Girl chooses country over parents.

[Ranb]

http://www.cnn.com/2009/WORLD/asiapcf/04/13/japan.philippines.calderon/index.html#cnnSTCText

"Filipinos Arlan and Sarah Calderon illegally entered Japan in the early 1990s on fake passports. They married and had a daughter, Noriko. Arlan found a stable job working for a construction company. Noriko grew up Japanese, attending school and never learning her parents' native language."

So are these parents being justly deported from Japan for breaking the law for so many years, or do they deserve a break because they got away with it for so long and raised their daughter as Japanese instead of Filipino? Any other opinions?

Ranb

 

[Safe-Keeper]

This is like that girl who fled jail, made a stable, law-abiding life for herself and established a family, and then got caught and faced charges... 35 years after her jailbreak.

So are these parents being justly deported from Japan for breaking the law for so many years

No. Notoriously rigid immigration laws, indeed.

 

[Ranb]

But weren't they breaking the law everyday they stayed in Japan illegally?

Ranb

 

[Donal]

I think Japan should apply the documented laws of their country as they see fit.

 

[EeneyMinnieMoe]

Don't say she "chose" her "country over parents". It's a tragedy for everyone involved. Her heart must be beyond broken.

Maybe her parents wanted her to stay in Japan so that everything they worked for wouldn't have been in vain.

 

[ARubberChickenWithAPulley]

This is like that girl who fled jail, made a stable, law-abiding life for herself and established a family, and then got caught and faced charges... 35 years after her jailbreak.

I agree. In the sense that both were completely just applications of the law.

It's a tragedy for the girl, but her parents put her in that situation.

 

[linusrichard]

I think Japan should apply the documented laws of their country as they see fit.

Well, there are two separate questions:

"Should Japan be allowed to apply their law as they see fit?"
and
"Is it a good thing that they see fit to apply their law in this way?"

I'm pretty sure this thread is more about the second question, but I may be wrong.

 

[pchams]

If this had been Canada (notoriously lax in immigration), the parents could apply to mstay under humanitarian consideration.
I'm not sure that people should be rewarded for flaunting the country's laws, no matter the emotional photo ops involved.

 

[TX50]

The article in the OP omits some pertinent information. The girl is staying
with her aunt and uncle (who reside legally in Japan) and the Japanese
government are allowing her parents to visit her in Japan (illegal imigrants
are normally barred).

 

[luchog]

This is like that girl who fled jail, made a stable, law-abiding life for herself and established a family, and then got caught and faced charges... 35 years after her jailbreak.

Except that this girl wasn't a remorseless former member of a domestic terrorist organization.

 

[shemp]

Except that this girl wasn't a remorseless former member of a domestic terrorist organization.

How can you be sure?

 

[Sir Robin Goodfellow]

How can you be sure?

Waterboarding.

 

[luchog]

How can you be sure?

Terrorists invariably have terrible fashion sense.