Pubdate: Sun, 20 Apr 2008
Source: Houston Chronicle (TX)
Copyright: 2008 Houston Chronicle Publishing Company Division, Hearst Newspaper
Contact:  http://www.chron.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/198
Author: Rick Casey
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/pot.htm (Marijuana)

COLD AS ICE: A STORY OF FAMILY VALUES

Mauricio Barragan, whose parents brought him here from Bolivia when 
he was 1 year old, had a bad year when he was 17.

He got a girl pregnant.

And he was convicted and received deferred adjudication for 
possessing a small amount of marijuana, a Class B misdemeanor. 
Earlier he had a juvenile drug conviction at age 15.

During the next eight years, Barragan, now 26, completed his 
marijuana probation successfully. He graduated in the top quarter of 
his Katy High School class.

He worked for nearly eight years at Target, rising to team leader in 
the electronics section before leaving for another job. He was 
described by his Target supervisor as "the kind of leader that any 
aspiring business would want on their team."

He faithfully paid child support and provided medical insurance for 
his son and has been an active father to him, spending weekends with 
him. He and the boy's mother have remained friends.

College Student

He helped buy a house where he and his sister live with his disabled 
father and his mother. He paid half the monthly mortgage and 
utilities. And he earned enough credits at the University of Houston 
to be a senior with a dual major of biology and journalism. Meanwhile 
he and his sister, both legal residents, applied for citizenship, 
which his parents already acquired. If we were looking for a poster 
boy for the criminal justice system working to turn a misbehaving 
youth around, Barragan would be our man. But in February 2007, 
Mauricio, who is a legal resident and had applied to join his parents 
as a citizen, was stopped for a traffic citation and found to have a 
suspended driver's license.

Back to Bolivia?

A check by the officer turned up the drug charge. Any past drug 
conviction now requires that an alien, even one here legally, be 
held. So Barragan was taken to jail.

But if the drug conviction is for less than 30 grams of marijuana, a 
judge can rule that the legal alien can stay if his deportation would 
cause "extreme hardship" -- not to him, but to an immediate relative.

So Barragan was locked up for eight months in a privately run jail 
operated for Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) while the 
government gathered evidence to have him deported to Bolivia, which 
he had not seen since he was a baby and where he has no relatives.

In October, an immigration judge held a hearing in which Barragan's 
lawyer presented evidence of "extreme hardship," which would justify 
a waiver from extradition for a previous adult drug offense.

The hardship, by law, does not apply to the potential deportee. It 
applies only to immediate relatives. With every politician in America 
talking about "family values," you might think that the courts would 
easily rule that it is an extreme hardship for a 9-year-old boy to be 
deprived of a father who was shown to be an active and supportive 
parent. You would be wrong. So Barragan's lawyer, Michael Rojas, put 
on evidence of hardship on Barragan's son, Angel, including a 
psychologist's testimony that the trauma of losing his father had 
sent the boy into clinical depression.

Angel is a gifted-and-talented 4th-grader, but his mother, Tina Lara, 
said his grades began to suffer. "The psychologist said there are a 
lot of anger issues, and putting the anger in the wrong place," she 
said. In addition, Barragan's financial assistance had enabled her to 
work part-time. With him incarcerated, she had to work full-time, 
taking time away from Angel. "The judge told me I wasn't suffering 
financial hardship," Lara said. "It was all about money. I told him 
if Mauricio never gave me another penny Angel would still need him."

Mauricio's parents also needed him. With a bad back and diabetes, 
Jorge Barragan cannot work. His wife, Margarita, taught in public 
schools for years and now teaches Spanish privately. Without 
Mauricio's payments they could not keep up the mortgage. Foreclosure 
proceedings were started while he was incarcerated.

In addition, the strain of having his son jailed and facing 
deportation worsened Jorge's condition. It was on the basis of the 
financial hardship on Mauricio's parents that the judge agreed to 
grant him a waiver, reinstating his legal status and ability to work.

Mauricio was ready to celebrate. But the government said it might 
appeal, so he was taken back to prison. On the last day of the 30-day 
limit, James Manning, assistant chief counsel of ICE's Houston 
office, filed a notice of appeal. That would mean another five months 
of incarceration for Barragan, another five months of fear for his 
family and depression and anger for Angel.

This story has a happy ending, but that, together with further 
details and observations, will require another column. 
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MAP posted-by: Richard Lake