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Junior Andres Francisco admits he made a "terrible mistake," one so costly that it landed him in federal prison for several years and left his wife and three young children to struggle in his absence. But he's terrified of one more possible consequence: being deported, perhaps as soon as this week, to his native Dominican Republic. He fears it would mean permanent separation from and irreparable harm to his family.
"I'm praying to God because I’m not ready for deportation. I came to this country for them," Franscisco said in Spanish through an interpreter, speaking from a federal Immigration and Customs Enforcement, or ICE, detention facility in Farmville, Virginia.
Francisco, 37, moved to the United States in 2003 to join his wife Mirtha – his high school sweetheart, also from the Caribbean country – and their baby daughter in northern New Jersey. He became a legal resident and, with his green card, found work as a truck driver delivering meats. Mirtha obtained her U.S. citizenship, and the couple had another daughter and a son.
However, Francisco fell into a depression, lost his job and made a bad choice, he says. In 2011, he was convicted of cocaine trafficking and sentenced to 51 months in prison.
Last fall brought Francisco some good news – at least it initially seemed that way. He was approved to be part of the mass release of 6,000 low-level, nonviolent drug traffickers, whose federal prison terms were shortened through new, retroactive sentencing guidelines. Each individual’s case was reviewed – for considerations including personal behavior and public safety – and each approved by a federal judge. Most soon entered supervised release or other transitional programs.
But almost a third were non-citizens, like Francisco, who immediately were put into deportation proceedings, regardless of whether they were in the United States legally. Of those, 763 initially received final deportation orders and were quickly removed; ICE could not provide VOA with outcomes for the rest.
Treating felons differently just because of citizenship status "points to a schism" in federal policies, the American Civil Liberties Union and 13 other rights groups last fall urging ICE toward individualized due process and against hasty removal.
The U.S. Department of Justice, with bipartisan support from Congress, as part of a broader plan to reduce incarceration and rehabilitate offenders. Advocates said those reforms seem at odds with enforcement actions by , a law enforcement agency of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security. Deportation cases are decided by judges in DOJ’s Executive Office for Immigration Review – "not Homeland Security, an important distinction," an ICE official said, speaking on condition of anonymity.
These are "inherently conflicting messages from the criminal justice system … and our very unforgiving immigration system," said Avideh Moussavian, an attorney for the California-based . She reminded that every early-release prisoner was deemed not to pose a security risk. "Thoughtful deliberation in each of those decisions … is at risk of being entirely disregarded by ICE."
Also, non-citizen felons are "being punished twice for one wrong act," Moussavian said. "And for many people, it’s a surprise punishment because they didn’t understand that they were going to be deported [when they applied to have their sentences reconsidered]. These are very different consequences than having, for example, a longer sentence. It’s permanent exile, for many people, from their family."
Conservative backers of more stringent immigration policies support the deportations.
Mark Krikorian, executive director of the in Washington, said he could "see an argument for very minor crimes not being deportable," but "the bar should be pretty low" for removal. "As a general rule, a green card holder is a guest of the United States, and as a guest his behavior should be above reproach."
Rarely are non-citizen offenders granted deportation relief. An immigration court judge may take into account considerations such as a grave illness, and decide to let an individual remain in the United States. "Each case is individually reviewed," an ICE official told VOA.
While even illegal U.S. residents have a right to appeal deportation, that right vanishes for non-citizens with a criminal conviction. And they have no right to legal counsel.