October 3, 2005
Immigration law divides local coupleBy ALAN PANEBAKER
for the Mail Tribune ASHLAND — When Trysta and Gustavo Barajas were married in the Jackson County Courthouse in 2004, they planned on staying together. Trysta, 19, gave birth to their first child Thursday, but immigration law has Gustavo, 23, stuck in his native Mexico, where he may have to wait 10 years before he can be with his wife and child. "He’s just crying in Mexico," said Sandy Womack, Trysta’s mother, of her son-in-law. "Every time I talk to him on the phone he’s crying." The Barajas’ story began in 2002, when Gustavo and Trysta met at the Rogue Valley Mall. Trysta, still a high school student at the time, started dating Gustavo, who soon found work building log homes in Crescent City. Paying taxes with a fake Social Security number and working overtime, Gustavo soon moved up in the construction business. Everything seemed like it would work out for the couple as Trysta graduated from Ashland High School in 2004, landed a job with Southern Oregon Federal Credit Union and moved into a house in Medford with her new husband. With a baby on the way, Gustavo traveled to Ciudad Juárez, Mexico, to settle his application as a U.S. resident. Gustavo was asked if he had left the country during his illegal stay since 1999 and returned illegally. Gustavo told them he had. In 2000 his grandfather became sick and died, and he returned to Mexico to see him before his death. "He could have lied," Sandy Womack said, "but he’s not that kind of guy." But because of the information Gustavo divulged to the U.S. consulate in Ciudad Juárez, he’s barred from the United States for 10 years. According to Raquel Hecht, a lawyer in Eugene who has represented the Barajas family, this law was passed in 1997 after the Oklahoma City bombing as an anti-terrorism measure. "It has nothing to do with terrorism, but it hurts a lot of people who marry U.S. citizens," Hecht said. "People don’t know what’s going on, and it’s terrible. These people never committed any crime." Hecht said she has a list of 30 people who are in the same predicament. Philip Smith, Hecht’s founding law partner, said that with more illegal immigrants entering the United States every year, the U.S. government has become stricter about enforcing its immigration laws since 2001. If an alien legally entered the United States or started the naturalization process with the Immigration and Naturalization Service before April 30, 2001, he is usually in the clear. Smith also said that it is possible for some married immigrants to bypass the law by obtaining a waiver in Ciudad Juárez. However, these usually take six months to a year to get. The idiosyncrasies of the legal system, Smith said, are more complicated than they seem. "In what sounds like the exact situation, one person gets a green card and the other may be stuck in Mexico," Smith said. "A little technical difference can make a huge difference in the end." So for the time being, Trysta Barajas is waiting in limbo in Medford with her mother, mother-in-law and sister-in-law (who both traveled north from Mexico to meet the new baby). Gustavo Barajas is waiting in Mexico. "If it comes down to it, I’m going to Mexico," Trysta Barajas said. She said she thinks it is a shame that the local courthouse would marry her and her husband, only to have the federal government exile him immediately before the birth of their first child. Now, Trysta is on maternity leave from her job, but because her husband is not able to work in the United States and support her, she had to apply for welfare Monday. The family’s hope for now is that baby Elijah will leave the hospital healthy and, with a stroke of luck, they will find a loophole to get Gustavo back to the United States. | 
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