Mayor Says Indiana Man’s Deportation ‘Feels Like a Defeat for Our Community’

[Tennis]

Roberto Beristain, a 43-year-old undocumented immigrant, had lived in the United States for nearly 20 years. He and his wife of 17 years, Helen, an American, were raising their four children in St. Joseph County, Ind., and he owned a beloved local institution, Eddie’s Steak Shed.

Late Tuesday night, Mr. Beristain, whose wife voted for President Trump, was deported and dropped off in Juárez, Mexico, by Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials.

“It feels like a defeat for our community,” Pete Buttigieg, the mayor of South Bend, Ind., in St. Joseph County, said on Friday. “Here we have someone who was trying to do everything right, who has kids — who are totally American and part of this community — who no longer have their father.”

“There’s no path to citizenship,” Mr. Buttigieg, a Democrat, said. “There are a lot of conservatives who do believe there should be a path to citizenship for somebody like him. The reality is the bureaucracy has let him down.”

Mr. Beristain had twice filed a green card application and had a Social Security card, a work permit and a driver’s license, according to Mr. Buttigieg and Adam Ansari, a Chicago lawyer and former neighbor of the Beristains who used to frequent Mr. Beristain’s restaurant.

“We’ve got to come up with something,” Mr. Buttigieg said. “Some answer other than, ‘Get out.’ ”

Customs enforcement did not immediately comment on Friday.

Only a couple of months into his presidency, Mr. Trump has emboldened immigration agents to deport undocumented individuals, encouraging agents to shed the practice of focusing mostly on those with criminal records. Mr. Beristain has no criminal record, Mr. Ansari has said.

On Feb. 6, Mr. Beristain was detained during his regular yearly hearing with immigration officials. Between that day and his deportation, he was moved by immigration agents through centers in Indiana, Wisconsin, Illinois, Louisiana, New Mexico and Texas, Mr. Ansari said.

Mr. Beristain is not alone in this experience. In February, for example, residents in an Illinois town were shocked when a manager of a popular restaurant was arrested by immigration agents.

In March, Helen Beristain, who voted for President Trump, said, “I don’t think ICE is out there to detain anyone and break families, no.” Credit Michael Caterina/South Bend Tribune, via Associated Press

Last month, Mr. Buttigieg wrote in The Huffington Post about why Mr. Berstain’s community, considered to be a conservative area, was largely sticking up for “an undocumented neighbor.” In it, he wrote that supporting Mr. Beristain is in line with his community’s values: “hard work, small business ownership, suspicion of overbearing government and support for family.”

In the November election, St. Joseph County — which includes Mishawaka, where the Beristains live — was split nearly evenly between Mr. Trump and his Democratic opponent, Hillary Clinton. But Mr. Buttigieg says that Mr. Beristain’s deportation has affected some Republican residents’ opinions of the president.

“I got one letter from somebody who knows the family personally who’s also a Trump supporter basically saying, ‘Look, this isn’t what we thought we were voting for,’ ” Mr. Buttigieg said. “But then again, political habits die hard.”

The reactions have not all been supportive. The mayor said that the Beristains’ eighth- and ninth-grade daughters were on “the receiving end of some ugliness at their school.” He added that there had been some negative responses from people online, who have said that Mr. Beristain does not have an excuse because he had years to try and become a citizen.

The mayor said it was important to view the story as a human one, not just a political one. “That’s equally applicable to people in the anti-Trump world who are saying that somehow this family deserve it,” he said. “I think this is a moment where compassion has to come first.”

Mr. Ansari — who has been helping the family and has assembled a team of immigration lawyers to provide them counsel — said the deportation was unlawful and a surprise because the lawyers had several pending motions on behalf of Mr. Beristain, which were being relayed to immigration officials.

“Unbeknownst to us, during the same exact time we were talking to immigration officials, they were shuffling him off to Mexico,” Mr. Ansari said on Thursday, adding that the lawyers were not aware that Mr. Beristain had been taken to Mexico until they received a call from Ms. Beristain. She received no information from immigration officials, Mr. Ansari said.

In an interview in March, Ms. Beristain told a CBS affiliate in South Bend, Ind., “I don’t think ICE is out there to detain anyone and break families, no.”

Referring to Mr. Trump, she added, “Like he said, the good people have a chance to become citizens of the United States.”

https://www.nytimes.com/2017/04/07/u...-article-click

How awful! This is what some people voted for folks.
Including the man's wife. Nice job lady. Vote for a President who has your husband deported. Good grief!

[the game]

maybe if he hadn't broken the law he wouldn't have been deported.

[Independent voter]

"Beristain"? Sounds Canadian. Down here taking advantage of the strong dollar and our women no doubt.

[Tennis]

maybe if he hadn't broken the law he wouldn't have been deported.

Many other undocumented expats have become citizens. Why not him as well?

[Deleted]

His wife voted for trump?

Bravo!

[NED funded]

Its sad for the family and the guy, but the situation needed to change. Hopefully he can get back to the US legally. If not I think its the duty of Canada to accomodate him, his family and anyone that was unfairly deported.

[Kaleredar]

She voted for Trump?


Trump's rhetoric should have made it pretty clear he never had plans to make it easier for anyone to become a citizen or any intent to investigate the bureaucratic nightmare. He just wanted to push the illegal immigrant train so that he could have easy scapegoats, because lord knows he didn't have any actual ideas.

If he solved the problem, he and the republican party at large would be without their strongest talking point. They have no motivation to fix immigration and alleviate the bureaucracy. They keep telling people they can sell them the snake oil to "fix" it. If they actually fix it, they'd have nothing to sell.

I'd say she got bit on the ass on that one. Just like lots of Trump supporters. And once again, sadly, other people have to suffer for their poor decision making.

maybe if he hadn't broken the law he wouldn't have been deported.

He applied for green card status twice. Though the article is vague, it makes it sound like it just fell through the cracks both times.

[Tennis]

Evidence? As far as I'm aware(like the article you posted states) there is currently NO path for them to become citizens.

Why isn't there a path? I'm pretty sure I've read of some people living in the shadows and then eventually getting their green card.

[sheggaro]

No path to citizenship? OH REALLY?

How about applying for a work visa / greencard and coming here LEGALLY?

[Kaleredar]

No path to citizenship? OH REALLY?

How about applying for a work visa / greencard and coming here LEGALLY?

If you read the article, it does say he applied for a greencard twice.

Come now. It's pretty easy to see why this kind of thing exists and why it happens. The republican party needs some baser talking point they can refer to when they've run out of ideas. A scapegoat to rile up their voter base that they never actually have to address. Because as long as the system stays broken, they can just keep complaining about how it's broken. For instance, if Mexican immigrants could quickly and simply become US citizens, no one would be scared of them because they'd just be US citizens. But IF they remain a nebulous band of "illegal aliens" because of how convoluted the system is, then boy howdy, do they sound threatening and mean! The perfect kind of thing you'd need to elect politicians to protect you from.

[Calfredd]

No path to citizenship? OH REALLY?

How about applying for a work visa / greencard and coming here LEGALLY?

You mean the green card he applied for twice?

[Venant]

We need a path to citizenship, but its going to start on the other side of the wall.

[chazus]

A path to citizenship is needed; one that actually -works-

Personally I think that anyone whom has a family already or has been in the country more han 5-8 years ought to get some kind of protection or easy access. If you've been in the country, chances are you're contributing to the GDP.

[King Shark]

No path to citizenship? OH REALLY?

How about applying for a work visa / greencard and coming here LEGALLY?

Okay, I just gotta ask: Do you ever formulate a complete, coherent thought at any point before or after making a post on these forums, or is it all just blind instinct with you?

[IIamaKing]

Maybe in that 20 year span he should have looked into getting legal? Or Move his family back to where he has citizenship? HE made a choice to remain here, knowing full well his status and how that status could affect him in the future.

[Masark]

Why isn't there a path?

Because there's barely a path for anyone outside of the wealthy.

[callipygoustp]

I don't like that the guy was deported but it doesn't sound like we're not getting the fully story here.
- Married to US citizen for 17 years
- 20 years in the country
The green card process for the above situation is relatively painless for the above scenario UNLESS Roberto Beristain initially entered the country illegally and never sought to remedy the situation. In that case some of this is, unfortunately, on him.

Regardless,
- Married to US citizen for 17 years
- 20 years in the country
- 4 kids
- Business owner
- Pays taxes (assumption based on him having a SSN)
Definitely not someone that resources should be wasted on to deport. There are plenty of more clear cut abuses that would be more appropriate for such actions.

[Goremonger]

As a Hoosier myself, I would say it's a great victory for our community, he should have done the paperwork.

My friend passed his citizenship a couple years ago. He was brought here from Mexico when he was young because his parents were abusive, his mother put cigarettes out on him and what not. His uncle whom he lives with came here a long time ago and got citizenship and started a roofing business.
These are the people we want here, not people who stay off the books and don't pay their fair share.

[NED funded]

Because there's barely a path for anyone outside of the wealthy.

There is a lot of irony in a canadian speaking about how our immigration is not liberal enough.

[Calfredd]

There is a lot of irony in a canadian speaking about how our immigration is not liberal enough.

I don't know if it's a liberal thing rather than jumping through 50 different flaming hoops.