Posted on 02/17/2005 3:50:24 PM PST by chemicalman
One of hundreds of Mariel Cubans being quietly released from prison by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, Roberto Pedroso-Mesa had hoped to return to Florida, where he had lived.
But because he had no one to call for bus fare, he was driven from a north Alabama jail to New Orleans. "Immigration brought me here, up to the Immigration building, and they let me go right there," he said through an interpreter Wednesday.
But on Thursday, he had a work card — not a permanent "green card," but a temporary card showing it is legal to hire him. So did two other Mariel Cubans left a week earlier at the Salvation Army in New Orleans. A fourth would get his Friday, said Rusty Wirth, a case manager at the New Orleans Mission.
Others who have no outside "sponsor" will get work cards before they leave prisons in Louisiana or Alabama, said Craig Robinson, ICE field office director for detention and removal in New Orleans. (Both employees and people who deal with Immigration call it "ice".)
"I hope it becomes a nationwide policy for all immigrants leaving detention," said Sue Weishar, director of immigration and refugee services for Catholic Charities at the Archdiocese of New Orleans. "And certainly the New Orleans district is showing that it can be done."
(Excerpt) Read more at nola.com ...
Great article but I won't be able to get "Bobby McGee" out of my head all night.
"...he said through an interpreter... "
WHY after so many years in prison does he need an interpreter? If he did not have the initiative or desire to learn English in prison, he deserves no less than to be deported back to cuba as undesirable.
Cuba won’t take them. Additionally the only Mariels in custody today have been released multiple times only to commit additional crimes and end up back in detention.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.