The mother of a senior airman in the Air Force Caesar Flores was deported in April after months of delays. Immigration and Customs Enforcement had ordered her deportation last summer, but several extensions based on compassion had been granted.
Juana Flores, 55, had most recently requested to stay in the country to attend the wedding of one of her sons, which she was able to do. Soon after however, ICE declared that no more extensions would be considered, and Mrs. Flores chose to deport herself to Mexico.
Juana Flores originally entered the United States from her native Mexico in 1988 illegally with her husband, Andres, who was able to become a citizen. She stayed under the radar until 1999 when her ailing mother beckoned her to make a return trip to Mexico. She was caught at the border attempting to enter the U.S. illegally, which would prove to be a permanent impediment on her future attempts to secure a green card. Eventually able to return to her family, once again illegally crossing the border, Juana remained in the Goleta, California with her 10 children and 15 grandchildren until earlier this year. Including her husband, Juana’s entire family are American citizens except for her.
Inspired by Juana Flores’ harrowing story and in an effort to protect immigrant families of those currently serving in the U.S. armed forces, Rep. Salud Carbajal of California introduced the “Protect Patriot Parents Act” in March which would extend privileged immigration protection to parents of active and retired military. Currently, the only immigration loophole that could serve to protect special classes of illegal immigrants is “parole in place,” which gives immigration officials discretion in who and when to deport someone based on individual cases. However, some reporting indicated that cases of parole in place are being significantly rolled back.
Mike Krikorian, executive director of the Center for Immigration Studies, questioned the efficacy of the older policy saying, “Parole in place is a mechanism to amnesty illegal aliens without a vote of Congress … The previous administration used it simply as a way to amnesty whichever sympathetic group of illegal immigrants got their attention.”
Carbajal said of the Protect Patriot Parents act, “This would obviously provide a path, a reprieve in allowing the parent to be here while pursuing that process and not place any burden or stress on servicemen and women.” A similar bill, Protect Patriot Spouses Act, was introduced in Congress at the beginning of the year. Neither bill has progressed beyond referral to the Judicial Subcommittee on Immigration and Citizenship.
The Washington Examiner has reached out to several individuals for comments. This story will be updated as those comments become available.
