Were They Illegal Aliens or an Innocent Family Detained by CBP for No Reason 75 Miles from the Border - Why?

Will Smith - Men In Black[Official Music Video]
Here come the Men in Black
(Uh it's the M.I.B.'s)
(Uh here come the M.I.B.'s)
Here come the Men in Black (Men in Black)
They won't let you remember
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Men_in_Black_...

Remember the movie, Men In Black... [The MIB, a top-secret agency that polices, monitors and directs alien activity on Earth], Well the CBP (California Border Patrol) needs to learn a thing or two from them!! I personally like the MIB (Men in Black) a whole heck of a lot better and how they detained aliens, because they sure were much more humane (if I can use that word).

[Instead of intimidating or threatening witnesses, the MIB use devices known as "Neuralyzers" to wipe witnesses' memories of what they have seen, and replace the memories with more mundane explanations, such as swamp gas or weather balloons.] At any rate, the story below is another example of the incompetence of US Border Patrol at its best. Please enjoy the very entertaining music video while you read this blog.

Please read below...

...I am a Registered Nurse who has a pending application for adjustment of status for permanent residency in the U.S. I have been working in El Centro Regional Medical Center which sponsored me over 2 years ago. My family and I reside in El Centro, CA, a small city near the border of Mexico.

It is very common for us to be checked by the Border Patrol when we go out of town, because anywhere we go there is a checkpoint. One checkpoint is located to the East if we are going towards Yuma, AZ, one is to the West if we are going to San Diego, CA, and another one is located in Indio, CA, if we are heading north...

On December 28, 2009, my family planned to go to Palm Springs, CA, to celebrate my husband's birthday. We were all excited, especially my kids. We woke up early and headed towards Highway 86. We were very much aware that we were going to pass the checkpoint at Indio, CA. We carried our identification documents with us.

Around 8:30 am, we were checked, and sure enough, we were asked for our identification. We showed our EAD cards (for me and my husband) and Philippine passports for my 2 sons.

The lady officer asked for some more documents and we showed papers from immigration that we had a pending adjustment of status for permanent residency. They instructed us to park on the side of the road, because they said that they still need to make some phone calls and check on their computer to verify something.

{Rather than releasing us} Instead, she said that our kids were illegally staying in the US because they had an expired I-94s. My husband tried to explain that we all had pending applications for adjustment of status for permanent residency, so the I-94s had nothing to do with our status right now...

The lady officer insisted that we were all wrong, and that whoever we got that information from doesn't know anything. She emphasized that what she stated was correct because this was her job. She informed us that we could renew our I-94s at the nearest US border office for $6.00 each.

Another officer approached us and said he would need to check his computer. So, we waited again inside our car. At that time, I knew I needed help because this was not the usual type of check that we had encountered before. There was something wrong going on.

I called my lawyer's office and told the person who answered the phone the problem. She said to let the border officer check everything and not to worry because we had our legal documents and everything was good.

While still on the phone, the lady officer approached us and said that I was not allowed to use my phone. I told her that I was merely asking my lawyer for help, but she insisted that I not make any calls.

After a while, the border officer who said he needed to do more checking came back. He said that the computer showed that our kids had overstayed their visas. He even questioned us as to why we sent them to school. He said that it was illegal for them to go to school without student visas.

He also said that we could be charged with smuggling, and that our car could be taken away from us. The situation was getting worse, and the more me and my husband tried to explain, the more they got irritated. I informed them that it would be better if they spoke with my lawyer and that way he could explain more because he knows about our status.

The lady officer replied that our lawyer doesn't know more about immigration legalities than they do. She also commented in an irritated voice that we were facing deportation for illegally staying in the US with expired I-94s. She wanted us to cooperate and do everything they wanted us to do for our benefit in order to ease the process.

I received a phone call from xxxxxxxxx, and told him everything that was going on. A lady officer approached us again in our vehicle and said that I really don't understand that I am not allowed to use my phone. I informed her again that I was talking with my lawyer.

According to my lawyer's advice, we had to follow the procedure they wanted us to do and call him back afterwards.

Inside the detention area, more questions were asked, we were fingerprinted, and our pictures were taken. They had us sign papers. They called the Philippine consulate for us to talk, but they just left a message because they said there was no one available at that time.

I asked them if I could make a phone call, because it was nearly 5:00 pm and I knew the offices would be closed soon and I might not be able to speak with my lawyer anymore. However, they did not allow us to make any phone calls because they said they still finishing some paperwork...

Since we couldn't make any phone calls to reach for help even from our relatives in the US, I never had a wasted moment, because I kept on praying and told my sons that we should be praying for a miracle and let our Lord work to show His love and care for us.

We never ate our meals the whole day, but they were kind enough to give us crackers, juice (with an expiration date of 08/11/09) and water to drink from a dirty water jug. We needed to use our empty juice plastic container so we could drink the water as instructed by one of the border officers...

At around 6:00 pm, an officer named Supervisor Gonzales asked my husband to step out from the detention room. He talked to my husband and said he just spoke to our lawyer. Our lawyer sent documents via fax and proved that all our papers were legitimate. When my husband returned inside the detention room, he told us that we were free to go...

Looking back over and over again,... (I BET THIS LADY WISHED SHE DIDN'T REMEMBER!!)
We witnessed how those Border officers worked hard doing their paperwork, although it turned out to be useless, nonsense and a waste of trees. All this paperwork will be shredded according to Supervisor Officer Gonzales, and all the information from the computer will be deleted. I hope they will do this after all.

To all the Border Officers working on that day at Indio, California,... I hope you had an experience that you will never forget and that you will learn from your mistakes.
I hope that in the future, the government will assign Border Officers who have knowledge of our immigration laws and who will be humanitarian enough to treat all individuals as equal.

http://shusterman.com/feb10.html#4