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Pinay faces ouster for voting in 06

January 8, 2008

Beth KeathleyBy Joseph G. Lariosa
CHICAGO, Illinois - A 30-year-old Filipina was in the cusp of obtaining her Green Card, until she committed an innocent mistake she voted.

Beth Keathley of Mindanao, as a result, lost her job as a cleaning lady in a hospital and is now devoting full time to take care of her nine-year-old baby, Sheina, as she awaits resolution of her removal (deportation) proceedings.

During her interview by the Immigration officer last month for the approval of her application for permanent residence (Green Card), Ms. Keatley told the officer that she voted in an election last year.

Her application was immediately denied and she is now being processed for deportation.
Her lawyer, Richard Hanus, told this reporter that when he appears before the Chicago Immigration Court next November on behalf of Ms. Keathley, he is going to tell the judge that an employee of the Secretary of State signed her up to vote, and she exercised what she thought was her right, when voting.”

Hanus said for her clients application to be denied, an element of intent must be read into the statute, where only those who knowingly disregard the law with an intent to conceal or misrepresent facts should be penalized, not innocent actors like Ms. Keathley.

It was a complete innocent misunderstanding by my client as she was enticed into registering to vote.” Ms. Keathleys alleged crime took place at the Illinois Secretary of State facility in Bloomington, Illinois, where a clerk invited her to register to vote as part of the motor voter program after she obtained her state identification card.

Non-U.S. citizens are not allowed to register to vote under immigration laws.
Ms. Keathley told the Chicago Tribune that the clerk saw her Filipino passport as part of her application for the state identification card. She surmised that if a state employee offered her the opportunity to register, there was nothing wrong. The state said its employees are not allowed by federal law from inquiring citizenship before registering people to vote. While federal officials say the question on the registration form that asks applicants to affirm they are citizens is clear enough.

And intentional voter fraud had to be enforced. There has been a rise of deportation cases due to voting fraud.

Mr. Hanus said, (W)e are are seeking the help of Bloomington Rep. Tim V. Johnson (R-IL15) to work toward amending the statute at issue in order to clarify that only those acting with specific intent when registering to vote or voting will be penalized, not those who act innocently and under mistaken premises, as Ms. Keathley did.” He said, With the way the law has been applied up to this point, Ms. Keathleys mistake is tantamount to committing murder or drug dealing, as far as eligibility for permanent residence is concerned.”

Hanus added the case is really about an innocent person with nothing to hide being enticed to register to vote by an eager Secretary of State official, while she fully disclosed all along, by showing her Philippine passport to the official, that she is indeed a citizen of the Philippines.
The lawyer of Ms. Keathley, who came to the US in May 2004, will invoke a California case, where a Federal District Court ruled in favor of a lawful permanent resident, who was facing deportation for the same mistake, concluding that the immigrant did not act with the requisite intent to warrant deportation.

Ms. Keathley is a wife of an American citizen, John. Their baby was born in the United States. In Mindanao, she worked as a machine operator for a microchip maker that paid her the equivalent of $4 a day. Her job at a hospital paid her $9 per hour. Her husband, John, works as a customer service agent at a home improvement store. (lariosa_jos@sbcglobal.net)

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