Mexican immigrant sues his parents for illegally bringing him to the U.S. when he was a baby
By ONANTZIN News
2013-02-05
Los Angeles, CA -- Emboldened by his new status as a quasi-American thanks to Obama's deferred action program, a Southern California teen is taking his parents to court for illegally bringing him into the U.S. from Mexico when he was two years old.
Eduardo Rodriguez, who is 18 years old now and perhaps too well-assimilated with American culture, is suing his parents on the grounds that their decision to sneak him into the U.S. as a baby has caused him irreparable emotional damage. Emotional wounds, he says, which stem from years of anguish, insecurity, fear, and setbacks from being undocumented -- and which will not go away just because of his new status or any future immigration reform.
In addition, Esteban is accusing both his parents, Elena and Marcos Rodriguez, of baby trafficking, reckless child endangerment, selfishness, and shortsightedness, according to court papers filed with the ninth district court of LA this morning.
"I can't get a good job, I can't find a girlfriend, I can't buy a Chevy truck with nice rims, and I can't even go back to Mexico because I don't speak Spanish", stated Mr. Rodriguez. "All that has affected me and that is the reason why I am still living in a converted garage, sharing a room with my older brother."
Just one year ago, bringing forth such a case against his parents would have been inconceivable; there was too much fear that his own parents would deport him in retaliation, according to Mr. Rodriguez.
That is why, while thousands of immigrants were quick to celebrate the approval of their application for deferred action -- a program that makes illegal immigrants eligible for a work permit and suspends deportation for two years -- Mr. Rodriguez outright skipped the celebration and wasted no time in going after his parents.
Within just minutes of receiving his approval notice in the mail, he was on the phone with his lawyer hashing out the best way to present his case in California's courts, which have historically ruled in favor of the parents in these type of cases because of a lack of evidence to prove emotional damage, and because of overwhelming evidence that the teenagers are just being ungrateful, spoiled brats.
For that reason, it is difficult to predict if a judge will decide to hear the case.
But Mr. Rodriguez and his courageous -- or better yet questionable -- lawyer from 1800 Los Defensores are not losing spirit. They hope to win the case and with it the $1000 in compensation they are demanding(500 for Mr. Rodriguez and 500 for the lawyer), and a signed promise from Mr. Rodriguez's parents that despite the lawsuit, they will still bury him with a live Banda if he dies before them.
In their defense, both parents said that their son Esteban is just a lazy D-average teenager who is mad at them for not buying him the latest game of "Call of Duty" for the PlayStation 3. They added that they doubt he would have fared any better if he was legal, and point to his 23 year old brother Jesus, who is a US citizen but barely graduated high school, didn't go to college, and sits around the house smoking pot all day.