Agatha & Her Daughter

Country of Origin: St. Lucia

Currently LIving In: New York

Agatha Joseph came to the United States from St. Lucia in 1986. Ten years later, after she had saved money and settled into a home in the Bronx, she brought her daughters from the islands. They each became greencard holders, and Agatha became a US citizen. The family was thrilled to have security in this country. They had no idea how quickly they could be torn apart.

In 1997 Agatha's youngest daughter, only 16 years old, had a run in with the law. She was charged with having a marijuana joint, and a NYS judge gave her a marijuana violation. A 'violation' is lower than a misdemeanor. Joseph received community service. It was embarrassing for the family, but they thought the mess was behind them. But in 2000, when Joseph was returning from a visit to her elderly grandmother in Saint Lucia, she was stopped at JFK. Immigration officers shackled her and put her into immigrant detention. The federal government was trying to deport her for the 1997 violation.

Joseph spent her 19th, 20th and 21st birthdays behind barbed wire. In 3 years she was shuttled across the country, to over 7 immigrant prisons. In one facility in Pennsylvania, male officers would 'supervise' as she and other women detainees took showers. Once when a fire started inside the jail, she was among the hundreds locked into a cell rather than evacuated.

How could this happen to a girl who already served her sentence for her crime ' and whose crime was less serious than a misdemeanor? Under the 1996 immigration laws, Joseph is subject to mandatory detention. A judge cannot release her, even if she is neither a flight risk nor threat to society. She regained her freedom after three years inside only because of the efforts of her mom. Agatha, a working Bronx mother, had to go to Washington D.C. to seek help from members of Congress. She spoke to any organization she could find that deals with deportation issues. Finally in 2003, with the help of a pro bono attorney, Joseph was released from detention. She remains, however, in deportation proceedings and at risk of being separated from her family at any moment.

While the harsh 1996 immigration laws are ultimately responsible for the misery facing the Joseph family, responsibility also lies locally. The New York State criminal court never warned her that a violation could lead to deportation. Also, the judge and lawyers could easily have helped her avoid a deportable conviction. Joseph was eligible for a Youthful Offender (YO) conviction (technically more serious than a violation). If she received a YO, she would not face deportation because the government has ruled that YOs are not deportable offenses. In our city of immigrants, a criminal court system that was better informed of immigration issues could have help prevent this tragedy.

As Joseph tries to piece her life back together, she and her mom have also become active members of Families for Freedom in order to defend their community. Agatha says, 'No mother should ever go through what I went through. I hit the streets to give friends and neighbors the warnings we never had. But other families' efforts and mine are not enough. Our government has to step in and change the laws. Immigrants are human beings. We don't deserve endless punishment.'