Even marriage no safety net for aliens to avoid deportation

Friday, Dec. 4, 1998 | 11:36 a.m.

Suresh Kuman Goel, an illegal alien, was taken from his wife of a year in handcuffs to be deported on Monday, and found himself flying to back to India first-class. When he arrives, if he can find work, he'll likely make $2.50 a day.

The United States government paid $3,106 for the one-way ticket -- almost four times what Goel paid for a ticket he bought earlier this year that he could not use because of a delay in processing his travel papers.

The former convenience store clerk was supposed to be deported in May, when he paid $800 for his ticket, but delays by the Indian government in processing travel papers caused the departure date to be changed.

He didn't have the money to pay for another, so the U.S. government footed the bill. However, it must get the most direct route and guaranteed seating, so it couldn't get a cheaper advanced-purchase fare, said Rosemarie Luddon, acting superintendent of the Office of Detention and Deportation.

Now the fight to reunite him with his American wife begins.

Nine years ago, Goel paid an international smuggling organization $12,000 to sneak him into this country at Brownsville, Texas. He claims he came to this country to escape political and religious persecution, but the Immigration and Naturalization Service and immigration judges rejected those reasons at several hearings since the first one held in San Francisco in 1992.

They ordered his deportation in 1995, but Goel did not turn himself in. He went to Los Angeles, where he met and fell in love with Genie Collins. They married in July 1997 and moved to Las Vegas.

Their case illustrates one of the quandaries of the complex immigration rules. Because marriage to an American citizen is one way for immigrants to stay in the country, INS officials often find themselves distinguishing between love and convenience.

Now it's up to the Goels to prove their devotion. When Goel arrives in India, he will go to the American consulate and ask for a waiver that will expedite his application to return to America, his wife, Genie Goel said. They also have contacted Sen. Harry Reid, D-Nev., to seek his help.

The application will be based upon the fact that the Goels are married. Their wedding in July 1997 occurred after the INS had already issued an order of deportation for Goel. The INS said the marriage was not taken into consideration because of the frequency that illegal aliens get married as a means to remain here.

"Eleventh-hour marriages are a pattern we see at the INS," said Strapp.

Strapp's office will make a decision on the legitimacy of the Goels' union after their application is filed in India.

Investigators will look at all the circumstances surrounding the marriage, they will interview family members and friends of the couple, they will see if they own property together and if they have filed joint income tax returns, he said.

Strapp said it's not the INS's job to make humanitarian calls. That, he said, is left up to the judges, who weigh all the factors.

"Everyone thinks they should be an exception to the rule," he said.

If, after the investigation, the INS again decides the marriage is one of convenience and rejects the Goels' request for the husband to return to the United States, the couple still has the right to appeal.

"There are so many checks and balances to ensure everybody has extensive due process," said Strapp.

Strapp said the public misunderstands the deportation process.

"Deportation is a last-ditch effort to remove a person," he said.

The first attempt is to have the illegal alien volunteer to leave. This would make it easier for him to return legally.

This year, judges have ordered 847 aliens deported -- most of them illegal aliens but some of them legal immigrants who have committed crimes here.

Another 2,010 have left voluntarily after being caught.

Officials say it is impossible to say how many illegal aliens are in Southern Nevada, but some estimates are in the tens of thousands.

Because of the growth in Las Vegas, "this community has a large alien population, a disproportionately large one," said Strapp, noting that they are attracted by such jobs as construction and landscaping.