Justices weighing deportation case

WASHINGTON — An Ogden man who was deported more than two years ago had his day at the U.S. Supreme Court Wednesday.

Though Humberto "Bert" Fernandez-Vargas was thousands of miles away in Mexico, his lawyer argued the merits of a law that could impact thousands of longtime illegal immigrants seeking to stay in the United States.

"They asked tough questions, but I think we had good answers for them," attorney David Gossett said. "It's hard to know what the court will do, but I'm cautiously optimistic."

Justices will decide whether a provision in a 1997 federal law that tightened restrictions in illegal immigration applies to people who were already in the United States when it took effect. A ruling is expected by the end of June.

The law says that deported people who return to the country without documentation have no right to become lawful, permanent residents or citizens, regardless of how long they've been in the country or whether they are married to American citizens.

Gossett argued that it doesn't make sense to apply the law retroactively because it means Fernandez-Vargas and other established immigrants cannot become legal residents.

The toughest questions came from Justice Antonin Scalia, who at one point referred to people like Fernandez-Vargas, who retuned after being deported more than once, as "two-time losers." Fernandez-Vargas' wife, Rita, and 16-year-old son, Anthony, made the trip from Utah to attend the hourlong hearing. She said it was tough to listen to Scalia's stinging words.

"I wish they would have let us speak as a family so they would know what we've gone through," she said.

Fernandez, who lives in a tiny house near I-15 in west Ogden, sold her furniture and other possessions to make ends meet. She and her son have also gone without food at times. A family friend paid her way to Washington. She's working to pay him back.

"What about me? What about us? What about our family? Do we leave the United States and live in Mexico, a country we don't know?" a teary-eyed Fernandez said on the Supreme Court steps after the hearing.

"I don't lose hope or faith; I just pray every day that we'll make it."

Fernandez-Vargas, who was featured in a Deseret Morning News series last October, came to the United States as a teenager about 1970. He was deported three times, most recently about 1981. He settled in Ogden, married a U.S. citizen, fathered a child and owned a small trucking business. He paid taxes and, other than a few traffic tickets, had no brushes with the law.