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probation and did not serve any time in prison, was deported. In November 2005, she
lost her status as a legal resident and was told she was permanently barred, as an
“aggravated felon,” from returning to the US.
With only distant relatives in Mexico and no real experience living there, Gabriela soon
returned to the United States to be with her family. 140 Benny said, “We just changed our
whole lives.” Benny started a successful business and began building a new home. Their
twin daughters regularly made the honor roll; their oldest son was a star chess player. For
five years, said Benny, “We were going to church every Sunday, on Wednesdays. We were
just living life like we should be.”
In 2010, immigration authorities came to their house and arrested Gabriela again. The
fact that she had changed her life did not matter for immigration purposes, and she was
deported again—even though in the meantime, the Supreme Court had ruled a drug
possession conviction like Gabriela’s did not constitute an “aggravated felony.” Benny
tried to maintain two
households, but it was
too difficult, and he gave
up his business and the
house he had just
finished building. He and
the children moved to
Piedras Negras, Mexico,
just on the other side of
the border, so the family
could be together. But
Benny and his children
were unable to live a Benny Lopez (right) and his four US-born children, in their Texas
apartment, near the Mexican border. Their mother, formerly a
productive life in Mexico.
permanent resident of the US, was deported after a conviction for
They do not speak
drug possession. Lopez uprooted his family from his native Kansas
Spanish and Benny could to be closer to his wife. ©2012 Grace Meng/Human Rights Watch.
140 The exact manner of Gabriela Cordova-Soto’s entry is part of ongoing litigation. The National Immigrant Justice Center is
currently representing her in her effort to reopen her earlier deportation case.
53 HUMAN RIGHTS WATCH | MAY 2013