(Adapted from my original post at The Living Rice).

This story from CNN caught my attention. A Filipino family is making news in Japan because of immigration matters that left a 13-year-old girl separated from her parents.

The parents of Noriko Calderon have been deported back to the Philippines for entering and working in Japan illegally. Noriko was asked to choose between her parents and the country she considers her home. Part of me feels bad that this has to end this way. This could be very traumatizing for a 13 year old. However, part of me also feels that somehow, justice has been served for the parents who have broken serious immigration laws in Japan. They should have known that their actions and disobedience to the law have consequences. I somehow know how they feel because a few years back my family faced a similar tight spot with my wife’s U.S. immigration status. It was a tough decision, but we decided abiding by immigration laws is God's best for our family, rather than violating them.

In the U.S., there may be as many as 20 million illegal immigrants today, and many families may be in the same ethical dilemma and threatened with separation. Is there a balance between showing compassion to “aliens and strangers in our midst” and upholding the rule of law in immigration? If you were to propose a solution, what would it be?

Comments

[jason taylor]

The right of pardon was specifically given to executive officials for hard or delicate cases such as this, or sometimes for expediency(if for instance a former mobster had betrayed The Family or similar such).
I suppose a right to give dispensations can be given to proper authorities in immigration cases. Who would administer such, and how can misuse be prevented?
On the whole it is a sticky wicket. The immigration quarrel always made me uneasy in any case. I hardly wish to be inhospitable, but neither do I wish for citizenship to be given out for free.

[J]

Dang, poor child... I can totally relate to her.
The US is pretty strict on its immigration too... my parents and I have been separated for six years, it was really difficult to grow up without them.