A Virginia teenager who was scheduled to be deporteda few days after her high school graduation earned a last-minute reprieve Monday afternoon. Heydi Mejia, 18, and her mother, Dora Aldana, 40, were granted a one-year deferral by the Department of Homeland Security.
Mejia and Aldana, the subjects of a story in The Washington Post on Monday, were prepared to leave for Guatemala this week. Mejia was 4 when her mother brought her to the United States across the Rio Grande, and she graduated with honors from Meadowbrook High School in Richmond on Friday. She had planned to go to college, until immigration officials came to her family’s two-bedroom apartment in December, turning her senior year into a countdown to deportation.
The one-year reprieve allows her a chance to enroll in college and get a part-time job in cosmetology, as she had planned. Her attorney, Ricky Malik, has filed a motion with Immigration and Customs Enforcement to reopen her case, which could lead to a dismissal of the deportation order or a longer deferral.
“It has been an overwhelming week, for sure,” Mejia said Monday. “I’ve had every emotion, and now I just feel so relieved and so lucky.
Politicians continue to argue over immigration reform this election year, and both Democrats and Republicans have proposed laws that would grant legal residency to top students.
In the meantime, President Obama has instructed immigration officials to be lenient with students who came to the country illegally as minors.
Thanks goodness for Heydi that someone was paying attention. Enough of a stink was made to keep the wolf away from the door for a year. However, a year goes by pretty darn quickly. A happy ending for a year and then what happens? What has become of the Obama decree to be lenient? Apparently someone didn’t get the memo.
Both Democrats and Republicans have proposed laws? Why are they sitting on their thumbs? Why don’t they get in the back rooms, hammer it all out and stop the obstructionism? Both parties should be ashamed of themselves. They are so busy chest thumping and pointing at what the other guy is doing wrong, getting detoured by social issues and trying to get reelected that they have lost their way.
Meanwhile the best and the brightest kids get shipped out of the country. We flush our American investment and continue to wring hands over why American schools are failing.
This doesn’t sound like failure to me. If American schools are failing it is because dumb ass politicians who don’t know jack have stuck their nose into them. If they are failing it is because there are artificial standards of what is passing, not what makes a good school. Perhaps each community should set the standard as to what makes a good school, what makes a school a passing school. Heydi passed. I hope she has a brilliant future, helping others. She is the real American success story that immigrants have lived out for generations, before the dumb asses got involved.
Was there ever any doubt that the Obama administration would fail to do its job?
SR: this Administration has been the most aggressive Administration in decades on enforcing immigration laws. It has also put a high priority on getting criminal elements out of the country. Whatever kind of “job” it’s doing on immigration issues, it’s tons more than its predecessors.
Do you really care that this young woman, someone who was brought here as a child, who has no criminal record, who is not a threat to any living soul, who has done well in school, and who shows every sign of being able to make positive contributions to society, isn’t getting chucked out into an alien society she knows virtually nothing about the week of her graduation? I should hope not. The “job” of any administration when it comes to the decisions they make about law enforcement priorities is not to use my tax dollars (or yours) chasing after people like this.
Cheer Scout!
I want that young lady in the community college system, becoming a nurse!
To me, a conservative value should be to take care of our investments. I see her as an American investment also. We need to invest in our youth.
Slow. Funny!
Who didn’t see the whole episode of the news networks picking up the story and tugging at our heart strings and her getting her wish and staying? And a year is a long time.. When it passes so will our memory of this young lady and she’ll never get deported.
Our laws are meaningless. Our laws are only for those the govt wants to take down.
Marinm,
Our “laws” in many cases, especially as it pertains to immigration, have proven to be fluid, as they should be. In this country, excluding a few three strikes and your out laws, our judicial system is VERY individual.
Not sure why you and Slow are digging your heals in. Like I said, some people just lucked out, even those that were born on US soil but whose parents were here undocumented.
We need motivated smart young people, this country can NEVER have too many of those, especially from what I have seen of many up and coming young people!
@Elena
“Our “laws” in many cases, especially as it pertains to immigration, have proven to be fluid, as they should be. In this country, excluding a few three strikes and your out laws, our judicial system is VERY individual.”
You’re right. Today I got a great example of that while watching some people drone on and on about thier individual cases and getting themselves higher penalties after the fact.
“Not sure why you and Slow are digging your heals in.”
Because the law should be blind to a persons situation. We trust our legislators with the power to curtail our rights so we ought to trust that when they wrote something and passed it that they meant it. I want consistency.
As Roberts pointed out, “If the Constitution says that the little guy should win, the little guy’s going to win in court before me, … But if the Constitution says that the big guy should win, well, then the big guy’s going to win.”
To me its not about picking and choosing winners. The law is the law.
Now, I *do* support the citizens right to jury nullification because if the legislators are really dumb its up to our Jury’s of commoners to void out those laws. But, the laws ought to be fixed. That’s why I’m against an Executive Order banning ObamaCare. The real fix is outright killing it in Congress.
“Like I said, some people just lucked out, even those that were born on US soil but whose parents were here undocumented.”
For those without legal documentation they ought to make their presence here as unknown as possible. I don’t want ICE chasing after these people (again I am somewhat sympathetic) but if their presence is made known — sorry but the law is the law.
Marinm,
What world do you live in? The law is never blind, there are always exentuating circumstances the courts take into account. This young woman is as American as any other teenager. In fact, she probably appreciates MORE than most! Its about time the DREAM act passes than all this back and forth arguing is null and void.
“What world do you live in?”
Earth.
“The law is never blind, there are always exentuating circumstances the courts take into account.”
I’m sure Sundusky is hoping for that…
“This young woman is as American as any other teenager.”
Except that she isn’t.
“In fact, she probably appreciates MORE than most!”
Wholeheartedly agree. Those without appreciate things more than those that have something and didn’t earn it and value it. That’s why I get pissy about social programs taking my tax money.
“Its about time the DREAM act passes than all this back and forth arguing is null and void.”
While I’m not a fan of the DREAM Act I agree that Congress needs to do something.
Yea she really is as American as everyone else. Define American. Is it your paperwork or your state of mind?
I’m sure CBP takes ‘state of mind’ into consideration when they’re checking IDs at the border. I’ll try that next time I’m OCONUS and coming back in.
We weren’t talking about entering the country. Sorry, I forgot, you don’t want to have a serious conversation about this issue.
Sure, dump all the amnesty crap in your DREAM act, and maybe it will pass!
“all your amnesty crap” is sort of what the dream act is about. why have a dream act if you are still deporting kids?
Maybe you should be specific.
@Moon-howler
By serious if you mean agree with you just because. Then you are right. I’m just pointing out your idea of it being a state of mind is both illogical and without legal merit.
I was unaware we were discussing legal standing. Legal standing is not the only thing that makes people Americans. I expect many legal residents vry much think of themselves as Americans and have full allegiance to America.
I think we are giving opinion here since much of what we are discussing is based on context. Can opinion be right or wrong?
And now you have a good idea why the Dream act hasn’t passed and likely won’t any time soon. As has been pointed out many, many times, compromise means “do it my way” to the left.
@Moon-howler
“Can opinion be right or wrong?”
Yes. It can also be both at the same time.
@Slow
Agreed. Funny.
a 1-year reprieve, i.e. punting the ball, which is what Obama and both parties have been doing on this issue year after year.
I fianlly watched Foot Loose. Cute movie.