Bring ‘Papa’ Back for Ill Boy

An HIV-infected child in Orange County wants to know why his “papa” isn’t by his side. The answer rests with U.S. Atty. Gen. John Ashcroft. He should ease the 11-year-old’s misery a little by letting his Mexican guardian back in the country. He can do so on humanitarian grounds, employing a small exemption in the immigration law that was crafted for situations like this.

The boy, whose name isn’t being disclosed, was born in this country in 1992 and is a citizen. His biological father has ignored him; his mother, an illegal immigrant, died of AIDS about the time that he was diagnosed as HIV-positive. Hermenegildo Ortega, an illegal immigrant and the common-law husband of the boy’s late mother, stepped in to care for the child and in 1996 became his legal guardian.

But Ortega, who has worked as a gardener and security guard, got caught in an immigration sweep in San Juan Capistrano and was deported; the boy and his sister, 8, have languished in a foster home since June.

Ortega, using a one-day visa, returned to ask an Orange County Juvenile Court judge to let him retain his role as the boy’s surrogate dad. Mexican Consul Luis Miguel Ortiz Haro has taken up the cause, requesting that Ortega be readmitted to the U.S. under a section of the Immigration and Nationality Act. It lets the attorney general admit aliens for “urgent humanitarian reasons.”

According to Ortiz Haro (the file is sealed), the Orange County judge has supported this, saying it will help the sick boy battle for his life by taking advantage of medicine and care here that he cannot get if he goes across the border.

Ashcroft won’t need to settle the tough question of whether Ortega should remain in the U.S.; immigration law states that those admitted for humanitarian reasons don’t automatically qualify for permanent residence. Authorities can deal with that issue later. Right now, the best medicine for an ill boy is having his “papa” with him.