Judge Michael Bennett: using false identity results in no deportation order

I'm sure there are hundreds or thousands of U.S. citizens in prisons for purchasing birth certificates of those who died as children, assuming their identities, and then obtaining other identity documents such as SSN cards and passports. However, I guess there were "mitigating circumstances" in this case:

[U.S. Immigration Judge Michael Bennett] on Friday allowed a prominent Portland-area union organizer and illegal immigrant to return to Mexico voluntarily instead of deporting him, calling his repeated use of a false identity "unfortunate" and a "tragedy."

...Assistant Chief Counsel Margaret Rosenast of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security had asked for a removal order, commonly called deportation. Removal orders prohibit people from legally returning to the United States for a period of a few years to a lifetime, said Dorothy Stefan, chief counsel for U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement's Seattle office, which includes Oregon.

...Cobian entered the United States illegally in 1989. He later purchased the birth certificate of Jose Luis Mendoza, a California boy who had died as a child, and assumed the little boy's name. In 1996, he used the name to apply for a Social Security card and later used the false identity to obtain a U.S. passport as well as legal residency status for his wife, also a Mexican immigrant. His wife was unaware that her status was based on fraudulent documents.

...The judge made it clear that Cobian's crimes -- especially his use of a false identity to obtain legal residency status for his wife -- were serious. He said deportation would have been the expected outcome.

But he said that he had the legal ability to exercise his discretion in the case and had decided to do so, describing the decision as a "close call." The judge said he wanted to bring finality to the case.

"I do wish you the best, sir," Bennett told Cobian.

Perhaps a reporter should look into the other "close calls" that judge has made, and also look into what usually happens to U.S. citizens who do the same thing.

Immigration2007b · Sat, 08/25/2007 - 10:08 · · Importance: 1