Beaverton woman deported, returns as wife
Saturday, October 25, 2008 11:45 PM PDT
PORTLAND (AP) — Now married to a U.S. citizen, a woman who entered the country illegally as a child and was deported to Guatemala has returned to the United States — this time legally.
But the family of Monica Diaz remains divided between two countries after a long struggle over U.S. immigration laws.
At the Portland airport Thursday night, Diaz, 22, was reunited with her father, Luis Diaz Sr., and her 14-year-old sister, Jennifer.
Also waiting for her was Jason Ramos, whom she married in June in Escuintla, the Guatemalan town where her mother, Irma and brother, Luis Jr., remain.
Jason and Monica had met in 2002 in Beaverton and had planned to marry before she was deported.
She had been under a 10-year ban on entering the United States, a result of her illegal entry in 1993.
But she was granted a hardship waiver, which requires a showing that her absence would pose a hardship to a U.S. citizen who is a spouse or parent, said her lawyer, Tilman Hasche.
He said good moral character, the family’s asylum application and the fact that Diaz was brought across the border as a child were also considered.
Luis Diaz Sr. entered the United States on foot in 1991 as Guatemala went through a civil war. He asked for asylum based on threats he got for union organizing at a paper mill. Irma Diaz and the two elder children followed in 1993, helped by a smuggler to enter the country at California.The parents got jobs in Beaverton, and Jennifer was born a U.S. citizen. Irma also filed for asylum.
Their petitions were denied. Two years ago, the mother and the two children who weren’t citizens were deported.
Luis Diaz Sr. is still awaiting the outcome of the appeal of his asylum case.
Monica Diaz came back thinner. She survived, she said, but did not adapt to Guatemala: no traffic rules, poverty and stifling heat. The dusty outdoor market had ‘‘flies everywhere,’’ she said. ‘‘It was gross, not like Albertsons.’’
She learned to speak Spanish again.
To get by, she and her mother opened a mini-store inside their house. They sold Coca-Cola, Pepsi, chocolate-covered bananas, milk, sour cream and cheese. Later, when her mom started baking cakes, Diaz ventured out to knock on neighbors’ doors, calling, ‘‘Empanadas, pastel de tres leches!’’
‘‘I’d sound like those ladies in the market,’’ she said. ‘‘I felt so weird, but also successful because it brought money into the house.’’
In January, while her brother lost his job, Diaz started teaching English to toddlers at a private school. She hopes to become an elementary school teacher in the United States.
Diaz plans to become a U.S. citizen, and then she would be eligible to petition for her father, who even if removed to Guatemala wouldn’t be subject to the 10-year ‘‘unlawful presence’’ ban because he filed for asylum when he arrived to the United States and always worked with authorization, the family’s attorney said.
But Irma Diaz would require a waiver to re-enter, getting it only once her husband became a citizen.
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Information from: The Oregonian, http://www.oregonlive.com
