VTMBH Article: Body
This is a wakeup call to hundreds, if not thousands, of Caribbean parents. Dont let it happen to your child.
Joan Foy, the head of the immigration unit of the Caribbean Womens Health Association was using the unfortunate example of a West Indian elected official in a suburban community in Connecticut who resigned last week as Majority Leader of the Stratford Town Council after state officials raised questions about his citizenship.
Michael Singh, 35, came to the United States from Jamaica when he was one year old, and apparently, neither he nor his parents sought to make him a naturalized American citizen and when the issue arose about his immigration status he had to resign from the influential position.
I have seen hundreds of cases of people from Jamaica, Barbados, Guyana, Trinidad and Tobago, Grenada and other Caribbean countries whose children ran into somewhat similar problems or even worst, said Foy, herself an immigrant from Aruba. The tragedy in many of these cases is that far too often the young people themselves didnt even know that they were not citizens. They assumed that because they went through school and were living in the United States from the time they were little children that they were American citizens. But when they run into trouble with the law or were seeking certain positions or opportunities, which require U.S. citizenship, it was only then that they found out, rather painfully, that they are not citizens. Thats why the case of Mr. Singh in Connecticut is a wake-up call for thousands of parents who didnt take the step of ensuring that their children were naturalized.
Singh, a Democrat, was forced to resign by his colleagues on the Town Council, state officials and by residents of Stratford. He quit the position, to which he was elected in November, in a letter of resignation sent to the Town Clerk, in which he simply expressed thanks for the chance to serve but didnt explain why he was leaving.
It has been a privilege and an honor to serve the people, said the West Indian. Let me express my sincere appreciation to the many good people of Stratford who have supported me as a dedicated public servant.
Many states around the country stipulate that candidates for local office at the state and local levels must be American citizens, either through naturalization or by birth. Its a federal requirement that people running for the U.S. House of Representatives or the Senate must be citizens.
Connecticut is a state with such a law on its books. Any person found guilty of breaking it could end up spending five years in prison or be slapped with a criminal fine of up to $5,000 and be forced to up to $2,000 in civil fines. In addition, he or she could be deported to their birthplace.
Connecticut state officials must now make a final decision in Singhs case, meaning it must determine once and for all if he was a citizen.
Our investigation is continuing into the matter involving Singh, said Jeffrey B. Garfield, executive director of the Connecticut State Elections Enforcement Commission, the agency that made a preliminary finding that the West Indian was probably not a U.S. citizen.
Garfield explained that the Commission had voted unanimously that based on the information they had received from several official government sources, Singh wasnt a citizen.
As a matter of fact, Singhs lawyer, Anthony Avallone, told a reporter that his client didnt know if he was a citizen or not and was now investigating his immigration status.
Foy didnt find the Singh case to be unusual.
I have seen so many of these kinds of cases that I would believe him if he said he actually didnt know his immigration status, said CWHAs immigration attorney. That kind of thing is quite common, especially among people who came here at an early age, went through school, assuming that they were citizens when in fact they were not because their parents never bother to ensure that they were naturalized.
As a matter of fact, said Foy, many West Indians have been deported to Jamaica, Guyana, Barbados, Grenada, St. Lucia, and other countries in the region because their parents didnt apply for naturalization for them when they were young. And in some cases, the parents themselves didnt become citizens and they are paying a heavy price for that failure.
I keep advising clients who turn to CWHA for assistance on immigration matters to become citizens, she said. We are living in different times, ever since the 1996 immigration reform measures became the law of the land. Its a shame but that's what is happening and parents owe it to their children to remove that cloud of uncertainty from their childrens heads. It has happened that teenagers or young adults run into trouble with the law and its only when they are confronted with the possibility of being deported that they realized the trouble they are in. The entire landscape has changed and people should recognize that fact. Citizenship is important.
Several Caribbean nations are now reeling from the after-effects of the 1996 immigration law, which requires that people who are not citizens and who commit felonies must be deported. Law enforcement authorities in Jamaica, the Dominican Republic, Haiti, Guyana and other Caribbean countries have complained that the criminal deportees from the United States were largely responsible for an upsurge in serious crimes. They have complained about drug traffickers, armed robbers and other criminals who went to the United States when they were infants now been dumped on their countries.
For example, Dr. Basil Bryan, Jamaicas Counsel-General, said sometime ago that many of the criminal deportees had few, if any, relatives in Jamaica and elsewhere, after having lived in the United States for almost all of their lives.
Some of them left when they were two, three, or four years and are now in their early twenties but dont have any connections with the region and when they are deported they resort to a life of crime, he said. This is a real problem we have in Jamaica and many of our Caribbean neighbors are experiencing a similar situation.
Joan Foy, the head of the immigration unit of the Caribbean Womens Health Association was using the unfortunate example of a West Indian elected official in a suburban community in Connecticut who resigned last week as Majority Leader of the Stratford Town Council after state officials raised questions about his citizenship.
Michael Singh, 35, came to the United States from Jamaica when he was one year old, and apparently, neither he nor his parents sought to make him a naturalized American citizen and when the issue arose about his immigration status he had to resign from the influential position.
I have seen hundreds of cases of people from Jamaica, Barbados, Guyana, Trinidad and Tobago, Grenada and other Caribbean countries whose children ran into somewhat similar problems or even worst, said Foy, herself an immigrant from Aruba. The tragedy in many of these cases is that far too often the young people themselves didnt even know that they were not citizens. They assumed that because they went through school and were living in the United States from the time they were little children that they were American citizens. But when they run into trouble with the law or were seeking certain positions or opportunities, which require U.S. citizenship, it was only then that they found out, rather painfully, that they are not citizens. Thats why the case of Mr. Singh in Connecticut is a wake-up call for thousands of parents who didnt take the step of ensuring that their children were naturalized.
Singh, a Democrat, was forced to resign by his colleagues on the Town Council, state officials and by residents of Stratford. He quit the position, to which he was elected in November, in a letter of resignation sent to the Town Clerk, in which he simply expressed thanks for the chance to serve but didnt explain why he was leaving.
It has been a privilege and an honor to serve the people, said the West Indian. Let me express my sincere appreciation to the many good people of Stratford who have supported me as a dedicated public servant.
Many states around the country stipulate that candidates for local office at the state and local levels must be American citizens, either through naturalization or by birth. Its a federal requirement that people running for the U.S. House of Representatives or the Senate must be citizens.
Connecticut is a state with such a law on its books. Any person found guilty of breaking it could end up spending five years in prison or be slapped with a criminal fine of up to $5,000 and be forced to up to $2,000 in civil fines. In addition, he or she could be deported to their birthplace.
Connecticut state officials must now make a final decision in Singhs case, meaning it must determine once and for all if he was a citizen.
Our investigation is continuing into the matter involving Singh, said Jeffrey B. Garfield, executive director of the Connecticut State Elections Enforcement Commission, the agency that made a preliminary finding that the West Indian was probably not a U.S. citizen.
Garfield explained that the Commission had voted unanimously that based on the information they had received from several official government sources, Singh wasnt a citizen.
As a matter of fact, Singhs lawyer, Anthony Avallone, told a reporter that his client didnt know if he was a citizen or not and was now investigating his immigration status.
Foy didnt find the Singh case to be unusual.
I have seen so many of these kinds of cases that I would believe him if he said he actually didnt know his immigration status, said CWHAs immigration attorney. That kind of thing is quite common, especially among people who came here at an early age, went through school, assuming that they were citizens when in fact they were not because their parents never bother to ensure that they were naturalized.
As a matter of fact, said Foy, many West Indians have been deported to Jamaica, Guyana, Barbados, Grenada, St. Lucia, and other countries in the region because their parents didnt apply for naturalization for them when they were young. And in some cases, the parents themselves didnt become citizens and they are paying a heavy price for that failure.
I keep advising clients who turn to CWHA for assistance on immigration matters to become citizens, she said. We are living in different times, ever since the 1996 immigration reform measures became the law of the land. Its a shame but that's what is happening and parents owe it to their children to remove that cloud of uncertainty from their childrens heads. It has happened that teenagers or young adults run into trouble with the law and its only when they are confronted with the possibility of being deported that they realized the trouble they are in. The entire landscape has changed and people should recognize that fact. Citizenship is important.
Several Caribbean nations are now reeling from the after-effects of the 1996 immigration law, which requires that people who are not citizens and who commit felonies must be deported. Law enforcement authorities in Jamaica, the Dominican Republic, Haiti, Guyana and other Caribbean countries have complained that the criminal deportees from the United States were largely responsible for an upsurge in serious crimes. They have complained about drug traffickers, armed robbers and other criminals who went to the United States when they were infants now been dumped on their countries.
For example, Dr. Basil Bryan, Jamaicas Counsel-General, said sometime ago that many of the criminal deportees had few, if any, relatives in Jamaica and elsewhere, after having lived in the United States for almost all of their lives.
Some of them left when they were two, three, or four years and are now in their early twenties but dont have any connections with the region and when they are deported they resort to a life of crime, he said. This is a real problem we have in Jamaica and many of our Caribbean neighbors are experiencing a similar situation.