In the past, I have registered disgust with the New York Times (and others) pushing illegal immigrant/open borders propaganda with features highlighting “good” illegals who are allegedly selfless, hard-working, honorable, long-time residents whose only transgression is that they have no business living here in the first place. Ethically, being in the U.S. legally is a condition precedent to my venturing any sympathy for someone facing deportation.
The saga of two teenage brothers from the Republic of Congo who have fallen into I.C.E.’s clutches, however, is different.
Israel Makoka, 18, and Max Makoka, 15, entered the United States legally on F-1 student visas. They were to attend the Piney Woods School, a “historically Black boarding institution” (whatever that is). The brothers weren’t comfortable at Piney Woods so they transferred to a public school in their host family’s neighborhood, Hancock High, in August of last year. A lawyer advised their host family to become their legal guardians so that they could remain in the country, and a judge granted the family’s guardianship request.
No one warned the family that the transfer to a public school would affect the brothers’ immigration status. Nobody knew until the teenagers’ arrest last week that moving from Piney Woods wiped out their legal immigration status. Hancock High is not allowed to host people on student visas, and Immigration and Customs Enforcement got wind of the snafu. The brothers are now facing deportation through, it can be argued, no fault of their own.
The rest of the Times piece is, like all the other “Good Illegal Immigrant” features, full of testimonials about how wonderful the Makokas are. This pattern reminds me of a comic’s routine I heard in which the wit marveled at how the murder victims in all the “Dateline” and “48 Hours” episodes are always described as lighting up every room they enter, being universally loved, and having no flaws or faults. Maybe the brothers are Golden Boys, and maybe not: it doesn’t matter. What matters is justice.
The maxim of the law is that “ignorance of the law is no excuse.” Mistake of law, however, can be a viable defense. What happened in this case is somewhere between the two, but the youth of these “Good Illegal Immigrants” should, I think, carry the day.
I hope this is recognized as the unintended mess it is, and that I.C.E. gives the Makotas a reprieve.
It’s the right and just course.
Ethics Alarms 
While I feel bad for them as minors, this feels less like an “oops” and more like “maybe no one will notice.” In 3 minutes of digging, I found that getting an F-1 visa requires filling out an I-20 form (example here – https://studyinthestates.dhs.gov/assets/sample_formi20.pdf )
That form explicitly states the school being attended. The instructions also states that any change to any information on the form requires filling out a new form with the new information. Too often people will intentionally ignore rules and laws and plead ignorance when caught. It sucks for these boys that they are caught up in this, but these types of exceptions led to how many hundreds of thousands of families bringing their children to become “dreamers.”
per the previous post,they had a year to fill out the formand had a lawyer advise them. Send them back and start the process again, too many previous cases have used up the gray area.
If they in fact had legal advice, then someone owes them a refund.
In the immortal words of a colleague practitioner of immigrant law, “we don’t get malpractice claims filed against us because those screw up result in deportations and the people can’t file from overseas.”
jvb
I say that from a place of ignorance on the topic. Is that actually a thing in the legal practice?
I always found it ironic that trades like plumbing or mechanics feel obligated to provide free labor when they realize they made a mistake, but doctors don’t. Eh, your mom died, sorry. Here is your $68K bill.
Similar case in Atlanta, but they didn’t waste any time sending him on his way. Looks like this one knew he was illegal.
Article notes he’s a “soccer player, son and brother”, but I guess that’s not as valuable as being a “Maryland dad”.
The public school they enrolled at was well aware that they weren’t authorized to host F-1 visa students. I have been on a high school board and discussed the foreign student enrollment policies and the paperwork to be authorized to accept F-1 student visas. The school administrators knew. It is complicated, however, by the fact that the courts have ruled that the schools are NOT allowed to enroll foreign students with F-1 student visas if they aren’t authorized, but they are REQUIRED by the courts to enroll foreign students WITHOUT visas. There are administrators who won’t follow the rules and others who are not capable of comprehending such a ridiculous set of rules. The lawyer should have known and the judge should have known.
The students should be allowed to enroll at a school that is authorized to take their visas due to the incompetence or malfeasance of all ‘responsible’ parties invovled.