When the U.S. Government Says “Oops We Are Sorry, We Do Not Wish to Deport You”

I’ve had an interesting few weeks.

On November 6, the DHS counsel in San Francisco filed a motion to dismiss removal proceedings in my case and told me to apply to the USCIS under de Osorio v. Mayorkas. That sounded like a fair request until DHS also filed a motion to stay the issuance of a mandate in de Osorio, until Dec 26, 2012, and it was granted by the Ninth Circuit.

If the Immigration Judge granted DHS’ motion to dismiss as well, I would be placed back into the limbo of having no status and compelled to apply for deferred action. Funnily, the DHS cannot just dismiss proceedings once jurisdiction is vested with the Court. So last week, we wrote and filed an 8-page opposition to the DHS’ motion to dismiss, laying out how dismissal of proceedings were prejudicial to me. That’s a rare occurrence.

I was justifiably outraged during this entire ordeal but I have now chosen to be amused by the government’s desire to not continue removal proceedings. Much like my undocumented friends are not allowed to “trespass” detention centers and make visits to the GEO Group headquarters, I’m not allowed to be in removal proceedings. While the U.S. government deports nearly half a million people every year and creates a human rights catastrophe in doing so, the same government would rather invest resources into terminating my removal proceedings. What makes me so special?

Maybe it scares them. Maybe it terrifies them. Maybe they are just too lazy to deal with it. Or maybe they just do not know what they are doing.

Whatever the reason, the U.S. government chose to place me in removal proceedings. And I will choose when my deportation proceedings are over. The DHS needs to deal with the end consequences of their actions. They need to waste their time in trying to deport me so they can’t pick on someone else who can’t fight back. And ultimately, they need to admit defeat when I win my green-card from under their noses.

Peace out.