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Boy may be deported away from his mother

By ASSOCIATED PRESS
Published September 11, 2006

LOS ANGELES - At the age of 8, Jonathan Martinez and a teenage cousin set out from El Salvador to the United States in search of his mother, whom he hadn't seen for four years.

Now 10, he has learned English, joined a soccer team and generally embraced life as an American fifth-grader - except that Jonathan isn't here legally, and today a judge could order him deported.

Though his mother has been living and working legally near Los Angeles, a wrinkle in immigration law doesn't let Rosalia Montoya, 32, apply to keep him here.

His case illustrates a growing problem with the federal program known as "temporary protective status," under which Jonathan's mother is staying in the United States: what to do with thousands of kids who come to the United States illegally to join their parents.

The program provides legal residency to undocumented immigrants from El Salvador, Honduras and Nicaragua, all countries that have suffered devastating natural disasters in recent years.

But only immigrants in the United States when a program starts are eligible. That means children who come later don't qualify, although immigration judges can decide that the government will no longer pursue deportation.

Just under 115,000 children were caught attempting to illegally enter the United States last year, according to the Border Patrol. But that doesn't include detained minors who have a parent with the temporary residency status or those minors who are eventually deported. Immigration lawyers and advocates say such cases have skyrocketed in recent years.

[Last modified September 11, 2006, 01:57:22]