Al_Naipo's Blog

Custody case of Long Beach boy complicates deportation of illegal immigrant

Email Picture
Stefano Paltera / For The Times
BONDING: Carlos Alvarado plays basketball with his son, Michael. He and the boy’s mother have joint legal custody.
The case is a clash between rulings by a California family court judge and a federal immigration court. Such cases may grow.
By Anna Gorman, Los Angeles Times Staff Writer
June 30, 2008
On Friday nights, Michael Campo throws his clothes and homework into his backpack and waits at his mom's Long Beach apartment for the phone to ring. When it does, 10-year-old Michael runs downstairs and jumps into his dad's car.

Thus begins the weekly ritual familiar to millions of American children in split families who bounce back and forth between mother and father.

But Michael's situation has an added wrinkle that threatens to derail the custody agreement and his weekends with Dad: Carlos Alvarado is an illegal immigrant involved in deportation proceedings.

Alvarado's case raises complex questions that will increasingly face both state and federal judges: What happens when immigration law and family law conflict? When a parent is here illegally, does a federal deportation order automatically trump a state custody order? Should child custody issues be considered in immigration cases?

A Los Angeles immigration judge ruled that Alvarado could stay in the country, determining that he wouldn't be able to continue his family court-ordered visitation and child support payments if deported.

Because Alvarado shares custody of his U.S.-cit