Al Jazeera Covers Deportations of Esteban Tiznado and Andres Robles

Oysterman Andres Robles, acquired US citizenship in 2002 when 14 years old, 

deported in 2008, 

Social Security number still not cleared in E-Verify

Adam Raney of Al Jazeera television put together a terrific segment documenting the deportations of Esteban Tiznado and Andres Robles, whose stories were first reported here.  For background on Esteban's case, read here; for more on Andres, read here.

http://governmentillegals.org/RoblesComplaint.pdf

On behalf of Andres, Attorney Andrew Free filed on March 26, 2014 a complaint requesting the federal government fully rectify its mistake and also award damages.  The complaint provides a terrific narrative of Andres's ordeal.  It also adds to the database of federal immigration lawsuits and judicial orders in which the word "Kafkaesque" appears.  (Attorney Free also represents me in FOIA cases, though not any involving Andres.)

Esteban is now finishing up a short sentence in the custody of CCA Central Arizona, part of their vertical integration plan: first they lobby Congress for a 34,000 bed/night mandate;  ICE, incentivized to fill these beds, assesses agent performance on the basis of the quantity of arrests, not whether they are lawful; then, when US residents, many unlawfully deported, try to return, they end up in CCA's federal prisons, after convicted of Illegal Reentry (18 USC 1326)  - this being the population that has long surpassed drug offenders as the largest group in federal custody.

Next week Esteban again will be released from criminal custody, again deported, and again attempt to return home.  Each time he is locked up his body becomes weaker, but his will to return home remains as strong as ever.

Correction: An earlier version indicated Andres still had not obtained his Social Security card.  This is not correct.  He does now have his card.   In the years following his return from Mexico, Andres and his sister Maria had r attempted to obtain a social security card for him,  but it never arrived.  Each time they were told to fill out a new application.  After several attempts over more than a year, the card did finally arrive; however, the linked databases mean any E-verify inquiry will indicate his deportation and thus the wrongful deportation may continue to pose problems for him.