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View Full Version : I Served My Country, Then It Kicked Me Out



Green Arrow
04-13-2014, 02:44 AM
via Politico (http://www.politico.com/magazine/story/2014/04/howard-dean-bailey-deported-i-served-my-country-and-then-it-kicked-me-out-105606.html):


Just a few years ago, I had a great life in the Tidewater area of Virginia. I had a wonderful wife who is a glass artist, and our two children were thriving. My trucking business was starting to take off. We were hauling goods from Norfolk’s port to distribution centers for Target and Wal-Mart. My wife and I bought our first house and had money in the bank.

I applied to become a U.S. citizen in 2005 and answered all the questions on the application honestly, even admitting to a stupid mistake I’d made years earlier. I passed the written and oral tests and completed the Citizenship and Immigration Services biometrics exam. I waited and waited, and when I called to ask whether there was a problem no one had answers.

Then at 6 a.m. on June 10, 2010, I answered loud knocks on our front door in my pajamas. Eleven armed immigration officers supported by state troopers were there with their weapons drawn, some wearing bulletproof vests. They stormed into my living room and put me in handcuffs while my wife came down the stairs, screaming, and my daughter, who was 12 years old, watched in horror. A few minutes later I was in their custody, just partially dressed, heading to the Hampton Regional Jail.

...

Navy recruiters came to my high school, and I quickly decided I wanted to enlist. It was a way to make my family proud and serve the country I now called home. So I signed up for a pre-entry program while I was still in high school and I worked on an aircraft carrier during the weekends. I graduated in May, and by August I was at boot camp in Chicago. It was hard and even scary at times—to wake us up in the morning, drill sergeants would come into the dorms with large metal trash cans and throw them across the floor. The first time I heard that sound, I was certain my heart would leap out of my chest. One of my dorm mates jumped out of his bunk in shock and broke his arm. Some guys washed out, but I stuck with it and when I finished and came home, I was proud to show off the uniform I had worked so hard to earn.

...

After I moved in with Judith, I met another Jamaican guy on the base and we became friendly. We shared a love for the music and the culture of our home country. One day I bumped into him and he asked for a favor. A friend was sending him a couple of packages from New York, he said, and he didn’t have an address other than the base. Could they come to my house? I gave it no thought. Sure, I said.When the boxes arrived one morning, each about the size of a case of beer, I was a little annoyed because I needed to get out the door to school. I called the guy to ask what he wanted me to do with them and he asked me to drop them off. I jotted down the address and tossed the packages in the car, running late already. I was driving toward the city limits when the police pulled me over. I never saw that “friend” again.

The boxes came from California, not New York, and were filled with marijuana. The cops had been tracking the packages. I had never smoked marijuana—still haven’t to this day. I don’t do drugs and rarely drink. But Virginia has always been tough on drug crimes, and the lawyer I hired suggested I take a plea deal: admit to felony possession of marijuana with intent to distribute, and do 15 months in a state work camp rather than go to trial and risk much more. As best I can tell, the other guy was never arrested or charged with anything.

The judge was compassionate but said he had no flexibility under the strict mandatory sentencing laws. I spent a few weeks in the city jail and then was transferred to a prison near Richmond, where I worked in the kitchen. Judith was pregnant with our second child but made the 90-minute drive to see me every weekend, even in the heat of summer, with no air-conditioning in the car. She gave birth to our daughter, Jada, without me, but brought her to see me as soon as she could. She was so strong, and we were so in love. When the time came, she and my mom came to pick me up and I promised Judith nothing like this would ever happen again.

Why did they come for me? While waiting to hear about my application for citizenship, I had hired a lawyer to find out why it was taking so long. Years had passed since I had finished the process. My attorney had set up a meeting with United States Citizenship and Immigration Services officials, who told me the delay was due to a problem with my application. I had admitted to my old conviction, but they had been unable to document it—the Virginia courts had not provided them the papers they wanted as backup. There was nothing in the system.Had I not admitted to the conviction, they probably never would have known about it, but they told me it disqualified me from citizenship.

I know a lot more about American immigration law now. No one—not the judge, nor the lawyer I’d hired—told me when I pleaded guilty to the drug charge that I was giving up my right to be a legal permanent resident of the United States.

I’ve since learned that what happened to me happens to thousands of people every month. Congress actually passed a law that requires ICE, the Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency, to keep a minimum of 33,400 immigrants locked up, awaiting deportation, at any given time. I tried to get back in front of a judge to plead my case, but I was again told that the judge’s hands were tied. This time, he said federal immigration law prevented him from considering the circumstances of my case because of the old drug conviction. He couldn’t take into account the fact that my conviction was for a nonviolent crime many years earlier, that I had never had another brush with the law or that I was a father to two U.S. citizens, a veteran, and a husband who owned a home and a business. We tried to reopen my old Virginia case. My lawyer even agreed to my claim that he hadn’t competently represented me. But too much time had passed and my request was turned down without even a hearing.

...

It’s still so hard for me to understand how I wound up here. I served in the United States Navy with pride and honor; I am a husband and father; I was a business and homeowner. I made a mistake, but that was 19 years ago and I never made another. In a country where marijuana laws are changing every day, where marijuana is now legal in two states, how could my one accidental encounter with someone else’s drug deal have destroyed my family?

I don’t know if any politicians will read this. I hear them talk about America’s duty to our veterans and about the need for a “humane” immigration system and about family values. Then I see them pass laws that tear families like mine apart and force people to lose their humanity. I’ve met judges and immigration officials who said that they wanted to help. I believe they felt compassion for me. But all of them said their hands were tied by Congress’s mandatory detention and deportation laws and the Obama administration’s enforcement “priorities.”

President Obama has said that the U.S. is prioritizing deportations of “criminals, gang bangers, people who are hurting the community” and not going after “folks who are here just because they’re trying to figure out how to feed their families.” But I’ve never been a danger to my community, and I’ve never wanted anything more than to be a good father and provider. And by prioritizing so-called criminals the government is failing to consider anything else about our lives before automatically banishing us from our homes.

My story is one of at least 2 million under this presidency alone. I think we deserve at least a chance to ask a judge to let us stay with our families in the country we call home.


This is what happens when you strip mercy and compassion out of the law. You stop meting out justice and just end up meting out cruelty.

GrassrootsConservative
04-13-2014, 03:08 AM
That's fucked up.

IDK what else to say, this makes me so mad.

Refugee
04-13-2014, 03:13 AM
I’ve worked with the UK criminal justice system many years ago and heard all this before; not that I’m saying it’s not true, but we’re only hearing one side of it.

A man with a previous conviction for drugs gets caught with drugs again, but they were given to him by someone else, who is never found and he pleaded guilty, because someone else told him to. Maybe it’s true and then again, maybe it’s not.

Green Arrow
04-13-2014, 03:18 AM
I’ve worked with the UK criminal justice system many years ago and heard all this before; not that I’m saying it’s not true, but we’re only hearing one side of it.

A man with a previous conviction for drugs gets caught with drugs again, but they were given to him by someone else, who is never found and he pleaded guilty, because someone else told him to. Maybe it’s true and then again, maybe it’s not.


We must be talking two different stories. The article author only had one conviction and was never caught with drugs again.

Bob
04-13-2014, 03:31 AM
The typical person, citizen or not, has no clue what the laws say. Supposedly though there are 2.65 million books of law in the national law library, we are told we must master each and every law. That ignorance is no excuse.

So, when republicans want to severely cut back on laws, why do democrats whine as if the end just was announced?

Refugee
04-13-2014, 03:34 AM
We must be talking two different stories. The article author only had one conviction and was never caught with drugs again.

Perhaps we're reading it differently.

"This time, he said federal immigration law prevented him from considering the circumstances of my case because of the old drug conviction."

"It’s still so hard for me to understand how I wound up here."

Because he had a previous conviction for drugs and pleaded guilty to a new offence of the same type?

Refugee
04-13-2014, 04:35 AM
Let’s deconstruct the story and put it into context, leaving out the pull on the heartstrings.

“I was driving toward the city limits when the police pulled me over.

The boxes came from California, not New York, and were filled with marijuana. The cops had been tracking the packages.

Why did they come for me?

I pleaded guilty to the drug charge

I promised Judith nothing like this would ever happen again.

I had admitted to my old conviction

Had I not admitted to the conviction, they probably never would have known about it, but they told me it disqualified me from citizenship

the judge’s hands were tied. This time, he said federal immigration law prevented him from considering the circumstances of my case because of the old drug conviction.

It’s still so hard for me to understand how I wound up here” (Presumably jail awaiting deportation).

Alyosha
04-13-2014, 06:58 AM
I hear you but, a) it's pot, and b) HSBC bank still operates in the US after admitting to laundering money for drug cartels. Our justice system is wonky.

Max Rockatansky
04-13-2014, 07:27 AM
We must be talking two different stories. The article author only had one conviction and was never caught with drugs again.

Nonetheless it was a major deportation offense to be convicted of felony drug dealing.

http://legalactioncenter.org/sites/default/files/12-20-13_Amicus%20Brief%20(AIC%20and%20PDHRP).pdf

In 1995, Mr. Bailey pled guilty to possession of marijuana with intent to distribute and failure to appear in connection with the marijuana case. His lawyer
did not tell him he would be subject to automatic deportation for the offense. He
was sentenced to ten years for the marijuana offense and two years for the failure
to appear. The judge suspended all but 15 months of his sentence, which Mr.
Bailey served. Neither before nor after the 1995 events did Mr. Bailey have any
interaction with the criminal justice system.

Since he'd already been convicted, I suspect that is why his 2005 citizen application was not approved.

It's a sad story. He fucked up at age 23 and is now paying the price.

Max Rockatansky
04-13-2014, 07:31 AM
I hear you but, a) it's pot, and b) HSBC bank still operates in the US after admitting to laundering money for drug cartels. Our justice system is wonky.

To say the least! It is very irksome that people serve time for bullshit like pot, even if it's small time dealing, while the major crooks on Wall Street and in the banking system walk free.

zelmo1234
04-13-2014, 07:36 AM
The problem is! We have no common sense in our justice system.

Look at all these kids that get kicked out for stupid thing like bringing a knife to school to cut the birthday cake they brought in!

The kid that got kicked out because he forgot to take his hunting rifle out of the trunk and went to the office to call his mom to come get it, when if he just said nothing they would have never known.

the kid that eat his sandwich into the shape of a gun!

The people that go into educations and politics are the same type of people. they lust for power and control over others and they have an agenda, and that agenda will take precedence over all other aspects of there life!

Alyosha
04-13-2014, 07:40 AM
The problem is! We have no common sense in our justice system.

Look at all these kids that get kicked out for stupid thing like bringing a knife to school to cut the birthday cake they brought in!

The kid that got kicked out because he forgot to take his hunting rifle out of the trunk and went to the office to call his mom to come get it, when if he just said nothing they would have never known.

the kid that eat his sandwich into the shape of a gun!

The people that go into educations and politics are the same type of people. they lust for power and control over others and they have an agenda, and that agenda will take precedence over all other aspects of there life!

Things are very wrong, but fixing it under the current system is impossible. True federalism would have kept us steady but that's lost. A large nation of our size with that few representatives will always lead to corruption and human error.

zelmo1234
04-13-2014, 07:50 AM
Things are very wrong, but fixing it under the current system is impossible. True federalism would have kept us steady but that's lost. A large nation of our size with that few representatives will always lead to corruption and human error.

You know I actually disagree with you here!

Liberals after the carter defeat and the quick success of Reagan set off on a journey that took 28 years to yield it's fruit! They thought they had a win with Clinton, and yet the gains were very small!

But back in the early 80's they set off to turn educations into indoctrination and invaded the school systems removing anything that would promote freedom and liberty and national pride and installed a system to turn the nation into a bad country that was a bully around the world! (NOT SAYING THAT THERE HAVE NOT BEEN TERRIBLE MISTAKES IN THE PAST)

They then invaded government and turned the government into the exact thing that they were teaching the kids we were in the past! Now for the past 6 years they are trying to turn the people against those that have made it!

most of this has happened with lies and deception! Nothing new to you I am sure.

but they did not kill the spirit of all American's and I believe they have shown their hand a little too soon, and this has brought about the change in the thinking of young people!

If we can get the youth to rebel against the free love and anything goes policies of their parents, and instill moral values back into the pubic eye! And I am not talking about banning gay marriage or mandating Christian beliefs, but to convince them that the traditional family of 2 parents that don't' get divorce and don't sleep with everyone that comes along is better than what we have. that teaching children right from wrong and to be good citizens and be charitable to others not depend on the government? we have a chance

patrickt
04-13-2014, 07:51 AM
The OP is a wonderful story. Of course, like Uncle Tom's Cabin it is just a story designed to draw out emotion. We have no idea how much of the story in the OP is true or if any of it is. We know the government is not just. It is not fair. Sadly, it's not even reasonable or rational. The all-powerful are the most evil forces on earth where it's individuals like those leading the drug cartels or politicians and their numberless minions following orders. The all-powerful brought us WWII, Cambodia's Killing Fields, Stalin's Gulag, and North Korea's misery and U.S. politicians are desperate to follow those worthy all-powerful people.

Men have been convicted of kidnapping for rescuing their children from a drunken, addicted, abusive mother. Men have been convicted of rapes that never occurred. The Duke Lacrosse Rape case was not some sort of weird one-off aberration.

The government is, and will be, evil. Unlimited powers brings evil and that's the reason those who wrote the Constitution tried to limit the power of the government. That's why evil men now wish to remove all of those limits so they can have unlimited power. Imagine the power to hire an assassin to kill and man and when he, in error, kills the man's wife and the state wants to prosecute him for manslaughter, you can step in, wave your scepter, and announce the assassin has total immunity from prosecution because he works for you. President Clinton, and his wife, must have gotten a real power-rush from that. Imagine the unlimited power enjoyed by Pol Pot, Stalin, Hitler, or Kim il Jung in the hands of a man like President Obama backed by Eric Holder. Not a pleasant thought for Americans.

If the story is true, he does have recourse. The all-powerful government can make the previous conviction or convictions disappear. We saw it done for money with Marc Rich, I've seen it done for politics, and it can even be done for family. Appealing to the all-powerful has nothing to do with justice, of course, but it can be done. Buying you freedom has nothing to do with justice but that can be done, too.

The fact that the case involves marijuana is irrelevant except for those who think marijuana is special.

Max Rockatansky
04-13-2014, 07:55 AM
The fact that the case involves marijuana is irrelevant except for those who think marijuana is special.
While I agree such things can be waived if those in power think there is a good reason to do so, it's not like he was busted for smoking pot. He was convicted and sentenced to 10 years and another 2 years for failing to show up at court. Pretty serious stuff even though I think pot should be legal.

Refugee
04-13-2014, 09:17 AM
via Politico (http://www.politico.com/magazine/story/2014/04/howard-dean-bailey-deported-i-served-my-country-and-then-it-kicked-me-out-105606.html):



This is what happens when you strip mercy and compassion out of the law. You stop meting out justice and just end up meting out cruelty.

And then Max goes and spoils it all with a bit of reality. :smiley:


For me, I began to smile one paragraph into the story and didn’t even bother to check it out. Any lawyer or anyone on this forum with a little experience of the Justice system in any country has heard it all before. I could have re-written it for him to make it sound at least a little bit plausible.

patrickt
04-13-2014, 12:08 PM
From the article: "This is what happens when you strip mercy and compassion out of the law. You stop meting out justice and just end up meting out cruelty."

And what happens when you don't strip out mercy and compassion. You get the stories where a young man who has murdered a family has a lengthy record of arrests and convictions and was continuously allowed to go free until he killed someone. I was involved in a case where a young man, early twenties, was sentenced to 27 years in prison on a plea bargain deal. I sat and listened to his mother and his grandmother and his girlfriend and his uncle made their case that he was a good son, a good grandson, a good boyfriend, a good nephew, and so forth. Then I said, "He isn't going to prison for being a bad son or grandson or nephew or friend or whatever. He's going to prison for stealing three cars, breaking into homes, stabbing a man and a woman and trying to stab a police officer.

In another case the police shot a killed a young man who was armed with a rifle he'd stolen in a residential burglary. His parents were in my office crying and as a father I felt for them. But, when the finished telling me what a fine son he was I said, "And you were here four days ago getting a restraining order to keep him away from you and your home."

There are lots of tragedies where people do the best they can. Politicians and the government rarely worry about doing what's right.

Green Arrow
04-13-2014, 12:23 PM
From the article: "This is what happens when you strip mercy and compassion out of the law. You stop meting out justice and just end up meting out cruelty."



That was my words, not the article's.

Terminal Lance
04-13-2014, 02:45 PM
From the article: "This is what happens when you strip mercy and compassion out of the law. You stop meting out justice and just end up meting out cruelty."

And what happens when you don't strip out mercy and compassion. You get the stories where a young man who has murdered a family has a lengthy record of arrests and convictions and was continuously allowed to go free until he killed someone. I was involved in a case where a young man, early twenties, was sentenced to 27 years in prison on a plea bargain deal. I sat and listened to his mother and his grandmother and his girlfriend and his uncle made their case that he was a good son, a good grandson, a good boyfriend, a good nephew, and so forth. Then I said, "He isn't going to prison for being a bad son or grandson or nephew or friend or whatever. He's going to prison for stealing three cars, breaking into homes, stabbing a man and a woman and trying to stab a police officer.

In another case the police shot a killed a young man who was armed with a rifle he'd stolen in a residential burglary. His parents were in my office crying and as a father I felt for them. But, when the finished telling me what a fine son he was I said, "And you were here four days ago getting a restraining order to keep him away from you and your home."

There are lots of tragedies where people do the best they can. Politicians and the government rarely worry about doing what's right.

Except this isn't about mercy but practicality and consistency. It's also about pot. I'm really tired of the high taxes in the US and we have these high taxes so that we can have the largest incarceration rates in the world, an ever expanding military campaign in the ME and NME, and so that we can create a million different types of entitlement programs, none of which I will be able to ever use.

We can't afford to keep arresting and incarcerating people for non-violent offenses.

patrickt
04-14-2014, 08:17 AM
Except this isn't about mercy but practicality and consistency. It's also about pot. I'm really tired of the high taxes in the US and we have these high taxes so that we can have the largest incarceration rates in the world, an ever expanding military campaign in the ME and NME, and so that we can create a million different types of entitlement programs, none of which I will be able to ever use.

We can't afford to keep arresting and incarcerating people for non-violent offenses.

I'm delighted to see someone blaming something besides the military or welfare or wars or corruption and greed for our high tax rates. It's putting people in prison. That's what's responsible for our high tax rate.

Nonsense. Of course, if we quit writing stupid laws and quite supporting a political culture that creates violent criminals we'd all be better off.