[{"command":"settings","settings":{"pluralDelimiter":"\u0003","suppressDeprecationErrors":true,"ajaxPageState":{"libraries":"entity_embed\/caption,views\/views.ajax,views\/views.module","theme":"hrw_design","theme_token":null},"ajaxTrustedUrl":[],"views":{"ajax_path":"\/views\/ajax","ajaxViews":{"views_dom_id:blog_live_feed__blog_body_block__305278__en":{"view_name":"blog_live_feed","view_display_id":"blog_body_block","view_args":"305278","view_path":"\/blog\/content\/305278","view_base_path":null,"view_dom_id":"blog_live_feed__blog_body_block__305278__en","pager_element":0}}},"user":{"uid":0,"permissionsHash":"0ae5601d8790ff50fca3cf23b9ac9170285f2f75823ebdc8d9cc054bc03a679b"}},"merge":true},{"command":"add_css","data":"\u003Clink rel=\u0022stylesheet\u0022 media=\u0022all\u0022 href=\u0022\/sites\/default\/files\/css\/css_reI-6YIYy-k9pvxm-gaCRrn5cSrTZRtyAMrp4YXDUJw.css\u0022 \/\u003E\n"},{"command":"add_js","selector":"body","data":[{"src":"\/sites\/default\/files\/js\/js_svkrpusmrjSaaV8heRnsa8-TbrEsMLumxMQD8vstdR8.js"}]},{"command":"insert","method":"replaceWith","selector":".js-view-dom-id-blog_live_feed__blog_body_block__305278__en","data":"\u003Cdiv class=\u0022js-view-dom-id-blog_live_feed__blog_body_block__305278__en\u0022\u003E\n \n \n \n\n \n \n \n\n \u003Cdiv\u003E\n\u003Cdiv\u003E\n \u003Cdiv class=\u0022blog-block__content__description rich-text pt-6 mb:pt-10 mx-auto\u0022\u003E\n \u003Cp\u003EOn their way home from a trip to Mexico last December, 36-year-old Jos\u00e9\u00a0Luis O.\u00a0and his wife \u2013 then girlfriend \u2013 Estefania got in line to go through immigration at Houston\u2019s George Bush Intercontinental Airport. Estefania, a United States citizen, entered with no problem, but Jos\u00e9\u00a0Luis was detained and five months later was deported to Nuevo Laredo, Mexico.\u003C\/p\u003E\u0026#13;\n\u0026#13;\n\u003Cp\u003EAt the time, he had no idea why. Though born in Mexico, Jos\u00e9\u00a0Luis had been living in Houston since he was 3, had an up-to-date green card, and had traveled to Mexico and back just a few months earlier without incident. What he didn\u2019t realize was that two scrapes with the law as a young man had remained on his record like hidden time bombs, waiting for the right combination of circumstances to explode.\u003C\/p\u003E\u0026#13;\n\u0026#13;\n\u003Cdiv class=\u0022embed\u0022 data-type=\u0022photo_essay\u0022\u003E\n\n\n \n\n\n\n\u003Cdiv class=\u0022embed align-right embedded-entity embedded-entity-type-node embedded-entity-bundle-image-gallery embedded-entity-viewmode-embeddable embed--right\u0022\u003E\n \n\n \n\n\n\n\n\n\u003Cdiv class=\u0022container-large max-w-lg mx-auto px-6 sm:px-8 md:pr-14 md:pl-24 x2l:px-0 x2l:mx-32 x3l:mx-auto px-6 lg:px-8 xl:px-0\u0022\u003E\n \n\u003Cdiv class=\u0022image-gallery\u0022\u003E\n \u003Cdiv class=\u0022image-gallery__slider pt-10 pb-6\u0022\u003E\n \u003Cfigure class=\u0022image-gallery__slide\u0022\u003E\u003Cimg src=\u0022\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/image_gallery\/public\/multimedia_images_2017\/201706us_mexico_joseluispark.png?itok=AXswNJRu\u0022 alt=\u0022Jos\u00e9 Luis O. with his wife and two stepdaughters in an undated photograph.\u0022 loading=\u0022lazy\u0022 class=\u0022image-gallery__slide-image mx-auto unloaded\u0022 \/\u003E\u003Cfigcaption class=\u0022image-gallery__slide-caption text-gray-700 text-center text-sm pt-8 md:pt-10\u0022\u003EJos\u00e9 Luis O. with his wife and two stepdaughters in an undated photograph. \u00a9 Private\u0026#13;\n \u003C\/figcaption\u003E\u003C\/figure\u003E\u003Cfigure class=\u0022image-gallery__slide\u0022\u003E\u003Cimg src=\u0022\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/image_gallery\/public\/multimedia_images_2017\/201706us_mexico_joseluischristmas.png?itok=5Rn_CoXh\u0022 alt=\u0022Jos\u00e9 Luis O. with his wife and two stepdaughters in Texas in an undated photograph.\u0022 loading=\u0022lazy\u0022 class=\u0022image-gallery__slide-image mx-auto unloaded\u0022 \/\u003E\u003Cfigcaption class=\u0022image-gallery__slide-caption text-gray-700 text-center text-sm pt-8 md:pt-10\u0022\u003EJos\u00e9 Luis O.\u00a0with his wife and two stepdaughters in Texas in an undated photograph. \u00a9 Private\u0026#13;\n \u003C\/figcaption\u003E\u003C\/figure\u003E\u003Cfigure class=\u0022image-gallery__slide\u0022\u003E\u003Cimg src=\u0022\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/image_gallery\/public\/multimedia_images_2017\/201706us_mexico_joseluistexas.png?itok=70PMTUgI\u0022 alt=\u0022Jos\u00e9 Luis O. with his wife and two stepdaughters in Texas in an undated photograph.\u0022 loading=\u0022lazy\u0022 class=\u0022image-gallery__slide-image mx-auto unloaded\u0022 \/\u003E\u003Cfigcaption class=\u0022image-gallery__slide-caption text-gray-700 text-center text-sm pt-8 md:pt-10\u0022\u003EJos\u00e9 Luis O.\u00a0with his wife and two stepdaughters in Texas in an undated photograph. \u00a9 Private\u0026#13;\n \u003C\/figcaption\u003E\u003C\/figure\u003E\u003Cfigure class=\u0022image-gallery__slide\u0022\u003E\u003Cimg src=\u0022\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/image_gallery\/public\/multimedia_images_2017\/201706us_mexico_joseluisinstituto.jpg?itok=ecW_jMst\u0022 alt=\u0022Jos\u00e9 Luis O. speaks with Human Rights Watch researchers at the Instituto Tamaulipeco in Nuevo Laredo, Mexico.\u0022 loading=\u0022lazy\u0022 class=\u0022image-gallery__slide-image mx-auto unloaded\u0022 \/\u003E\u003Cfigcaption class=\u0022image-gallery__slide-caption text-gray-700 text-center text-sm pt-8 md:pt-10\u0022\u003EJos\u00e9\u00a0Luis O.\u00a0speaks with Human Rights Watch researchers at the Instituto Tamaulipeco in Nuevo Laredo, Mexico. \u00a9 2017 Human Rights Watch\u0026#13;\n \u003C\/figcaption\u003E\u003C\/figure\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E\n\u003C\/div\u003E\n \u003C\/div\u003E\n\n \u003C\/div\u003E\n\u003C\/div\u003E\u0026#13;\n\u0026#13;\n\u003Cp\u003EJos\u00e9\u00a0Luis\u0027s record included a sentence for burglary, at 17, after he took some clothing from a house; when a friend was caught, Jos\u00e9\u00a0Luis turned himself in. Later, when he was 26, police arrested Jos\u00e9\u00a0Luis as he waited outside a friend\u2019s apartment, and he served 15 days for misdemeanor trespass. On neither occasion was Jos\u00e9\u00a0Luis deported.\u003C\/p\u003E\u0026#13;\n\u0026#13;\n\u003Cp\u003EAfter that, he stayed out of trouble, getting a GED (high school equivalency diploma), taking community college classes, working as a car salesman and Uber driver, and helping raise his two stepchildren and two children \u2013 all of whom are United States citizens. His green card allowed him to make visits to Mexico and return to the US easily \u2013 until last December.\u003C\/p\u003E\u0026#13;\n\u0026#13;\n\u003Cp\u003EThat\u2019s when he learned that green cards \u2013 permanent resident visas \u2013 aren\u2019t necessarily permanent; they can be revoked, even for old, minor offenses. Jos\u00e9\u00a0Luis spent five months in immigration detention, fighting unsuccessfully to hold onto his green card and return to his family in Houston.\u003C\/p\u003E\u0026#13;\n\u0026#13;\n\u003Cp\u003EWhen he talks about his stepdaughters Christina, age 9, and Violet, who will turn 4 next month, his eyes light up and he laughs. \u201cLittle Violet calls me \u2018babe,\u2019\u201d he chuckles during an interview in Nuevo Laredo, \u201cbecause that\u2019s what she always hears her mom call me.\u201d He misses all of his kids, including two from previous relationships \u2013 an 18-year-old son and a 7-year-old daughter, who also live in Houston.\u003C\/p\u003E\u0026#13;\n\u0026#13;\n\u003Cp\u003EHe worries about how his absence is affecting them. His son visited him once while he was detained, but started crying and had to leave the room. He is most worried, though, about how his mom, alone since Jos\u00e9\u00a0Luis\u2019s stepfather died, will manage. She gets social security, but Jos\u00e9\u00a0Luis used to help her with everything. He told the immigration judge how much she needed him. \u201cI guess it didn\u2019t matter,\u201d he says. Jos\u00e9\u00a0Luis might have been eligible for a discretionary benefit allowing the judge to cancel his deportation, but he just missed a cut off that required him to have his green card for seven years before his first conviction.\u003C\/p\u003E\u0026#13;\n\u0026#13;\n\u003Cp\u003EWhen we met him, Jos\u00e9\u00a0Luis was on his way to Acapulco to stay with his dad, whom he barely knows, and figure out options for returning to his family in Houston.\u00a0\u003C\/p\u003E\u0026#13;\n\u003C\/div\u003E\n\u003C\/div\u003E\n\u003C\/div\u003E\n\n \n\n \n \n\n \n \n\u003C\/div\u003E\n","settings":null}]