Letters to senator save Scout from deportation
By Holly Hobbs
Less than a week before his court-ordered deadline to pack up and leave the country, 13-year-old Boy Scout Jose Andrade got a reprieve.Thanks to a half-dozen or so letters of concern sent to U.S. Sen. Jim Webb (D-Va.) about the teen's deportation and separation from his family, Jose can still call Virginia home.
Jose, originally from El Salvador, entered the United States illegally in 2005 to join his mother, who was here legally. He was apprehended shortly after crossing the Rio Grande and three years later was ordered to leave the U.S. within 120 days -- or by July 16.
Since then, friends and the Scout's troop leaders have mailed letters to Webb asking for help.
In response to these constituents' letters, Webb's office sent a letter of inquiry about Jose to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
On July 8, ICE responded by sending the senator a letter saying Jose could stay with his mother pending the approval of her Temporary Protection Status application, which would grant her political asylum. If she is approved, they can both stay.
On July 10, the soft-spoken teenager and his mother, Mirna, 33, visited the ICE office in Arlington for an interview with customs officials.
After waiting for more than two hours, Jose and his mother were interviewed for less than 10 minutes, the teen said.
“The only questions that he asked me was if I was going to return here [after leaving for El Salvador],” Jose said, adding that the official warned him that illegal re-entry would result in Jose's arrest and deportation.
Walking into the interview, Jose said, he was nervous but hopeful. Leaving the interview, he said, he felt he had no hope of staying in Leesburg with his mother and two younger siblings, who were born in the United States.
“He already told us when we walked out that I had to go,” Jose said.
So, the family was surprised July 11 when they received phone calls of congratulations from some of their friends who had written letters to Webb on their behalf.
“I cried when I found out,” Mirna said. “I couldn't believe it when they called.”
She said she asked her callers for proof, thinking it too good to be true.
“I am very happy that he will be able to continue his studies in the United States and be close to his family,” Mirna said.
The change in events happened quickly, she said, but the battle to keep her son here was a lengthy one.
After being arrested in September 2005 while crossing the border, Jose – then 11 – was held at a youth detention center until he was released into his mother's custody.
Mirna, who had moved to the United States in 2000 and was living legally in Virginia, was allowed to take her son home while awaiting a court decision on whether the teen could stay in the U.S.
After three years of court hearings and exhausted attempts to keep Jose in Leesburg with his family, the U.S. Immigration Court in Arlington ordered in March that Jose leave the country.
While Jose's family thought they were out of options, the Scout's friends and troop leaders were writing letters to U.S. congressmen and praying for someone to intervene on the family's behalf.
Sen. Webb's inquiry to the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement department came just in time.
“We received the initial communication from the Scout leader on May 14,” said Jessica Smith, Webb's communication director. “More letters followed from concerned community members after [a Times-Mirror] story [on Jose] ran in mid-June.”
She said Webb's office in late May sent a standard letter of inquiry to ICE. The merits of Jose's case and not the senator's inquiry played the lead role in ICE's decision, Smith said.
Whatever the reason for the change in plans, Jose's family and friends are thrilled with the results.
Jose said he is looking forward to going back to school at J. Lupton Simpson Middle School in September and continuing to gain merit badges as a Scout.
When asked what he would say to Webb and those who wrote letters on his behalf, Jose said: “Thank you for everything that you've done. Thank you to the other people who have helped me. ... Now I get to stay.”
Contact the reporter at hhobbs@timespapers.com
Editor's note: Mirna's comments and several of Jose's comments were translated from Spanish to English by UNO Communications interpreter Martha Downing.