Several Romanian immigrants have been spotted around Bloomington-Normal begging for money after coming from a Texas Immigration Center.
“If I could do it all over again I wouldn’t have left Romania,” said “John,” who Cities 92.9’s David Paul Blumenshine found on the corner of Landmark and College Avenue begging with his young family.
John has several children back home in Romania who are being cared for by his parents. But he has a small child who was born in America.
“In Romania, I had somewhere to stay,” said John. “I came here for a better situation for my children.”
We asked John if the birth of his child was planned to facilitate eventual legal residency for the family and he said “no.” The 14th Amendment does not automatically give those born in America citizenship. This has been widely debated in the US Supreme Court. Laws that surround granting automatic citizenship to
That definition is the amendment’s very first sentence: “All persons born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States and of the state wherein they reside.”
The amendment specifies two criteria for American citizenship: birth or naturalization (i.e., lawful immigration), and being subject to U.S. jurisdiction. We know what the framers of the amendment meant by the latter because they told us. Nineteenth century US Sen. Lyman Trumbull of Illinois, a principal figure in drafting the amendment, defined “subject to the jurisdiction” as “not owing allegiance to anybody else” — that is, to no other country or tribe. Nineteenth century US Sen. Jacob Howard of Michigan, a sponsor of the clause, further clarified that the amendment explicitly excludes from citizenship “persons born in the United States who are foreigners, aliens, [or] who belong to the families of ambassadors or foreign ministers.”
John said he came to the United States for opportunity. In Romania he was a mechanic and made about $300 a month. He left Romania via a flight to Spain. John said he was seeking asylum in the United States, but the United States could have broken international law because after John was driven to the Mexico/Texas border and crossed by foot into Texas he ended up in an Immigration Center (through catch-and-release) that ultimately let him go with temporary paperwork that grants him temporary citizenship until a court date to determine his status.
The first safe country principle of international law refers to the practice of refusing entry to asylum seekers who, prior to their arrival in the country where they are seeking asylum, have traveled through an alternative country that could have offered them asylum protection.
John was granted entry after he traveled to Spain, a country that could have offered them asylum protection.
“I had a lawyer who wanted about $7,000 to gain asylum in the United States,” said John. John said that’s why he wasn’t granted a visa. However, he was given a court date to show up and try to argue his case for asylum, and he pledged he was going to show up to court for that date.
“They could deport me at this court date, but either way I will go because you cannot stay illegally,” said John. “From what I have heard, if you skip those court dates, they will find you and detain you for longer periods of time because Immigration has to fill up a plane in order to send you back.”
John told us he had to pay $3,000 to get close to the border. A Mexican man with tattoos and several guns asked for payment, and of course John complied.
We asked John if the American Immigration Center helped him after his release and he said “not really” and that they told him to go to “sanctuary states” and “sanctuary cities.”
This could explain how John ended up in Bloomington-Normal, Illinois– a “sanctuary state” and “sanctuary city.”
Another Romanian woman in traditional garb by HyVee begging for money
“I heard something about Illinois and how you can get a driver’s license without a visa,” said John. John currently only has his Romania ID. Illinois law allows non-visa status individuals to obtain a Temporary Visitor Driver’s License.
John stopped at several places along the way in a van he obtained from a Pastor in Arkansas, but a year and some odd months later he found his way to Springfield then to Bloomington-Normal.
John isn’t alone though… on a street corner not but a half mile away a young, Romanian woman had a sign that read ‘Four children, need food and hotel, God Bless.’
This Romanian woman said she did not not know John and another Romanian we ran into a different day on the corner of Landmark and College Avenue who goes by the name Stephan. Stephan has a young family, including a young daughter who wore a tee-shirt that said ‘Social-distancing queen.’
Romanian woman in traditional garb begging for money
In total, through our investigation, we have encountered about 10 Romanian immigrants who have been begging for money to feed their families and gather enough to stay in hotels in the Central Illinois area.
The female Romanian, in traditional Romania garb, said she also obtained a van from a church… but said she could remember the name of the church and said “her English wasn’t great.”
Stephan also claimed to be a mechanic and said he came from the Mexico/Texas border, but he did not know John, who had a similar story.
PLEASE CONSIDER HELPING JOHN
