Immigrant woman seeks legal status after court victory (shackled while pregnant)

[alp227]

Source: CNN

(CNN) -- An illegal immigrant who this week was awarded $200,000 in a lawsuit against a Tennessee sheriff's office will ask a federal judge to grant her permission to remain in the United States legally, her attorney told CNN.

A jury on Thursday awarded Juana Villegas the damages in a civil case against the joint government of Nashville and Davidson County in which she alleged that county sheriff's deputies violated her rights when they shackled her while pregnant, while in labor and during her postpartum recovery. She had initially filed suit against federal officials, but the judge dismissed that part of the case. Now, her attorney, Elliott Ozment, says that he will ask the judge who oversaw the case to grant his client a U-visa, a special status that can be conferred on victims of crimes who are in the country illegally.

The U-visa would allow Villegas -- a Mexican national -- to live and work legally in the country for three years, and can be renewed for another three years, Ozment said. During that period, she can adjust her status and become a legal citizen.

It's a long shot, as a U-visa has been awarded by a federal judge only one time before. Usually, they are conferred by other immigration authorities.

Read more: http://www.cnn.com/2011/US/08/20/tennessee.immigrant.woman/index.html

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Hmm, I expect the right-wing pro-life crowd to just return crickets...because the woman here isn't a pretty American but rather an illegal immigrant?

[truedelphi]

1. Shackling women prisoners while pregnant and

Then while in labor is barbaric.

And the practice reeks of misogyny.

[EFerrari]

2. Is "illegal" an antonym of "pretty" now?

But of course, you're right. The racist pricks couldn't care less about how this woman is treated.

[Vattel]

3. I hope she wins her case.

Having been subjected to cruelty by the state, she deserves it.

[kurtzapril4]

4. Yep. The state was wrong,

and the woman should be awarded damages. Then she should be deported. She should not be rewarded for her illegal behaviour with a visa of any kind. If she wants to immigrate legally, she should be welcomed with open arms.

I'm as liberal as can be, but I have no empathy or sympathy for illegal immigrants. I'm all for anyone who wants to come here legally.

[Arctic Dave]

5. Then you are not a Liberal, you only like playing one.

[EFerrari]

6. If your empathy for other human beings depends upon their immigration status

no, you're not as liberal as can be. Not even close.

[alp227]

10. buried way down in the article is that Villegas was deported before

Uh oh...while it sucks for her to have been treated that way I don't know if I can defend her after returning illegally, but given that deportees are banned from the US for 10 years (per the Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act of 1996, signed by Bill Clinton...the same president who nominated the federal judge who presided over Villegas' successful lawsuit!) I might be supportive. Ultimately Villegas' fate will be up to a local federal judge. As the CNN article reported, the U-visa, intended for unauthorized immigrants who become victims of crimes in the US, has been issued only ONCE ever. And she has a US-born son and is married to a US citizen...so I'd side with her.

[Lasher]

11. Looks like she is subject to a fine and/or imprisonment for illegal re-entry.

What Constitutes "Illegal Reentry"?

Under the applicable federal criminal statute, the Immigration and Nationality Act, it is not merely illegal reentry after removal that constitutes the crime. Rather, the law applies to any alien who reenters the U.S. or is found within the country, without government approval, after having been:

Denied admission to the U.S.;

Excluded from the U.S.;

Deported from the U.S.;

Removed from the U.S.; or

Departed from the U.S. while an order of exclusion, deportation, or removal is outstanding.

Penalties for Illegal Reentry

Under relevant federal statutes, an alien who commits illegal reentry as described above will be punished with:

A fine; or

Imprisonment for not more than two years; or

Both fine and imprisonment.

http://immigration.findlaw.com/immigration/immigration-deportation/immigration-deportation-illegal-reentry.html

Further, she can be deported and permanently barred from ever legally entering the USA.

http://www.law.yale.edu/documents/pdf/immigr_english.pdf

[Vattel]

7. If crossing a border illegally

is necessary to meet one's own economic needs, or the needs of one's family or loved one's, then a decent and responsible person will cross that border illegally. And we should respect such a person for doing the right thing, and empathize with her both for the economic difficulties that motivated her to do so and the difficulties she faces as an undocumented worker. Have you talked with undocumented workers? I have, and I know that many of them needed to cross that border illegally.

[trud]

8. I'm with kurtz

We have laws for a reason. She deserves the damages. As to a later attempt to immigrate legally, she should be treated like any other applicant.

[LanternWaste]

13. many people place a higher value on make-believe red and blue lines on a map...

"I have no empathy or sympathy for illegal immigrants..."

I imagine many people place a much higher value on make-believe red and blue lines on a map and on "statuses" which exist nowhere but own own imaginations than they do on actual people.

[alp227]

9. another note:

William Haynes, the federal judge who ruled in favor of Villegas, is a Bill Clinton nominee.

[NashVegas]

12. Her Atty Asked For $1.2 Million In Damages: She Got $200k

And you should see the racist, classist pigs howling about that in the comments section of our newspapers.

There's something horrifying about people who defend the Sheriff's dept on this one.