52 Year Old Who Came to US as a Toddler to be Deported

[unhappycamper]

52 Year Old Who Came to US as a Toddler to be Deported
News Junkie Post / By Ole Ole Olson

December 6, 2010 | Mike Burrows came to America when he was two years old, and has lived here for 50 years. Due to a technicality in harsh anti-immigration laws, he will likely be deported to his birthplace of Canada within weeks, a country that he has no current connection to and no memory of.

I was born in Calgary, Alberta, Canada. My dad worked for a division of Capitol Records. He received a transfer to Los Angeles, got permanent resident visas for the whole family and when I was two years eleven months old, we moved to the States. I grew up in Glendale, California, where I said the pledge of allegiance, played baseball, and lived like any American. Except for a first grade teacher who told me I could never be President, I thought I was just like everybody else. In high school, I played guitar in a band, played first base for the jv then varsity baseball team. All in all, I was living an American life.
-Mike Burrows

Mike Burrows is the poster child demonstrating the hysteria surrounding the immigration debate in the United States. He has built his life in America, he has children, parents, girlfriend, and all of his friends here. Mike has worked and paid taxes for most of his adult life. He worked his way up in the car business from sales to General Manager, has been a professional musician (guitar and lead singer), and has sold advertising for a range of publications. He has also worked as a certified mechanic and he ran an auto body repair shop. He is American as apple pie.

The Illegal Immigration and Immigrant Responsibility Act (IIRIRA) was passed in 1996, stating that those in the country without proper documentation would be deported for a period of time (3 years, 10 years, or permanently). The same law stripped judges of discretion and made it legal to severely limit due process for immigrants. Previously, immediate deportation was triggered by criminal offenses that potentially would have meant 5+ years in jail, after IIRIRA, minor infractions such as shoplifting could trigger this.

Mike was convicted of receipt of a stolen 8-track tape deck worth $50, a misdemeanor in 1978, when he was 18 years old. This conviction was expunged from his record in 1983. Although Mike is officially considered a Lawful Permanent Resident (LPR), the 1996 law was applied retroactively, and in 2001 Mike was found “removable.”

[TBF]

1. Watching these atrocities under democratic leadership is chilling.

Arresting anti-war activists, deporting hard-working folks, what's next?

[ChairmanAgnostic]

3. spying on muslim groups with undercover FBI drones

who try to create terror networks?

No, that would NEVER happen, especially when the FBI promises the head of the muslim group that it wouldn't do that.

[Starry Messenger]

2. recommend.

[SoCalDem]

4. Mike is a lucky man, actually

As a 50 yr old, he will probably benefit from having Canadian citizenship. I know many 50 yr olds who would gladly trade places with him..

[Celtic Raven]

7. I was thinking the same thing

and it will benefit his kids that he's got CA citizenship if they want to bail.

[Orsino]

8. I don't envy his being uprooted from the only home he has ever known...

...but in practical terms I envy him.

[SoCalDem]

9. At least he comes from a country whose language is not foreign

It could be worse.. Imagine that he came from Mongolia..:)

[The Straight Story]

5. f*ck b*sh

Oh wait.

[Celtic Raven]

6. K&R

And for a decade he's been living with this designation hanging over his head? That's appalling in and of itself.

[Angry Dragon]

10. I like that they apply the law retroactively