Anaheim Man’s Status Still in Limbo

Hope turned to frustration Wednesday in the continuing saga of an Anaheim man who wants the government to allow him to stay in the United States -- the country that offered his family refuge almost 20 years ago after the fall of former Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos.

The spirits of Grant Bondoc, who faces deportation, were lifted in March when immigration officials suggested a reprieve to hold talks with his lawyer. Bondoc was hopeful that he might be granted permanent residency in the United States.

But the meeting between government lawyers and Bondoc’s attorney never took place. Instead, during a May court hearing, the government recommended that Bondoc withdraw his petition for asylum and take a different administrative step.

Theoretically, that step could offer a way for him to stay in the country.

Immigrations officials asked that Bondoc accept a final order to be removed from the country. His attorneys could then request that immigration authorities suspend the removal order, a procedure known as “deferred action.”

Government attorney Ingrid Abrash reiterated the authorities’ position Wednesday. If Bondoc would agree to the removal order, “there could be discussion regarding deferred action,” Abrash told immigration Judge Stephen L. Sholomson.

At the immigration court in downtown Los Angeles, Bondoc, 34, called the government’s position “a major frustration. I thought they were going to settle or something.”

Bondoc and his family were members of Marcos’ entourage that was evacuated to the United States under the Reagan administration and offered an indefinite haven after Marcos was ousted in 1986. Bondoc was 15 at the time.

After Marcos died in 1989 and his widow, Imelda, returned to the Philippines three years later, the U.S. government ordered the remaining members of Marcos’ group to return home.

Bondoc’s mother, Griselda, was a former Marcos nurse. She subsequently received a green card through her job as a registered nurse and was able to sponsor her husband for permanent U.S. residency. Their daughter married an American and is a permanent resident.

No such options have been available to Bondoc, who has faced deportation since 1999.

Elif Keles, Bondoc’s attorney, said there was no guarantee the government would grant “deferred action” in her client’s case, judging from her experience with another recent case she handled.

“We can’t take that risk,” Keles told Sholomson.

Following the government’s agreement in May to meet and talk, Keles said in an interview, she left several phone messages for the chief counsel at Immigration and Customs Enforcement, sent certified mail, and even hand-delivered a letter to the office. But authorities have not responded, Keles said.

Immigration officials will not comment on ongoing cases.

Keles said she intended to go forward with Bondoc’s asylum petition, because while the “deferred action” procedure permits immigrants to work in the United States, they cannot travel without the government’s permission, and are unable to accrue the years of residency necessary to apply for U.S. citizenship.

Sholomson scheduled another hearing for Nov. 9.

Bondoc, a medical office manager in Garden Grove, said that uncertainty over his status is causing him sleepless nights.

“I think about it every day,” he said. “I sometimes work more than eight hours a day, because I have to keep myself preoccupied.”