Court to decide if Cuban activist has right to stay in U.S.

The Sun-Sentinel-Broward County Edition ^ | June 7, 2003 | Madeline Baró Diaz

[Luis Gonzalez]

MIAMI · For years, anti-Castro activist Ramon Saul Sanchez has claimed his right to return to his Cuban homeland in defiance of the U.S. government's attempts to stop him.

Now the same country that prosecuted Sanchez to keep him out of Cuban territorial waters is going to court to determine if he should be sent back to Cuba.

"It's really ironic," Sanchez said.

[Luis Gonzalez]

Dispute
Ramon Saul Sanchez was arrested Tuesday for a possible immigration violation.
(Sun-Sentinel/Angel Valentin)

[Luis Gonzalez]

"When I wanted to exercise my right to return home, you detained me and you wanted to put me in prison for 10 years," he said. "Now you're coming back and saying `I'm going to deport you, handcuffed, and return you to Fidel Castro.' I'm not going to encourage you to do that but I'm not going to resist you."

[Catspaw]

Deporting him to Cuba would surely be his death warrant.

[Luis Gonzalez]

OK, expert opinion time.

The case as I understand it.

Ramón came here in 1967, he was 12.

His parents did not apply for permanent residency a year later as allowed for in the Cuban Adjustment Act, then 13 year-old Ramón could not apply on his own.

As an adult, he opted not to go through the naturalization process and instead chose to remain a "parolee" because he fully intends on returning to Cuba to help in the post-Castro reconstruction.

He was jailed for invoking the fifth, and refusing to answer a jury's questions on anti-Castro activity.

He was issued a green card and a SS number on arrival.

The question seems to center around whether his "parolee" status expires or not.

[Ragtime Cowgirl]

Gore fought for persecuted transexuals and Hillary campaigned for a woman who lied about genital mutilation. We KNOW what Castro has done. I do have a problem with the Castro supporters in Florida. Since they are here to do Castro-anti-American mischief and face no threats back in Cuba.

---

Best of the Web Today  - June 6, 2003

www.opinionjournal.com

By JAMES TARANTO

Cookies With Castro? What's Next, Nap Time With Hitler?
"In March 2003," reports Cubafacts.com, "the government of Cuba arrested dozens of journalists, librarians, and human rights activists and charged them with sedition. After summary trials in which fundamental rights of due process were denied, the accused were sentenced to prison terms ranging from 15 to 28 years. In all, 78 journalists, librarians, and dissidents were sentenced to a collective total of more than 1,400 years in Cuba's gulag."

The Associated Press, meanwhile, describes a visit to Cuba by a group of Americans including Eric Eller, an assistant professor of economics and finance at Iowa's Buena Vista University:

Delegation members and the professors also met President Fidel Castro. Eller said members had cookies and ice cream with the president. "It was crazy sitting around the table eating ice cream with one of the most historic people of the past century," he said.

~~~

[daviddennis]

It reminds me of the human shields.

But Castro is a much better propagandist than Saddam.

D

[Alamo-Girl]

Thanks for the heads up!

[Marine Inspector]

Interesting.

The judge will have no fun with this one.

Many questions arise and the laws have changed over the years.

How did the INS issued him a green card on arrival?

So question one, is under what authority did the INS use to give the man a green card?

If he was granted a green card, how was he paroled? You can not parole a resident alien.

This statement leads me to believe he is not a Parolee:

"As an adult, he opted not to go through the naturalization process and instead chose to remain a "parolee" because he fully intends on returning to Cuba to help in the post-Castro reconstruction.

A Parolee can not naturalize, only a resident can.

Can he be deported to Cuba as a resident? Yes.

Can he be deported to Cuba as a Parolee? Yes.

Deportation is deportation. If you commit a certain type of crime, you can be deported. It's all up to the judge.

Parolee status, as with any other immigration status, can expire. You just have to commit the right crimes.

In the end, it will all be up to the judge.