Openly and routinely, an arm of the Mexican government is
at work, helping a convicted welfare cheater stay in America and eligible for
all the subsidies that a mother of 12 qualifies for. It’s a heckuva lot more
than she would get if she took herself and her kids back to her homeland. I am
no expert on Mexican immigration law, though I understand it is tougher than
ours, generally, but I suspect that a native born Mexican national could bring
her children into that country and reside there legally.
KVUE
TV presents the details of
the case, accepting the view that deporting the illegal alien would break up the
family, as if they could not live together legally in Mexico, an assumption I
am not certain about.
An
undocumented mother of 12 is fighting deportation and she’s getting help from
the Mexican Consulate in McAllen, Texas.
She’s
one of hundreds across the country targeted in renewed federal efforts to crack
down on criminal aliens.
Norma
Roman tries to keep herself and her children busy. The mother, whose kids were
all born in the U.S., helps her kids with their homework to take their minds
off a grim reality: the possible separation from their mother.
She
says she’s placing her faith in god and in her attorney. She currently has an
"order of removal" by Immigration and Customs Enforcement after
multiple run-ins with the law.
In
2011, Norma overstayed her visa and left the country only to be smuggled back
days later.
In
September, Norma was arrested for taking an extra $5,000 in food stamps, aid
Norma claims she didn’t know she wasn’t supposed to receive.
She
says that she spent 36 days in jail and paid the money back.
But
with limited resources to fight deportation, the 39-year-old turned to the
Mexican Consulate for help.
Consul
Guillermo Ordorica says that all 50 Mexican Consulates in the U.S. were
instructed by the Mexican government to provide legal aid and create what are
known as "centers for defense."
It’s
all in response to the increasing number of immigration raids by the Trump
administration.
“Because
of narratives that have been running around in all around the country, our
people have expressed some fears about their condition in the country,”
Consul Ordorica said.
Norma
says that the consulate helped pay for legal services and petitioned the U.S.
government for a stay of deportation.
Her
concerns are for the care of her children. She says that two of her kids have
learning disabilities and are under treatment, while her husband is gone three
months at a time as a seasonal worker. (snip)
No
matter what happens, the undocumented mother says she will return to the U.S.
any way possible.
UPDATE:
Norma Roman says that her petition to stay has been denied and is
waiting to find out when exactly she’s required to turn herself in to be
deported. When asked if Norma falls under Trump’s priorities for removal, ICE
replied saying that they are looking into the case and may respond with another
statement on a later date.
A friend of mine sums it up well:
Twelve
kids and a food-stamp cheat. It's so amusing when these sob stories
try to drum up sympathy but then present facts that totally undercut
that goal. No wonder that Mexico would rather that she stayed here.