They're People, People

Even if this is a correct ruling according to the law, it isn't justice. Yes he broke the law, but he was only 16 years old at the time.

In the years after he settled in the United States, Humberto "Bert" Fernandez-Vargas lived the American dream. He worked hard, paid taxes, fell in love and had a child.

But after more than three decades, he ended up where he started from: Mexico. On Thursday, Fernandez-Vargas' hopes of returning any time soon to his adopted home and reuniting with his family were crushed by an opinion handed down by the U.S. Supreme Court.

The high court said the former Ogden trucking company owner - who was sent back to his native Mexico in 2004 - is covered by a law that allows a 25-year-old deportation order against him to be reinstated. The decision means Fernandez-Vargas will have to wait at least 20 years to return to Utah unless he receives a waiver from the U.S. government.

...

"Unfortunately, this case demonstrates the harshness of the immigration laws," said Barbara Hines, a University of Texas law professor who oversees the school's immigration clinic. "The decision will affect many hardworking immigrants and needlessly separate families."

J. Christopher Keen, an Orem attorney for Fernandez-Vargas, said in a written statement that the opinion potentially could affect thousands of people, especially immigrants in the nine states that make up the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit, which previously had ruled differently from the Supreme Court on the same issue that arose in the Fernandez-Vargas case. Ninth Circuit states include California, Arizona and Nevada.

"Before, they could adjust their status, and now they can't," Keen said. "This illustrates the tragedy of the immigration system and how immigration laws tear families apart. There doesn't seem to be any room for mercy."

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