By Arnold Giammarco
One Saturday afternoon in 2011, my wife and daughter were out, and I was on my front steps, talking on the phone with my sister. Three law enforcement cars drove up, and I told my sister, “Something must be going on.” Suddenly, agents got out and started running toward me. They said, “Drop the phone. Get on your belly. Put your hands behind your back!” They handcuffed me and drove me away.
Even though I had been a legal permanent resident of the United States for about 50 years and served in the U.S. Army, they told me they worked for Immigration and Customs Enforcement and they were going to deport me because of an old larceny charge for which I’d already completed my sentence.
I had gone through a rough patch in my life when my first marriage fell apart and I developed a drug problem. I deeply regretted my past, and I had also paid for it. I had served time for drug possession and related shoplifting convictions.
Since then, I had turned my life around. I got clean and moved to a new town where I didn’t know anyone. I started working at McDonald’s and was promoted to nighttime manager. I married my wife Sharon, who is from Connecticut. Our daughter, Blair, was born in November 2008. I spent my days taking care of Blair, so Sharon could go back to school. We didn’t have everything we wanted, but we had everything we needed: food in the fridge, a used car to get us to work, our families. Life was working out for us.
Then I applied to renew my green card and I may have triggered a background check. I had no idea there was any risk — I had been in the country legally too long to worry about my immigration status.
My parents had brought me to the United States from Italy when I was four years old, sponsored by my grandparents, who had become U.S. citizens. My parents got factory jobs in Connecticut — my mother as a seamstress and my father as a maintenance worker. It was expensive to apply for citizenship, and my parents never did.
That seemed like a formality — I was American. My grandfather joined the U.S. Army and fought in World War I, and I grew up hearing his stories. In 1976, I followed in his footsteps and joined the Army to serve my country and went to Germany. Later I joined the Connecticut National Guard, achieving the rank of sergeant, and then I was honorably discharged. I applied for citizenship in 1982, but my application somehow got lost in the system.
Once I was arrested, my past didn’t seem to matter. I was kept in detention for 18 months with no bond hearing to decide whether I should be free. An immigration judge could have considered my military service, my rehabilitation, my family and community ties, and let me out — but no judge got that chance. Under the government’s view of the immigration laws, my crime was an aggravated felony that required detention until my deportation case was decided. There was no possibility of getting out unless I won the case.
At first, four or five days a week, Sharon would drive Blair an hour and a half up from Groton, Connecticut, to visit me in Dartmouth, Massachusetts. I could only see them from behind glass. Blair was 2, and she didn’t understand why I wouldn’t pick her up — she would cry and reach for me. I tried to make up games: Blair would move her hand on one side of the glass, and I would follow her motions with my hand on the other side.
Soon, Sharon cut the visits to once a week, on Sundays. Gas was expensive, and the trip was hard on Blair. We kept getting our hopes up that I’d be released, then we’d get disappointed again. The legal battle had drained our “piggybank” of a few thousand dollars we’d been saving for Blair to go to college, and my parents’ pension fund. It was devastating to see my family struggle, emotionally and financially.
For me, being locked up changed the course of my life. I worried I was wasting my family’s energy and money. Eventually, rather than staying on to fight my case from behind bars, I accepted deportation to Italy, a country where I barely speak the language.
Now I’m living in a central Italian town called Campo Di Fano. It’s where I was born, but it’s not my home. My cousins here don’t acknowledge me because they think I must have done something horrible to be deported. They say, “You can’t just get deported for addiction and petty crimes.” I say, “Well, I did.”
I try to Skype with Blair twice a day, when she wakes up in the morning and after school. I help her with her homework, like I would if I was there. She’ll set up the iPhone on the dresser and do a dance routine for me.
All I want is to go home and take care of her and Sharon — and I hope that still might be possible. After I left for Italy, a district court judge ruled that my naturalization petition, which had gotten lost in the system years ago, remains pending. Officials could still decide to approve my application.
A bond hearing could have made the difference for me. A judge might have allowed me to go home, to my family, where I’m needed most. That would have given me hope to continue to fight for my right to stay with them in my country.
On Wednesday, lawyers from the ACLU are arguing before the Supreme Court that the federal government should not lock people like me up, for months or years, without the due process of a hearing to decide if imprisonment is even justified. Thousands of lives depend on this. What happened to me shouldn’t happen to anyone in America.
Thank you so very much for sharing your story. Life for most under the BO regime was way worse than many here in Davis are aware of.
I hope you share widely and that you also reach out to the Donald – as the new POTUS elect he will listen and not try to cover up.
This is a new dawn and he is already working hard to clean up the swamp. Good luck my new friend.
I hope you are writing a book, and if so, let me know and I will buy it.
All I ask is that you autograph it.
PS> If there is anything i can do to help after your ordeal, DG of the DV knows how you can reach me.
Marina Kalugin
I agree with Marina’s appreciation for the sharing of this story.
I also agree with her belief that too many deportations without what I would consider due process likely occurred during the Obama presidency.
However, this is where our agreement ends. If you believe the words spoken by our president-elect during his campaign, his promises were to deport millions of people living here who had committed crimes ( his statements to the best of my knowledge did not include whether or not they had served the appropriate sentence). In this regard, he seemed to be in agreement with the deportation policies used under President Obama, just feeling that it was too little too late to suit him. Now some people have said that they really didn’t believe that he would do that and this was just words to get elected. Well, to me, if you are of that mind, you have just said that you do not mind the president-elect deliberately lying so as to obtain power but you are still willing to trust him. I find either possibility highly objectionable.
As for “draining the swamp”, his appointments to date and meetings with businessmen and politicians in countries in which he has private business concerns would certainly argue against much drainage occurring. But I am fully aware that there are those amongst us who seem to feel that replacing alligators with crocodiles represents “swamp drainage”. ( Satiric final sentence). Heck, even Sara Palin was willing to call his Carrier deal by its real name “crony capitalism”.
You know the world has changed when you have far left liberals citing and agreeing with Sara Palin.
https://twitter.com/nia4_trump/status/804029874096705536/photo/1
These draconian laws did not come about under Obama, but began as a response to the white nationalist bombing of the federal building in Oklahoma, ironically, initially as part of the “Anti-Terrorism and Effective Death Penalty Act” known as AEDPA, which first introduced the notion of “aggravated felonies” (which can include misdemeanors, by definition) to the immigration law and was thrown in as part of AEDPA which had nothing to do with immigration as a whole . It got worse tw0 years later during the “get tough on crime” era of the 1990s, when IIRAIRA was passed (the “Illegal Immigration Reform And Immigrant Responsibility Act”), IIRIARA which added immigration penalties upon DEPARTURE from the U.S. targeted at Mexicans who came to work and left the U.S. after the agricultural season was over, also expanded the definition of “aggravated felonies” to include all manner of offenses. For example: two petty thefts, cultivating marijuana, statutory rape, sharing marijuana or other controlled substances. The Patriot Act after 9/11 made these laws even harsher, particularly with regard to “mandatory detention” without bond.
Prior to IIRAIRA, a long time permanent resident could ask an immigration judge for bond and a form of pardon, with sufficient evidence of rehabilitation, taking responsibility, remorse, family ties, community service, etc. A second chance was possible through what was called a “212(c)” waiver. This waiver or “pardon” allowed people who came as young children, as the author of the article did, grew up here feeling and thinking and “being” essentially Americans, a chance to turn their lives around and demonstrate their “worthiness” to remain in this country. The waiver was completely discretionary — an immigration judge could decide to grant or deny it. Bond was also discretionary. But now, under current laws, those who have been convicted of a whole plethora of petty offenses cannot even request bond — we detain them at government expense while they await a final decision on their removal. U.S. citizens are always horrified and disbelieving when they learn their child, their mother, their father, their grandmother are jailed without possibility of bond, for a petty theft, for marijuana possession, for writing a bad check. No matter if they are legally in the U.S. And if the offense falls within the definition of “aggravated felony”, deportation is almost certain.
These laws are so unduly harsh and the impact on U.S. citizen and permanent resident families so draconian, that even Republican congressional representatives have been known to sponsor “private bills” to allow the sons and daughters of friends who have become entangled in the morass which are our immigration laws, to overcome a final order of deportation (now called “removal”) and remain in the U.S. Immigrants commit far fewer crimes than their percent of the population, yet are treated far more harshly when they do, without regard to their prior history, longevity and contributions to their U.S. community. I am not saying there are not some immigrants that should be deported, nor that there are not some that should remain in detention until deported. However, immigration judges should be able to exercise some discretion after reviewing the facts, carefully assessing the person before them and making a determination in the best interests of the community. Right now, that discretion does not exist, in most such cases.
Ann
Thank you so much for the background information. This was a real learning experience for me. I look forward to more such posts.
Ann
The law was here when Polish socialist – anarchist from Detroit Leon Czolgosz assassinated American President William McKinley in 1901.He was inspired by the Jewish radical communist Emma Goldman. Czolgosz was hanged and later Goldman’s citizenship was revoked under the Anarchist Exclusion Act and she was deported to Lithuania .
2005 intelligence law, and court rulings, have strengthened the US government’s power to strip a person not only from the permanent residency but also from citizenship even if the person committed the crime after naturalization.
The story is a the tragic story because guy was brought to the US when he was 4 years old . Apparently . joining Army and National Guard did not help him at all in fighting his deportation . I am not sure whether anybody can be released from the detention center by posting the bail bond . Formally , the detention centers are not the county jails , state or federal prisons .
In his story he wrote that his 1982 application for citizenship got lost .Most likely his application for the citizenship was rejected by INS and he did not follow up because of his record. Something is missing in whole story.
Trump is talking a lot about the deporting illegals with criminal record . This case shows that permanent residents with the criminal record are no immune and they are facing deportation as well .
Trump’s administration or any administration can’t do much about undocumented immigrants which are not in any data base. The US immigration law for the undocumented immigrants is the invitation to cross the border illegally without any consequences if the illegal border crossing is successful. 10 states including DC provides Driver Licencees to undocumented immigrants and basically makes these folks documented and legal.
http://www.dailycal.org/2016/11/24/uc-along-200-national-universities-supports-deportation-relief-policy/
With UC and Janet Napolitano, the Master of Deportation in charge .
Jerry, you are partly correct and partly incorrect.
“strengthened the US government’s power to strip a person not only from the permanent residency but also from citizenship even if the person committed the crime after naturalization.”
This is not correct. A person’s citizenship cannot be revoked due to a crime committed AFTER the person became a U.S. citizen. Only for acts done prior to naturalization, that the person failed to disclose as required on their naturalization application.
“The story is a the tragic story because guy was brought to the US when he was 4 years old . Apparently . joining Army and National Guard did not help him at all in fighting his deportation . ”
That’s right. Those that have served our country can be and are deported for criminal offenses among other “immigration violations,” all the time. There are some special immigration provisions that help veterans, but not many. Unlawful voting would get a vet deported -=- as it would any other noncitizen, including long time permanent residents. That’s one reason why claims of non U.S. citizens intentionally committing voter fraud are ridiculous.
“I am not sure whether anybody can be released from the detention center by posting the bail bond . Formally , the detention centers are not the county jails , state or federal prisons .”
Some people can post bond and be released from immigration detention. Many cannot, either because they are legally prohibited from bond eligibility (this can even include a legal permanent resident who travelled outside the U.S. and is returning, with NO criminal record at all). And while we have numerous private and gov’t immigration detention centers, many “detainees” are in fact held in county jails and juvenile halls, including those immigrants with absolutely no criminal record. Go visit a few in the Yuba County jail in Marysville. Or the Sacramento County jail in downtown Sacramento. Both jails have contracts with ICE to hold immigration detainees. Yolo County is one of two or three juvie detention centers in the U.S. with a contract to hold juveniles.
“In his story he wrote that his 1982 application for citizenship got lost .Most likely his application for the citizenship was rejected by INS and he did not follow up because of his record. Something is missing in whole story.”
While it may be that something is missing, it is entirely likely that it is not. Applications are lost by the former INS and the current USCIS all the time. In fact, about 15-18 years ago, over 10,000 applications for citizenship and residency and other benefits went missing because a government contractor’s employees got behind in processing mail — and shredding over 10,000 applications. It was a complete mess. As a result, no attorney worth their salt ever sends applications or other correspondence to the government by anything other that trackable mail or courier. Copies are made, proof of delivery attached. Unrepresented people have no clue, and unfortunately trust that the post office will deliver, that the USCIS (hasn’t been INS for about 20 years) will receive and properly process, etc. I am right now awaiting a receipt for a filing fee paid to the USCIS Texas Service Center from about 2 months ago — I have proof of delivery, proof of signature, proof the checks were cashed, but no receipt — which I must also file with the Immigration Court to proceed with the case. So now the client and I must jump through numerous bureaucratic hoops to try to obtain another receipt.
“Trump is talking a lot about the deporting illegals with criminal record . This case shows that permanent residents with the criminal record are no immune and they are facing deportation as well.”
Absolutely true.
“The US immigration law for the undocumented immigrants is the invitation to cross the border illegally without any consequences if the illegal border crossing is successful. 10 states including DC provides Driver Licencees to undocumented immigrants and basically makes these folks documented and legal.”
This is not true. There are a huge number of legal consequences under the immigration laws for crossing the border illegally. One of the worst is that many people may never be able to become lawful residents despite having a U.S. citizen spouse and 10 U.S. citizen kids. A driver’s license helps provide safety to all of us on our roads — noncitizens learn to drive safely, obtain auto insurance and we all benefit. A driver’s license does NOT provide authorization to work or live in the U.S. legally. It doesn’t provide a social security number, nor any security to the undocumented person whatsoever.
Finally, I wonder if people realize that undocumented immigrants are and have in fact shored up and sustained our social security system for years? The U.S. Social Security Administration estimates that three-quarters of all undocumented immigrants pay $6-7 billion a year into social security, for which they will never receive benefits.
Ann
11 millions illegals is speaking for itself . This how easy is to here and stay here.
Driver licence is legitimizing illegal status . This is the government document .Cars insurance sis linked to state and federal tax and if the insurance company is collecting premiums from illegals than it is fraud and crime or legalization of illegals. I have a good friend from the South and I learn a lot how the illegal immigration network works.
In regards of 1982 application he just should follow up what happened to his application . From 1982 to 2011 he had a lot of time .
I have a secret for ya Jerry, there is not a living breathing soul in a human body who is not on the FEDs databases…. watch citizen4 to understand that a bit more.
The FEDs also know who is legal and illegal…in fact you can check the Fed’s own websites and reports to get numbers of how many illegals are in which state and where they are from.
PS> The game in the USA is to not be a troublemaker or look like a troublemaker or stand where there is trouble…otherwise even if ya are not guilty of anything but picking ones nose on the wrong street corner, you can easily lose your freedom or your life in this most horrific country I have ever lived in or visited…and I got to travel around the world before I was even two ….so I have been around.
The only reason there is a drug war still is due to the likes of the most recent decades of presidents….and the corruption throughout this country…the swamp per my boss the Donald. in case you missed it I am on the Board of Directors …and will post the picture of my certificate if I can find it.
The game my friends is just now finally getting good. I look forward to the prisons filling up with real criminals like HRC< Feinstein and her hubby Blum> Pelosi> Dr. Pan et al
Follow the money and learn the truth and it wasn’t the Donalds’ money that bred corruption in this country…but the old money of the Bushes, Clintons and a few of the most chosen few recently like BO….
Marina
Is no secret . The technology to count how many folks are crossing the border outside the border’s check points is available for long time
This is the easy part and this is not different than to see your own house on the Google . Children of undocumented (illegal) immigrants who were born in the United States become U.S. citizens automatically and they are source of information about their parents status . etc. US Senator for life Dianne Feinstein her husband Blum , the UC regent for life and the lobbyist for the State of Arizona on California taxpayers expenses Janet Napolitano are good examples of the swamp establishment.
BP
I was in shock myself. ( No satire)
However, as my daughter insightfully pointed out to me. This country has always been like this, now it is just out in the open where we can fight it. She was speaking specifically to racism, but it applies equally well to corruption which also knows no political affiliation and is present in both public and private spheres.
It just struck me as quite ironic that leftists have been making fun of Sara Palin for years denouncing just about everything she stands for and now we’re supposed to heed her words?
Many and perhaps most of us that you call “leftists” are critical thinkers. We are not sheep. Because we are willing to criticize our own, and also accept truth when it emanates from surprising sources, sometimes we do not succeed politically as well as those who do not think, but allow others to do so for them. Truth and facts are important, regardless of the source. Doesn’t mean we should not continue to criticize the source for misrepresentations and assertions not founded on fact.
” Truth and facts are important, regardless of the source.”
Not to the superstitious and benighted. Their hyper-oxygenated amygdalae causing a torrent of adrenaline to fuel their primitive fears and prejudices, they take solace in ritualistic repetition of their jingoistic mantras and releasing scapegoats to the invisible forces they believe run the universe.
Just too funny, liberals quoting Sara Palin.
“Their hyper-oxygenated amygdalae causing a torrent of adrenaline to fuel their primitive fears and prejudices”
Thank you Biddlin, always great to hear someone share their personal experience.
From seeing the reaction from the left I think it’s safe to say that Trump winning the election has definately fueled liberal’s primitive fears and prejudices.
BP
I apparently am not as amused as you are by the ability to think about the merits of a claim rather than simply reject it because I disagree with much else that the person has said. I am not blindly loyal to any individual or party. I am not even blindly loyal to our country. When a statement is made, I judge it on its merits, not by who happened to say it. I would not be surprised if Dr. Price and I share some points of agreement, although I confess to not having found any yet. There may be some hope because we probably both agree on the need for surgical sterility.
Heck, I even agreed with a statement of Marina’s today. Can’t help but wonder if you are similarly amazed and amused by that.
Tia
This country has always been like this. It does not matter who is President . Myself I am against massive deportation for the following reason . If the country invites millions of people to cross the border and providing them with legal documents like Driver Licences and let them attend the school universities , vote in municipalities elections than the country or state is obligated to protect these folks instead of deport them. Driver Licences are in DMV’s data base and the INS no need extra help from local police to find theses folks and deport them .
Personally I think that Trump’s idea to build solid border wall with sophisticated new technology and surveillance equipment is a good idea . It would prevent or significantly decrease the future human deportation tragedy for millions who decided to cross the border illegally not to mention the cost for taxpayers and drugs trafficking . It would be a lot more difficult to get to USA illegally and most likely impossible .
Jerry: It would be a lot more difficult to get to USA illegally and most likely impossible.
How about overstay a tourist visa?
wdf1
Overstay is not considered crime as the illegal border crossing which has to be proved under the criminal law as any other crime beyond reasonable doubt . Overstay visas immigrants is easy to control . INS keep quit good record of these immigrants who overstays and if it is getting notorious than INS is making very difficult to get visa for folks from the countries which abuse the USA hospitality . It just happened I know one guy from Germany who extended his stay by visiting his mother .(Tourists from Germany has no visa requirement but can’t stay in USA as as long as they like to) He was banned by INS by no entry for 3 years . During the communist era many Poles extended their visas in Chicago and other back east cities . INS police got hard on them by rounding them up and send many of them back with out detention because it is not the crime to stay longer than permitted by visa .
So the author was authorized to stay in the United States as long as he meet certain conditions. One of those conditions is not committing certain crimes. Through his life he committed several illegal acts violating the conditions of his temporary immigration status that allowed him to stay in this Country. Once that was discovered he was arrested and detained until his immigration status could be determined.
If the Supreme Court rules in favor of the ACLU then the only thing that would have changed in this story is that he would have been free for the 18 month while they worked on his case.
How does this work in other countries?
Sam
I don’t understand why he was kept in the detention center for 18 months . He was not the risk for the INS to flee USA .He did not want to leave the country . He was not on temporary immigration status but he a permanent resident for long time . I think he did not know or understood or even his parents did not understand their obligations to this country which granted him and his parents permanent residency . They signed the agreement with USA which stated that they will stay and they will protected until they will not violate law of this country . Prisons in USA are loaded with Americans and USA need criminals from other countries which are very costly to keep them .
However , deporting this guy after he already paid the price for his behavior being permanent resident , serving in military etc was and is quite brutal for himself and his family if you take into consideration that 11 million illegals are freely roaming USA and being protected by the sanctuaries cities , having drivers licences etc. The law is up side down .
BP
The Brexit is the sign that the Europeans got tired of the Brussels bureaucrats incursion into their personal lives and being forced to say that everything is great and that terrorist are just are radicalized and brainwashed good people .
The United States is quite different union than EU . The EU contains the many different countries with the different cultures , history and tradition. The disintegration of EU is just matter of time . I am not sure what the President -Elect Donald Trump has in his mind by saying that he “will drain the swamp” ?Whether it would be a different form of McCarthyism or his administration will concentrate to expose and punish corrupted government establishment which was left over from the previous administrations in every state . ?
Read Mark Leibovich’s book “This Town”
https://www.amazon.com/This-Town-Parties-Funeral-Plus-Americas/dp/0399170685/ref=tmm_pap_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&qid=&sr=
Sam: One of those conditions is not committing certain crimes. Through his life he committed several illegal acts violating the conditions of his temporary immigration status that allowed him to stay in this Country. Once that was discovered he was arrested and detained until his immigration status could be determined.
It is evidence of a police state that values arbitrary definitions of residency over the morality of his child’s right to be raised by two loving present parents, and of his wife as a U.S. citizen to have the right to marry and live with the partner she chooses.
wdf1
I perfectly understand your point and moral side of this case . The former Homland Security chief Janet Napolitano who caused massive deportation including Giammarco is today the President of the University of California and preaching protection for undocumented students . She did not care when she tarnished life of thousands of families and kids . She has no children or grandchildren than she does not care about somebody’s kids and grand kids . ACLU should write to her about this case and to Senator Feinstein who brought her to UC system . This woman is disgrace for the University of California in light of protecting immigrants in this country.
At my opinion it is disgrace that this women is the
I think the bigger question is the indefinite detention. If the author were charged with a criminal matter, they would have to arraign him within seventy two hours – he would then offer a plea and either be released on OR or offered bail. That didn’t happen here. Instead they held him without bail for 18 months while they determined his immigration status. Whatever you think should happen to him on the basis of his alleged illegal acts, the process is problematic.
Dave
Plea would be to leave the country voluntarily or stay in Detention Center and fight the deportation . Most likely what it was . I am suspecting that somebody made nasty a report on him to the INS he was just one of the 2.5 million of the Napolitano’s deportation machine build during her tenure as the Homeland Security chief. I know one similar case from California , but guy was not deported after he spent some time in the detention center .
Do you support an everify system that all illegal immigrants have to sign-up with? Because this would help expedite actions related to illegals in this country.
I think we should be more like Australia.
First Brexit, then Trump, now Italy.
http://news.sky.com/story/italian-pm-matteo-renzi-to-resign-in-wake-of-referendum-defeat-10683879
“From seeing the reaction from the left I think it’s safe to say that Trump winning the election has definately fueled liberal’s primitive fears and prejudices.”
It’s not the liberals you need to worry about. (Your spell check is apparently inoperative though.)Trump may have won the election at the cost of the republic. The tree of liberty may well be inundated and uprooted with the blood of patriots and tyrants. The disenfranchised have had enough empty platitudes and are hungry for the flesh of their oppressors.
So dramatic Biddlin.
The only thing that we see here is change to stop the elite ruling and chattering class from their pillaging of the economy, and a rejection of their aggressive top-down force-feeding of the liberal progressive agenda. The voters have put and end to it and also are returning us to respecting and protecting our national sovereignty.
It wasn’t just Trump. It was the House, the Senate and 70% of all state government. Wholesale rejection of the liberal progressive agenda… except for the narrow slice of the west coast and New England.
Our system of laws and governing documents protect the country from the fears that liberals are mongering today following their drubbing. What we are seeing now is just a backlash in response to the last 20-years of liberal malfeasance and name calling of everyone opposing their coastal liberal values. It will calm down after enough salt is rubbed into the wounds of defeat.
Germany’s Ann Merkel now wants to ban the burka:
https://www.thesun.co.uk/news/2339873/german-leader-angela-merkel-says-full-veil-is-not-appropriate-here-in-astonishing-u-turn/
Similar story to Arnold Giammarco’s adventure
http://www.wfsb.com/story/33855501/hartford-father-to-be-deported