underground. They don't cross the desert to get here. Tourists "become" illegal aliens. Until Uncle Sam pulls his head out of his ass and figures out a way to run a computer system that checks you in when you arrive in America and then checks you out when you leave, we'll be in this mess for decades to come.

Not true in the least. The vast majority of illegals who come here walk or otherwise get transported here by crossing the border illegally. 10,000 a day!

"This analysis shows that it is reasonable to state that more than 20 million illegal aliens reside in the United States and approximately 10,000 illegal aliens enter the United States every day, or, as Arizona Senator John McCain reports – almost four million per year."

http://www.theamericanresistance.com/ref/illegal_alien_numbers.html

[Buck Laser]

Thirty six million illegals?s If you believe that, you're out of your fuckin' gourd. Furthermore, you're wrong about the number who walk in across the border. In fact, I'm trying to think of something that I don't you're wrong about.

[Easy90]

You're "out of YOUR fuck'n gourd." They apprehend around 600,000 illegals a YEAR in AZ alone. The estimates are that they are only catching about ten percent of the total illegals that come through AZ. http://www.govexec.com/dailyfed/1006/102506j2.htm

"In fact, I'm trying to think of something that I don't you're wrong about." BL

Good! It would pain me dearly if you and I ever had anything of substance in common.

[Alonzo]

You're "out of YOUR fuck'n gourd." They apprehend around 600,000 illegals a YEAR in AZ alone. The estimates are that they are only catching about ten percent of the total illegals that come through AZ. http://www.govexec.com/dailyfed/1006/102506j2.htm

If they want quality, hard working guards, then maybe they should hire the 10% they caught to keep out the 90% they didn't?

[cronic]

If they want quality, hard working guards, then maybe they should hire the 10% they caught to keep out the 90% they didn't?

bet they could pay them lots less then the
so called trained border patrol agents are paid also

Do I hear 4 bucks an hour and a 1 taco?:lmao:

[Easy90]

Notice how the lefties quickly dismiss the grim statistics of the illegal invasion with inane humor when they get their noses rubbed in reality?

[Alonzo]

Notice how the lefties quickly dismiss the grim statistics of the illegal invasion with inane humor when they get their noses rubbed in reality?

How is it humor? Do you think if we said "Ok, you have two choices. We can either deport you or you can work for us and catch the other illegal immigrants. If you do well we'll grant you citizenship." that they wouldn't do it?

[heyjude]

I certainly could be wrong, but I think you can only stay in this country for about 7 years without becoming a citizen. Unless of course, you have refugee status. If the woman came legally, she should have become a citizen. If she couldn't or wouldn't, she should have left.

As for her children, she put them in the position they are in. I didn't. They have the option of going with their mother, and they could return when they are adults. Or not. They are most likely citizens of their parents country as well as this one. The choice would be theirs. They have no right to pretend that the government is breaking up their family. It was the illegal acts of their parents that caused that. We don't not put criminals in jail because they have children.

[Alonzo]

As for her children, she put them in the position they are in. I didn't. They have the option of going with their mother, and they could return when they are adults. Or not. They are most likely citizens of their parents country as well as this one. The choice would be theirs. They have no right to pretend that the government is breaking up their family. It was the illegal acts of their parents that caused that. We don't not put criminals in jail because they have children.

You do understand that the mother, and children, were both legal resident son the u.s., right?

And do you really think driving someone, within state, should make one a criminal?

[Easy90]

I certainly could be wrong, but I think you can only stay in this country for about 7 years without becoming a citizen. Unless of course, you have refugee status. If the woman came legally, she should have become a citizen. If she couldn't or wouldn't, she should have left.

As for her children, she put them in the position they are in. I didn't. They have the option of going with their mother, and they could return when they are adults. Or not. They are most likely citizens of their parents country as well as this one. The choice would be theirs. They have no right to pretend that the government is breaking up their family. It was the illegal acts of their parents that caused that. We don't not put criminals in jail because they have children.

One of the most common ways the illegals establish "legal citizenship" is to come here illegally...(cross the border without going through the legal route...) and drop a baby in a US hospital (without paying for any of the expenses of course...) The law is interpreted so as to give that baby legal American citizenship...and the mother (and sometimes the father too) now has a legal relationship to an American citizen... The term is "anchor baby." There are networks of churches and liberal social organizations that exist to facilitate the process, and help these people plug into the welfare and entitlement stream.

Libs that think this is OK fall into one of a couple categories. You have those who don't realize what's happening, and/or are in denial of the facts....then you have those who know full well what's going on, and also know that having a huge pool of potential dependent poor people that will support big government programs and class warfare benefits the cause of liberalism. Regardless...the process is changing the face of America, and not for the better. Crime rates among the illegals are through the roof, as is social spending to pay for their impact on society.

[heyjude]

And beyond the welfare, the cost of schooling their children (the ones that aren't born here), the food stamps, there is the cost to our society of the jobs they take. The fact, and it is a fact, that they drive down wages. They drive up the cost of medical insurance, and auto insurance. The advocates of limitless immigration want us to believe they bring good things to this country. They may bring some good, but in my opinion, it doesn't make up for what it costs us.

[Osborn F. Enready]

Illegal immigrants are a problem....

Legal immigrants are a welcome, and necessary piece of our nation.

[Elrathin]

And do you really think driving someone, within state, should make one a criminal?

Zo, if I walk into a store with someone and they steal something without me seeing it. As long as we walk out together and get in the same car, I am an accessory to that theft.

That is the way the law interprets it. So yes, if she is driving someone who is illegally here in the states, she is an accessory to that. And if she is not a U.S. citizen, she can have her visa revoked because of it.