The 9th Circuit Court of Appeals has put the final nail in the deportation coffin for a father of five United States citizen children. The father's application for cancellation of removal was denied, and he was ordered deported despite the fact that the immigration court found that his children would suffer an exceptional and extremely unusual hardship if his wife, also in proceedings, was deported.
This hardship finding for his wife was predicated on the fact that one of the couple's five children was born prematurely and suffers from developmental delays and neurological abnormalities. A second child suffers from febrile seizures, high fevers, vomiting, and has difficulty breathing, which has required several emergency room visits. Doctors are unable to diagnose the problem.
Despite the fact that the father is the sole breadwinner of the family, has no criminal convictions, stable employment, and has paid his taxes every year since arriving in the United States, the immigration court found that he did not have good moral character due to the fact that he paid a smuggler to enter the United States.
Judge Harry Pregerson dissented, calling the decision "absurd," the reasoning behind the decision "misguided", and the result of the case "unconscionable."
Keep fighting the good fight Judge Pregerson.
Click here to read the decision.
