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American Morning

Army Reservist Fears His Wife Will be Deported

Aired November 19, 2003 - 07:47   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.


SOLEDAD O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: He's about to begin a tour of duty overseas, and like other military reservists, Jorge Monarrez is concerned about leaving his family -- his wife and his 18-month-old son. But Jorge has something else to consider. While he's gone, his wife could be deported. Maria Monarrez entered the U.S. illegally from Mexico with her family when she was a teenager. Her application for permanent residency was rejected because of clerical errors.
Well, now the couple fears that filing again will put them in a no-win situation.

Jorge Monarrez joins us from Chicago this morning.

Jorge, good morning. It's nice to see you. Thanks for joining us.

JORGE MONARREZ, U.S. ARMY RESERVIST: Good morning.

O'BRIEN: Give me a little sense of your application process. Your wife entered this country when she was 14 years old with her parents. Why did you decide to go ahead and apply for citizenship or residency in April of 2001?

MONARREZ: We had just gotten married April 21st of that year, and the deadline was April 30th of 2001. So, I went down to the Chicago immigration office right here on Jackson, and I dropped it off personally myself. Let's say, about December -- it was probably about December, I received that petition back, saying that my wife had signed the petitioner's line and I had signed the beneficiary line.

So, when I sent that paperwork back, it got back to immigration on February 11th of 2000. And that's the priority date that I had received. And she was ineligible to take the -- excuse me -- she was ineligible to get that priority date of April 30th of 2001.

O'BRIEN: And I'm going to interrupt you there, because that's really the critical date, right? That's where that sort of amnesty is, where people who had already lived in the country wouldn't have to leave to reapply, which is why that date is so important to you. You're going public with your wife's story now, and essentially you're red flagging for everybody that your wife's illegally in this country. Aren't you concerned about the risks of that?

MONARREZ: Well, this is my last option, and I have no options anymore. I didn't know what to do. I had spoken to two senators prior to this. When I was going through mobilization, I had spoken to somebody about this, and this is where I'm at. It started off as little article in the newspaper, and it has been basically a lot of phone calls this whole week.

O'BRIEN: Let's talk a little bit about your deployment. You're going to be sent to Kuwait. Do you know when you're leaving?

MONARREZ: It could be as soon as December 1. I got mobilized for Enduring Freedom, and I'm willing to serve for that.

O'BRIEN: What are your concerns now if you go overseas? What, could happen to your wife? Do you expect she will be deported, or are you just concerned that she won't have an ability to have legal representation in this country while you're over there?

MONARREZ: Right, legal representation. And what I'm concerned about is, you know, she could get deported at any time without any warning, and I wouldn't want my wife to be over there while I'm, you know, fighting for my country overseas.

O'BRIEN: You have an 18-month son as well, Sebastian (ph), I understand.

MONARREZ: That is correct.

O'BRIEN: What happens to him if your wife were to be deported?

MONARREZ: Well, any mother would take their son back wherever she goes, and that's what my wife's willing to do. My concern is that I don't think she's going to be able to have, you know, good health insurance over there, and that's why it's so important for them to be here.

O'BRIEN: What do you want from the INS? How do you want this resolved, Jorge?

MONARREZ: Like I said before, I don't want any special treatments. All I want is that priority date, and we could take it from there.

O'BRIEN: Jorge Monarraz, it's nice to have you. Thanks for talking to us, and the best of luck with you. I know that the Army's been helpful in your situation, so we truly wish you the very best in resolving all of this.

MONARREZ: Thank you.

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com.







Aired November 19, 2003 - 07:47   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
SOLEDAD O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: He's about to begin a tour of duty overseas, and like other military reservists, Jorge Monarrez is concerned about leaving his family -- his wife and his 18-month-old son. But Jorge has something else to consider. While he's gone, his wife could be deported. Maria Monarrez entered the U.S. illegally from Mexico with her family when she was a teenager. Her application for permanent residency was rejected because of clerical errors.
Well, now the couple fears that filing again will put them in a no-win situation.

Jorge Monarrez joins us from Chicago this morning.

Jorge, good morning. It's nice to see you. Thanks for joining us.

JORGE MONARREZ, U.S. ARMY RESERVIST: Good morning.

O'BRIEN: Give me a little sense of your application process. Your wife entered this country when she was 14 years old with her parents. Why did you decide to go ahead and apply for citizenship or residency in April of 2001?

MONARREZ: We had just gotten married April 21st of that year, and the deadline was April 30th of 2001. So, I went down to the Chicago immigration office right here on Jackson, and I dropped it off personally myself. Let's say, about December -- it was probably about December, I received that petition back, saying that my wife had signed the petitioner's line and I had signed the beneficiary line.

So, when I sent that paperwork back, it got back to immigration on February 11th of 2000. And that's the priority date that I had received. And she was ineligible to take the -- excuse me -- she was ineligible to get that priority date of April 30th of 2001.

O'BRIEN: And I'm going to interrupt you there, because that's really the critical date, right? That's where that sort of amnesty is, where people who had already lived in the country wouldn't have to leave to reapply, which is why that date is so important to you. You're going public with your wife's story now, and essentially you're red flagging for everybody that your wife's illegally in this country. Aren't you concerned about the risks of that?

MONARREZ: Well, this is my last option, and I have no options anymore. I didn't know what to do. I had spoken to two senators prior to this. When I was going through mobilization, I had spoken to somebody about this, and this is where I'm at. It started off as little article in the newspaper, and it has been basically a lot of phone calls this whole week.

O'BRIEN: Let's talk a little bit about your deployment. You're going to be sent to Kuwait. Do you know when you're leaving?

MONARREZ: It could be as soon as December 1. I got mobilized for Enduring Freedom, and I'm willing to serve for that.

O'BRIEN: What are your concerns now if you go overseas? What, could happen to your wife? Do you expect she will be deported, or are you just concerned that she won't have an ability to have legal representation in this country while you're over there?

MONARREZ: Right, legal representation. And what I'm concerned about is, you know, she could get deported at any time without any warning, and I wouldn't want my wife to be over there while I'm, you know, fighting for my country overseas.

O'BRIEN: You have an 18-month son as well, Sebastian (ph), I understand.

MONARREZ: That is correct.

O'BRIEN: What happens to him if your wife were to be deported?

MONARREZ: Well, any mother would take their son back wherever she goes, and that's what my wife's willing to do. My concern is that I don't think she's going to be able to have, you know, good health insurance over there, and that's why it's so important for them to be here.

O'BRIEN: What do you want from the INS? How do you want this resolved, Jorge?

MONARREZ: Like I said before, I don't want any special treatments. All I want is that priority date, and we could take it from there.

O'BRIEN: Jorge Monarraz, it's nice to have you. Thanks for talking to us, and the best of luck with you. I know that the Army's been helpful in your situation, so we truly wish you the very best in resolving all of this.

MONARREZ: Thank you.

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com.