[aesop_image imgwidth=”500px” img=”http://www.signaltribunenewspaper.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/11/Screen-Shot-2016-11-18-at-12.23.48-PM.png” credit=”Courtesy 7th District LB Council office” align=”right” lightbox=”on” caption=”Susana and Victor Alvarez take a moment to speak to their father, Jose Luis Alvarez-Sandoval, through a screen wall at Friendship Park at the border between the U.S. and Mexico. Their father had been deported in February after he was stopped for a broken headlight by Calif. State University Long Beach Police, who discovered he was wanted by Immigration and Customs Enforcement. Susana Alvarez holds up a young family member so she can get a better view of her grandfather.” captionposition=”right” revealfx=”off”] Alvarez’s story can be pieced together by accounts from his advocates, and the circumstances of his arrest have been confirmed by Mike Uhlenkamp, a spokesman for California State University Long Beach.
On Feb. 21, Alvarez was driving around the area of the Long Beach Traffic Circle on his way to pick up his son Victor Alvarez from his job at the nearby donut shop. California State University Long Beach police often patrol areas within a mile of the college campus, according to Uhlenkamp. Police signaled Alvarez to pull over, and after an officer performed a “wants and warrants” check, immigration authorities requested that Alvarez be taken into custody at the college for eventual transfer to their custody. Within about seven hours, Alvarez was deported to Mexico.
Virginia Kice serves as the western-regional communications director and spokesperson for U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), one of many agencies overseen by the U.S. Dept. of Homeland Security. Kice confirmed that Alvarez’s history makes this a “Priority 1″ level case. She issued a statement to the Signal Tribune.
“Mr. Alvarez was identified as an enforcement priority by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE),” she stated, “based upon his 1995 conviction on two aggravated felony counts related to drug trafficking: one count of possession of a controlled substance for sale, which resulted in a two-year prison term; and a second count involving transportation of a controlled substance, for which he was sentenced to six years.”
After Alvarez’s prison term, an immigration judge ultimately denied permission for him to stay in the U.S., and ICE deported him in 1999, according to a statement from that federal immigration agency. Alvarez found his way back to the U.S. and established his family in Long Beach for years before immigration authorities caught up with him earlier this year.
Long Beach 7th District Councilmember Roberto Uranga acknowledges that Alvarez made a mistake 20 years ago and served his time in prison. Uranga, however, paints a different picture of the man.
Alvarez now lives with friends in Tijuana. He can see his family on the weekends, often at the Friendship Park, which lies on the border between the U.S. and Mexico. The visits at the park take place at a secured area behind a screened wall that separates Alvarez from the rest of his family in America.
All of his six kids are U.S. citizens, and he has a wife and grandchildren in California. One son even served with the U.S. Marine Corps. The family has expressed urgency in returning him home. Speaking through a translator, Alvarez’s sister-in-law told the Long Beach City Council Tuesday night that his wife was in an accident and requires surgeries. Alvarez was the family’s primary source of income and owned a business, but since the deportation earlier this year, his son Victor had to quit school so that he can financially support the family.
Uranga explained that Alvarez is a changed man. He had only returned to the U.S. to care for his family and had not been involved with crime since he served his prison time. The 7th-district councilmember requested the council’s support for a nonbinding resolution to request humanitarian parole for the Long Beach resident.
“Under current immigration policy,” Uranga told the council on Nov. 15, “these types of criminal records prioritize individuals like Jose for deportation with no consideration for the family and the life he created in the United States or the amends he made after his arrest.”
Susana Alvarez was among the individuals who addressed the city council that night. Her voice broke, as she pleaded for the council’s support to return her father home under the terms of a humanitarian parole. She criticized what could happen to the generations of kids who grow up with their grandfathers and grandmothers “simply because the deportation machine has no regard for human life.”
“I want my father back,” she concluded, “and President Obama has authority to approve his request to come back.”
[aesop_image imgwidth=”500px” img=”http://www.signaltribunenewspaper.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/11/Screen-Shot-2016-11-18-at-12.28.42-PM.png” credit=”Courtesy Councilmember Uranga’s office” align=”left” lightbox=”on” caption=”Long Beach Councilmember Roberto Uranga (left) and Congressman Alan Lowenthal (right) pay a visit to Jose Luis Alvarez-Sandoval on Oct. 9 at Friendship Park at the border between Mexico and the U.S. Alvarez was deported earlier this year after university police from CSULB performed a traffic stop offcampus for a broken headlight on his car. The stop ultimately alerted immigration authorities, who say that Alvarez had been living in the U.S. illegally. The park visit took place in a secured area separated by a screen wall. Alvarez is on the other side of the screen.” captionposition=”left” revealfx=”off”] Third District Councilmember Suzie Price expressed her sympathy for the family and for many of the immigrant advocates who spoke Tuesday night during the public-comment period. Alvarez’s supporters voiced fears that their own families would be divided due to deportation. Price, however, voted against Uranga’s motion. She asked the council to consider addressing situations like the Alvarez Family’s predicament in the council’s agenda for its Federal Legislative Committee as they discussed immigration policy.
“Because, if you research humanitarian parole,” she said, “it is a very, very narrow, limited exception within the federal law, and one that is extremely difficult to qualify under.”
Fourth District Councilmember Daryl Supernaw agreed with Price, adding that he didn’t want to give the family “false hope.”
In a follow-up phone interview, Supernaw voiced concern that the council meeting was not the venue to address these kinds of immigration issues.
“This is a state and federal issue,” he said Wednesday, adding that he had not heard from authorities at those levels and did not receive a single letter or call from anyone in support of this issue.
The situation has touched the nerve of immigrant-rights advocacy groups. Claudia Ramirez, a spokeswoman for the Long Beach Immigrant Rights Coalition, criticized the circumstances that eventually led to deporting Alvarez.
“For that to have happened,” Ramirez said in a phone interview, “and for him to be pulled over for a headlight and then furthermore deported, it’s incredibly unfair for him and his entire family.”
Ramirez confirmed that the federal government is the ultimate decision maker in determining whether Alvarez would be eligible for humanitarian parole.
Uranga acknowledged that there is no guarantee that Sandoval would ultimately receive approval for the parole. He told the council that he did want to offer hope to the family.
He said in a phone interview that Alvarez is “rehabilitated.”
“So when does a past crime become a past crime and doesn’t continue to haunt you?” Uranga asked in an interview with the Signal Tribune. “When is a person allowed the opportunity to say, ‘I’ve been rehabilitated. I’m not in that life anymore!I’m raising my kids. I’m working. I’m trying to live a good life. When!am I going to be left alone to live my life as it should be?'”
The council voted 5-3 to pass Uranga’s resolution. Councilmembers Jeannine Pearce, Dee Andrews, Uranga, Al Austin and Vice Mayor Rex Richardson favored the motion. Councilmembers Price, Stacy Mungo and Supernaw were the dissenting votes. Councilmember Lena Gonzalez was not present for the vote.
Alvarez’s hopes do not only hang on the approval of a humanitarian parole. He has a serious advocate in Congressman Alan Lowenthal, who represents the Long Beach area. On Thursday, Nov. 17, Lowenthal held a press conference in Washington, DC and circulated a letter for signatures amongst other representatives to request that the Department of Homeland Security consider a policy change as it relates to military families.
Lowenthal explained that back in 2013, a new executive order would allow a “parole in place” designation for undocumented relatives of veterans and military personnel. The congressman described how the designation is offered to close relatives who don’t have a criminal record. A change in designation to “parole in place” would mean that Alvarez wouldn’t be deported, but he also wouldn’t be granted legal status.
Lowenthal argued that Homeland Security should consider Alvarez’s whole record, especially since his criminal history involved a drug offense from more than 20 years ago.
“Obviously, we’re not saying he automatically should be given parole in place,” Lowenthal said in a phone interview, “but he should not automatically be prohibited from it when you’re giving parole in place to other family members of other military veterans.”
The Signal Tribune asked the congressman about the timing of the request. Many immigrant advocacy groups have voiced alarm that in just two months, President-elect Donald Trump takes office, and there is uncertainty about what that means for the undocumented community. After all, Trump was elected on a platform that wasn’t favorable to illegal-immigrant criminals from Mexico.
Lowenthal acknowledged that the new transition to a Trump administration might make it more difficult for Alvarez, however the congressman added that the president-elect has not yet “fleshed out” all the details on his immigration policies.
Lowenthal said that these immigration issues are not “black or white.”
“When you take a case like Mr. Alvarez,” he said, “you know, you’re comparing one conviction 20 years ago [of] a nonviolent offense versus two decades of being a model resident in the community.” Lowenthal said that Alvarez shouldn’t be given special treatment, adding that his full record should be considered before the federal government deports him.
A parole approval is only a temporary fix. Lowenthal explained Alvarez’s “ultimate fate will depend upon what kind of immigration reform” that is eventually adopted.
The congressman was asked if his office had fully investigated Alvarez’s background, since critics might wonder if Alvarez may be continuing his involvement in the drug trade. Lowenthal said that he felt “confident” that his understanding of Alvarez’s story is an accurate one, though he did acknowledge that not everyone agrees with him.
Lowenthal was asked to describe his impressions of Alvarez when he met the man at the heart of the local immigration controversy last month. On that October Sunday at Friendship Park, Lowenthal witnessed the now 54-year-old weep at the sight of his children and grandchildren. Some of his relatives had already crossed over entirely into Mexico territory to stay with Alvarez for a while on his side of the screen-mesh fence. Others in their group stayed on the U.S. side of the screen.
“You see a broken immigration system that rips families apart,” Lowenthal said, adding that it was painful to watch.
