Deportation hearing leaves Molalla union organizer in a bind
0 Comments Published by Pioneer Staff on Friday, August 24, 2007 at 12:31 PM.
By Abby Sewell
Molalla Pioneer
Nearly eleven months after pleading guilty to passport fraud, the status of Mexican-born former union organizer Jose Alfredo Cobián remains in limbo.
At a hearing in Portland this morning, immigration judge Michael Bennett ruled that Cobián, who immigrated to the United States from Mexico illegally in 1989 and has lived under the identity of Jose Luis Mendoza since 1996, may leave the country voluntarily.
At Cobian's request, the judge gave him seven days to finish wrapping up his affairs before following his wife, Maria, and their two U.S.-born children who have already departed to Mexico.
Cobián has known since his last immigration hearing in March that he would be forced to leave the United States. Even before that, having pled guilty to making a false statement on a passport application in September of 2006, he said he had little hope of being allowed to stay.
But for the past five months, he and his family have been waiting to find out whether he will be allowed to leave the country voluntarily, with the option of returning when his U.S.-born children are old enough to petition on his behalf; or whether he will be forcibly removed with scant likelihood of ever being allowed to return.
During the five months between immigration hearings, with both Cobián and his wife forbidden to work because of their immigration status, the family has survived largely through contributions by Cobián's former co-workers in the Pacific Northwest Regional Council of Carpenters.
“I was pretty overwhelmed with all the support me and my family got,” Cobián said in an interview earlier this year.
David Shomloo, Cobián's attorney, said after this morning's hearing, "It has been difficult (for the family), certainly. They have been waiting for this day for the last few months."
Although Bennett's ruling decision might appear to end the period of uncertainty, Department of Homeland Security Assistant Chief Council Margaret Rosenast said the U.S. government may appeal the decision.
The DHS' position places Cobián in a legal quandary. According to the judge's order, as requested by Cobián's lawyer, he must leave the country and return to Mexico voluntarily within seven days. But according to another section of the law, he may not leave the country during the 30 day timeframe during which the U.S. government has the right to appeal Bennett's decision.
Shomloo acknowledged that the potential for an appeal complicates the situation but said he remains confident that a solution can be reached.
Cobián, who appeared in court on crutches due to health issues that he and Shomloo declined to elaborate on, had no comment on the case.
But his former employer Pete Savage, regional organizer with the carpenters' union, had strong words for the immigration enforcement officials and the DHS.
"I'm very happy that the judge saw fit to let (Cobián) leave voluntarily," he said. "However, I'm completely astounded and amazed that ICE is behaving the way they are. The contradictions between the judicial side and the enforcement side of the law are just incredible."
Cobián was working as a union organizer with the Pacific Northwest Regional Council of Carpenters when agents from the office of Immigration and Customs Enforcement came to his house in Molalla last July.
After admitting to them that he had been living under a false identity since 1996 -- the real Jose Luis Mendoza was born in California in 1971 and died as a young child more than thirty years ago -- Cobián was arrested on Sept. 7, 2006 on charges of making a false statement on a passport application, misuse of a social security number and making a false statement on an immigration petition.
He pled guilty on the charge of making a false statement on a passport application on Sept. 28 and was sentenced to three years probation on Jan. 23, 2007. The other charges were dropped.
In 2001, Cobián used his assumed identity to petition for lawful permanent residency for his wife, also a Mexican citizen, who had been in the country on a temporary visa when they met and married.
She received the green card in 2004. In 2005, Cobián made the mistake that led to his downfall, when he applied for passport so that he and his family could return to Mexico for a visit, for the first time since his 1998 marriage.
Had Cobián not petitioned for benefits for his family using his false Social Security number, he might have gone undetected forever, or at least been eligible to stay in the country through his children, Bennett said.
"That's really the tragedy of this case," he said. "It's not entirely unheard of for someone to assume another person's identity, and when one does that and does not injure the other person's identity by assuming it ... that is not an automatic disqualifier (for legal residency)."
When Cobián applied for permanent residency for his wife, however, Bennett said, "That's what changes this from a general issue of immigration control ... to an issue of fraud that impacts the whole system."
Rosenast, who had argued against allowing Cobián to return to Mexico voluntarily, said the length and extent of the deception outweighed Cobián's cooperation with the legal system since July of 2006.
"We do not believe that simply his agreement and willingness to comply with probation and law enforcement is enough to make up for the length of time he committed this fraud against tax payers with a (false) social security number," she said.
For the union, however, Cobián was an invaluable asset, Savage said. After being hired in 2001, he filled a need for bilingual organizers in the building trades, dealing particularly with immigrant workers in the drywall industry.
"It's been very difficult to replace him, and we actually haven't been able to replace the position with all the skills (Cobián) had," Savage said. "It's really taken two people with bilingual ability to replace the skills he had with organizing and computers and everything."
Now, like many illegal immigrant families, the Cobiáns will have to adjust to a new life in Mexico, a place that the children have only visited briefly. To them, Molalla is still home.
As Cobian said after his sentencing on the passport fraud charge earlier this year, "They like Mexico, but (my daughter) says 'I love it here. Why do we have to go?'"
Molalla Pioneer
Nearly eleven months after pleading guilty to passport fraud, the status of Mexican-born former union organizer Jose Alfredo Cobián remains in limbo.
At a hearing in Portland this morning, immigration judge Michael Bennett ruled that Cobián, who immigrated to the United States from Mexico illegally in 1989 and has lived under the identity of Jose Luis Mendoza since 1996, may leave the country voluntarily.
At Cobian's request, the judge gave him seven days to finish wrapping up his affairs before following his wife, Maria, and their two U.S.-born children who have already departed to Mexico.
Cobián has known since his last immigration hearing in March that he would be forced to leave the United States. Even before that, having pled guilty to making a false statement on a passport application in September of 2006, he said he had little hope of being allowed to stay.
But for the past five months, he and his family have been waiting to find out whether he will be allowed to leave the country voluntarily, with the option of returning when his U.S.-born children are old enough to petition on his behalf; or whether he will be forcibly removed with scant likelihood of ever being allowed to return.
During the five months between immigration hearings, with both Cobián and his wife forbidden to work because of their immigration status, the family has survived largely through contributions by Cobián's former co-workers in the Pacific Northwest Regional Council of Carpenters.
“I was pretty overwhelmed with all the support me and my family got,” Cobián said in an interview earlier this year.
David Shomloo, Cobián's attorney, said after this morning's hearing, "It has been difficult (for the family), certainly. They have been waiting for this day for the last few months."
Although Bennett's ruling decision might appear to end the period of uncertainty, Department of Homeland Security Assistant Chief Council Margaret Rosenast said the U.S. government may appeal the decision.
The DHS' position places Cobián in a legal quandary. According to the judge's order, as requested by Cobián's lawyer, he must leave the country and return to Mexico voluntarily within seven days. But according to another section of the law, he may not leave the country during the 30 day timeframe during which the U.S. government has the right to appeal Bennett's decision.
Shomloo acknowledged that the potential for an appeal complicates the situation but said he remains confident that a solution can be reached.
Cobián, who appeared in court on crutches due to health issues that he and Shomloo declined to elaborate on, had no comment on the case.
But his former employer Pete Savage, regional organizer with the carpenters' union, had strong words for the immigration enforcement officials and the DHS.
"I'm very happy that the judge saw fit to let (Cobián) leave voluntarily," he said. "However, I'm completely astounded and amazed that ICE is behaving the way they are. The contradictions between the judicial side and the enforcement side of the law are just incredible."
Cobián was working as a union organizer with the Pacific Northwest Regional Council of Carpenters when agents from the office of Immigration and Customs Enforcement came to his house in Molalla last July.
After admitting to them that he had been living under a false identity since 1996 -- the real Jose Luis Mendoza was born in California in 1971 and died as a young child more than thirty years ago -- Cobián was arrested on Sept. 7, 2006 on charges of making a false statement on a passport application, misuse of a social security number and making a false statement on an immigration petition.
He pled guilty on the charge of making a false statement on a passport application on Sept. 28 and was sentenced to three years probation on Jan. 23, 2007. The other charges were dropped.
In 2001, Cobián used his assumed identity to petition for lawful permanent residency for his wife, also a Mexican citizen, who had been in the country on a temporary visa when they met and married.
She received the green card in 2004. In 2005, Cobián made the mistake that led to his downfall, when he applied for passport so that he and his family could return to Mexico for a visit, for the first time since his 1998 marriage.
Had Cobián not petitioned for benefits for his family using his false Social Security number, he might have gone undetected forever, or at least been eligible to stay in the country through his children, Bennett said.
"That's really the tragedy of this case," he said. "It's not entirely unheard of for someone to assume another person's identity, and when one does that and does not injure the other person's identity by assuming it ... that is not an automatic disqualifier (for legal residency)."
When Cobián applied for permanent residency for his wife, however, Bennett said, "That's what changes this from a general issue of immigration control ... to an issue of fraud that impacts the whole system."
Rosenast, who had argued against allowing Cobián to return to Mexico voluntarily, said the length and extent of the deception outweighed Cobián's cooperation with the legal system since July of 2006.
"We do not believe that simply his agreement and willingness to comply with probation and law enforcement is enough to make up for the length of time he committed this fraud against tax payers with a (false) social security number," she said.
For the union, however, Cobián was an invaluable asset, Savage said. After being hired in 2001, he filled a need for bilingual organizers in the building trades, dealing particularly with immigrant workers in the drywall industry.
"It's been very difficult to replace him, and we actually haven't been able to replace the position with all the skills (Cobián) had," Savage said. "It's really taken two people with bilingual ability to replace the skills he had with organizing and computers and everything."
Now, like many illegal immigrant families, the Cobiáns will have to adjust to a new life in Mexico, a place that the children have only visited briefly. To them, Molalla is still home.
As Cobian said after his sentencing on the passport fraud charge earlier this year, "They like Mexico, but (my daughter) says 'I love it here. Why do we have to go?'"
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