The Human Side of Immigration

The New York Times reports today on the deeply sad story of Elizabeth Drummond, her Ecuadorean husband Segundo Encada, and their three chlidren, who were separated by the unduly harsh and unnecessary enforcement of the immigration laws. Mr. Encada was undocumented in the country when he was deported. Despite having three children with Ms. Drummond, the consulate back in Ecuador questioned the validity of the couple’s marriage and created a bureaucratic nightmare, while the couple’s lawyers never explained the 10-year bar to them until three years after the family here had already endured terrible economic hardship. Ultimately, Mr. Encada committed suicide and the consulate is left having to explain itself, at least while the case gets the media’s attention. This  tragic story is all too common but almost never in the conciousness of the U.S. public.     

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