Wilson’s Attention Credited : Escondido Family Facing Deportation Wins Reprieve

An Escondido family facing deportation to Mexico, even though they have lived in the United States for the last eight years, has received a reprieve until their case is reviewed, the family’s attorney said Monday.

The federal review will take place largely because of the intervention of Sen. Pete Wilson (R-Calif.), said Donovan Dunnion, the San Diego attorney for the Victor Gamez Lopez family.

“Without the intervention by Senator Wilson, his attention, it’s my opinion the family wouldn’t have been granted a stay of deportation,” Dunnion said.

The family’s deportation, which was supposed to have occurred Monday, was postponed late Friday when the Board of Immigration Appeals, based in Virginia, issued an order delaying the action until it can review the case.

Dunnion said a review could come as early as this week or could take a few months. He said the U.S. Immigration and Naturalization Service is pushing for an early decision.

Because of Monday’s Columbus Day holiday, INS and Board of Immigration Appeals offices were closed and officials could not be reached for comment.

Dunnion said the Board of Immigration Appeals can either uphold the deportation, in which case the Gamez Lopez family would have to leave, or it can grant a new hearing.

“It’s clear to me there is a high level of interest in this case,” Dunnion said, noting that he had talked to members of Wilson’s staff after an article describing the family’s plight appeared in The Times last month.

“They (Wilson’s staff) have done whatever can be done,” said Dunnion. “I’m glad for their help, but there are hundreds of other cases that could use this type of attention but won’t get it.

“The problem is not someone in the INS office in San Diego who refused to do anything; it’s the (immigration) law.”

Victor Gamez Lopez immigrated to Escondido in 1973, where he worked as a farm laborer planting a new avocado grove. After the initial planting was done, the owners of Stout Avocado Co. liked his work so much that they hired him permanently.

Gamez Lopez worked his way up to foreman of the grove, which today consists of 135 acres. Eight years ago, secure in his job, he brought his wife and their five children to live on the farm in a three-bedroom house, where they still reside.

The children, the oldest of whom is a high school sophomore, are in school and have become Americanized. Victor and his wife, Felipe, have also put down roots, becoming involved in the Escondido community, learning English at night school and participating in various Catholic church and school activities. The family hasn’t visited Mexico for more than seven years.

Five years ago, however, the family was driving in Oceanside when their car was stopped by Oceanside police, although they hadn’t broken any laws. They were never cited or informed of any violations but were turned over to INS officials in San Clemente, where they were identified as illegal aliens.

Since then, they have been in a legal battle, which culminated in their deportation order.

In the course of the various legal proceedings, numerous friends and associates have come to the family’s aid. Letters on their behalf have been written by, among others, the children’s elementary school principal, the family’s parish priest and the owners of the avocado grove, who are also paying the family’s legal bills. They have been praised as honest, hard-working and a model all-American family.