New Mexico man who saved girl from kidnap attempt admits he's undocumented

Story.

He chased down a kidnapper who was trying to kidnap a six year old girl. Later, on Univision he admitted he wasn't in the country legally. He's married to an American woman but said he gave up attempts to get himself legal because it was too hard and expensive.

Thoughts?

The law is the law... Honor him, and then make him return to Mexico. Give him a chance to come legally or something...

the laws are stupid. You should only be deported if you are doing something criminal, excluding the part that they are here illegally.

Off with his head!CoolSkAGuy

I changed my mind, I agree.

The law is the law... Honor him, and then make him return to Mexico. Give him a chance to come legally or something...

lensflare15

Pretty much this. However we are so lenient on immigration policies I doubt things would end up that way.

The law is the law... Honor him, and then make him return to Mexico. Give him a chance to come legally or something...

lensflare15

I think he earned his residence by saving a girl from being kidnapped.

The law is the law, deport him.

[QUOTE="lensflare15"]

The law is the law... Honor him, and then make him return to Mexico. Give him a chance to come legally or something...

Pirate700

[QUOTE="Pirate700"]

[QUOTE="lensflare15"]

The law is the law... Honor him, and then make him return to Mexico. Give him a chance to come legally or something...

CRS98

[QUOTE="lensflare15"]

The law is the law... Honor him, and then make him return to Mexico. Give him a chance to come legally or something...

Pirate700

No, that is a huge myth that some TV shows helped spread. Marrying an US citizen doesn't automatically make you legal but it does make applying for a visa easier.

Last year the USCIS started experimenting with allowing illegal immigrants who have an immediate family member (sibling, parent, child, or spouse) who is currently in the US military to gain legal status as long as they're not pending any legal trouble. Don't know if they're still doing it or not.

[QUOTE="CRS98"][QUOTE="Pirate700"]I agree...but doesn't being married to an American make him a citizen automatically?

Pirate700

There is a 5 year waiting period, then after that he becomes a citizenship providing he applied, so it can normally take 7-10 years.

He should've never admitted that...

He should've never admitted that...

soulless4now

They should deport a criminal in his place instead.

He is married to an American shouldn't that make is road to citizenship considerably easier to begin with? :|

He is married to an American shouldn't that make is road to citizenship considerably easier to begin with? :|

UnknownSniper65

Not really. If he's in the country illegally right now he has to go back to his home country and apply for a spouse visa to return in most cases. It's nearly impossible to become legal without leaving the country first and it's possible he could get a three or ten year ban from returning due to being here illegally. Granted, his actions may be considered by the USCIS for parole in place so he doesn't have to leave but it's not guaranteed. It's really in his best interest to contact an immigration lawyer and I'm sure plenty of people will volunteer to pay with his actions.

If he's married to an American...he's legally allowed in the country.LJS9502_basic

No, he isn't. That is one of the biggest myths in existence in regards to immigration law. He still has to apply for a visa and it's very possible he could be denied due to being present in the US illegally for four years. If the USCIS wanted to be jerks about it they could ban him from reentry for up to ten years (although that's probably unlikely with the backlash that move would get after what he did for that girl).

Trust me, I know how hard it could be to get a visa for a foreign national. It took me over six months from when I first applied before I got a visa for my then-fiance from the Philippines. If I married her before I applied it might have took almost twice as long. Getting a visa just isn't as easy as it used to be especially after 9/11. Allowing any foreigner instant legal status through marriage is actually a security risk that could be exploited by people with bad intentions.

People who have broken the law can still do nice things. This story means absolutely nothing for the immigration debate, at all, period.

The law is the law... Honor him, and then make him return to Mexico. Give him a chance to come legally or something...

lensflare15

Law is the law? I hate that argument. If a law is immoralyou shouldhave no qualms with breaking it. It was also a law once that escaped slaves had to be returned to their masters...

the laws are stupid. You should only be deported if you are doing something criminal, excluding the part that they are here illegally.

M4Ntan

he should have kept his mouth shut, probably would have gotten away with it

The law is the law... Honor him, and then make him return to Mexico. Give him a chance to come legally or something...

lensflare15

I say we deport the attempted kidnapper, and grant this man the kidnapper's legal status. This way we can balance the equation, and get rid of a kidnapper.

Give him citizenship as a reward.

No reason to deport the man...chessmaster1989

The law is the law... Honor him, and then make him return to Mexico. Give him a chance to come legally or something...

lensflare15

[QUOTE="chessmaster1989"]No reason to deport the man...Stevo_the_gamer

Hmm and what if said laws are immoral?

I'm ussually a "law is law" kinda guy, but in light of the circumstances, wouldn't it be easy to reward him with a citizenship, or at least fast track it? I mean, sheesh the guy's a hero.

That said, I always thought being married gave you residency, which while not a citizenship, pretty much allowed you to stay.

Hmm and what if said laws are immoral?

Tokugawa77

[QUOTE="Stevo_the_gamer"][QUOTE="chessmaster1989"]No reason to deport the man...Tokugawa77

Hmm and what if said laws are immoral?

What one person may think is immoral another person may think is necessary. It's widely accepted that we don't tolerate illegal immigration because it undermines the thousands of people who try to legally come over here every day. If we just decide to legalize every single illegal immigrant today all it will probably do is encourage millions more to flood in for a chance to be legalized. The US may have some financial problems right now but it's not bad enough that people won't want to come here anymore.

[QUOTE="Stevo_the_gamer"][QUOTE="chessmaster1989"]No reason to deport the man...Tokugawa77

Hmm and what if said laws are immoral?

[QUOTE="lensflare15"]

The law is the law... Honor him, and then make him return to Mexico. Give him a chance to come legally or something...

Pirate700

[QUOTE="Tokugawa77"]

[QUOTE="Stevo_the_gamer"]Sure, there's no reason outside him breaking Federal and perhaps State Laws to boot...ad1x2

Hmm and what if said laws are immoral?

What one person may think is immoral another person may think is necessary. It's widely accepted that we don't tolerate illegal immigration because it undermines the thousands of people who try to legally come over here every day. If we just decide to legalize every single illegal immigrant today all it will probably do is encourage millions more to flood in for a chance to be legalized. The US may have some financial problems right now but it's not bad enough that people won't want to come here anymore.

This whole "immigrants steal jobs and undermine national security" idea is a myth. We lose a lot more through trying to secure the borders and deport people... Here is Arizona we spent an attrocious amount on border security. All of it is a waste. Most immigrants are hard working people who will contribute greatly to the economy. Many will probably bring up the drug cartels that come here as well, but of course we would still combat them. Legalizing all immigration is not legalizing violent cartels.

He's more American than me with those kind of guts.

[QUOTE="ad1x2"]

[QUOTE="Tokugawa77"]

Hmm and what if said laws are immoral?

Tokugawa77

What one person may think is immoral another person may think is necessary. It's widely accepted that we don't tolerate illegal immigration because it undermines the thousands of people who try to legally come over here every day. If we just decide to legalize every single illegal immigrant today all it will probably do is encourage millions more to flood in for a chance to be legalized. The US may have some financial problems right now but it's not bad enough that people won't want to come here anymore.

This whole "immigrants steal jobs and undermine national security" idea is a myth. We lose a lot more through trying to secure the borders and deport people... Here is Arizona we spent an attrocious amount on border security. All of it is a waste. Most immigrants are hard working people who will contribute greatly to the economy. Many will probably bring up the drug cartels that come here as well, but of course we would still combat them. Legalizing all immigration is not legalizing violent cartels.

I have no problem with legal immigrants, my wife is one who just earned her citizenship almost a year ago. I'm not worried about an illegal immigrant stealing my job either since I'm in the Army and illegal immigrants can't enlist. I do have a problem with the idea that we should legalize every last illegal immigrant in the country without question. Doing that is pretty much a slap in the face to every legal immigrant who spent time and money getting visas to come over here. It's really no different than what happened in 1977 when President Carter pardoned all of the draft dodgers from Vietnam, pretty much making the guys who actually answered their call to service feel like idiots for not running away instead.

I actually supported most of the ideas of the DREAM Act since it made it where only a select few could be legalized and forced them to choose between enlisting or going to college to keep their legal status. In the case of the man who is in the story, I feel that he did a great thing saving that little girl and if he does attempt to get legal I hope the USCIS takes it into consideration. But I found it laughable how he said he just quit because "it was too hard." I spent well over a thousand dollars getting my wife's stuff straight back in 2004 when I applied and it was a lot of headaches with her going through what she had to do while having to support our new baby and prepare for a second deployment to Iraq.