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Immigrant whose daughter appealed to pope requests asylum in U.S.

By Olga Grigoryants

REUTERS

 

Mario Vargas-Lopez, 45, walks out of immigration court in Los Angeles, California, U.S., March 22, 2017. REUTERS/Lucy Nicholson

 

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - A Mexican immigrant whose daughter appealed to Pope Francis three years ago to stop his deportation from the United States requested asylum at a federal court hearing in Los Angeles on Wednesday.

 

Mario Vargas-Lopez's attorney argued the 45-year-old could be the victim of violence if he is deported to Mexico because of the international attention his case has received.

 

"People in Mexico know who he is, and he might be targeted for ransom and extortion," attorney Alex Galvez said in a phone interview after the hearing.

 

Vargas-Lopez was granted a hearing for Sept. 18 by Judge Rose Peters.

 

He entered the United States in 1999, his attorney said, and had worked in construction in Tennessee and California.

 

In September 2013, he was arrested in Tennessee on a drunken-driving charge and served a six-month sentence. On his release, he was detained by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement and held in its Louisiana facility.

 

Vargas-Lopez was released on bond in March 2014, three days after his then-10-year-old daughter, U.S.-born Jersey Vargas, made a plea to the pope as part of a delegation delivering letters to the pontiff from children of illegal immigrants.

 

As reported by the Catholic publication "The Tidings," the girl told Pope Francis: "My father is suffering."

 

Vargas-Lopez was subsequently reunited with his family in Los Angeles and has remained free. U.S. immigration officials denied at the time there was any papal intervention.

 

Galvez has argued that Vargas-Lopez's family ties in the country and clean record since his 2014 release from the Immigration and Customs Enforcement detention centre should be taken into account in his request for asylum.

 

A representative for the U.S. Department of Justice declined to comment on the case.

 

Jersey Vargas, now 13, was not at Wednesday's hearing.

 

(Additional reporting by Alex Dobuzinskis in Los Angeles; Editing by Patrick Enright and Peter Cooney)

 

-- © Copyright Reuters 2017-03-23

[mrwebb8825]

So, he illegally entered the states 8 years ago, has a 13 year old, US born daughter, got CAUGHT breaking the law after being here Illegally for only 4 years and his lawyer wants it taken into account that he hasn't been caught breaking the law in the last 3 years? AND, we should give him asylum because a child asked the freaking Pope?

 

Send him and his daughter to the Vatican and let the Pope give them asylum.

[ilostmypassword]

4 hours ago, mrwebb8825 said:

So, he illegally entered the states 8 years ago, has a 13 year old, US born daughter, got CAUGHT breaking the law after being here Illegally for only 4 years and his lawyer wants it taken into account that he hasn't been caught breaking the law in the last 3 years? AND, we should give him asylum because a child asked the freaking Pope?

 

Send him and his daughter to the Vatican and let the Pope give them asylum.

Wow, his daughter is now seeking asylum, too?  Or are you confused?

[Scott]

In the past, one of the mitigating factors in deporting people, was that the deportation should not have a negative affect on a US citizen.   Of course, those that have committed serious crimes should and do get the boot, but deportation of parents of US children, and in some cases those who are caretakers of a US citizen adult will be granted some leeway.

 

In one case, an illegal alien who had married a US citizen who had died, was the primary caretaker for the the spouses elderly parent who was suffering from serious medical conditions, including Alzheimer's.   With no criminal record, she was not deported.   My understanding is that she had agreed that she would return to her home country when the Mother-in-Law passed away.   She had no other immediate family in the US.  

 

These are the types of situations which make deportations difficult.   Humanitarian considerations, including what is good for US citizens, need to be taken into consideration.