Filipino girl born and raised in Japan faces deportation
Noriko Calderon is almost indistinguishable from the other girls at her junior high school. She was born in Japan, spent her whole life here, and can only speak Japanese. However, it was discovered two years ago that her parents were actually illegal immigrants, so Noriko may soon be deported from the only country she has ever known:
Calderon, who now goes to a junior high school run by the city of Warabi, Saitama Prefecture, said she had believed that she was Japanese until her 38-year-old mother, Sarah, was arrested in July 2006 for staying without a visa and the family was ordered to leave Japan.
Although the family filed a lawsuit in December 2006 demanding that the deportation order be rescinded, the demand was rejected and they are currently on a provisional release status.
Her parents “are keenly aware of their responsibility for their violating laws and staying illegally,” Watanabe said. “Yet we are seeking public understanding of their situation.”
Calderon’s father, Arlan, 36, came to Japan in May 1993, a year after her mother moved to Japan. Both of them entered the country on a different person’s passport.
Their fate will be determined next Thursday as immigration authorities will decide whether to take them into custody for deportation, extend their temporary permission to stay, or issue them with the special permission for residence as requested.
Noriko and her friends were able to get 2,300 people to sign a petition asking the Japanese government to change its mind about deporting her, and a lot of press coverage was given to today’s official submission of the petition.
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there are many many incredibly wonderful things about Japan. However, like any country, they also have a dark side. This poor girl had no control over what her parents did. She is just as Japanese as the friends she goes to class with. Doesn’t matter where you came from. If you are born in a country, raised in that country and have lived in that country your entire life, you are a citizen of that country and the government shouldn’t be able to take that right away from her.
I’m actually shocked by how many “Yes” votes this thing got. I remembered a similar situation with an Iranian girl who was born and raised in Japan, but her parents were illegal immigrants to Japan. People, when you enter a country without going through the proper protocols, it violates the idea that a nation-state can regulate itself and have retain the validity of their laws and institutions. I truly feel bad that this young girl will be deported from what she has considered her home since she was born. However, the parents should have realized this and they thought they could duck under the radar and enter Japan illegally. For those who voted Yes, would you willingly allow unchecked immigration that disregards your respetive nation’s laws and have people come in without doing all the necessary paperwork and procedure? I am a descedant of a 4th generation immigrant on my maternal side and a 2nd generation descendant on my paternal side. Why did my ancestors have to follow the rules when they came into the United States while others don’t? Are laws to be ignored and side-stepped?
“Why did my ancestors have to follow the rules when they came into the United States while others don’t?”
Because the rules of immigration 4 generations ago consisted of answering the question “Do you have TB?” and then signing your x on the dotted line.
Comparing the bureacratic nonsense and idiocy of today with even a couple generations ago, the hurdles are vastly more difficult [and stupid, imho] rendering any kind of comparison moot.
This article/graphic is extremely instructive for the US model – http://www.reason.com/blog/show/128999.html
As for my opinion on immigration, I think it should be like a game of tag – you get at least one hand or foot on home base, you get to stay.
Except there are people who jump these hurdles legally and go through the bureaucratic nonsense in good faith to insure a new place for their family. The people who at least make the effort to stick with the system should get first crack at the benefits of being part of the system.
I feel terrible for this girl, but her parents were the idiots here. Not only did they deny her her heritage, they lied to her and now she’s going to be ripped from the only life she knew.
This all comes down to the classic philosophical question of ethics: Would you steal a loaf of bread from a wealthy person to feed your family?
Yes, of course. Follow the rules, no matter how nonsensical or spitting in the face of reality they might be.
Certainly this girl, who was born and grew up in Japan, only knows Japan and only speaks Japanese… she clearly deserves deportation. For something her parents did. And it was truly heinous, you see. They crossed imaginary lines between one country and another without having the proper bureaucrat say that was acceptable.
We all know that the way to be a proper citizen is to be one who can successfully complete the proper paperwork. Because we have rules, don’t you see?
Sure, I’ll play along:
1) What kind of visa should she get if she stays in Japan?
2) What happens to her parents if she gets a visa and stays in the country?
3) What should the government do with the next case that pops-up involving similar circumstances?
4) How does the government determine who is eligible for the ‘exception’?
Believe it or not, but these rules that ’spit in the face of reality’ are in place to not only reduce illegal immigration BUT ALSO protect immigrants! As soon as you have a large group of people thinking they can come to Japan to get easy visas for their kids, you’ll also start to see widespread abuse of these immigrants by mafia organizations and businesses that don’t give a shit about their well-being.
This is the same problem we see in the US. Immigration is not a problem – illegal immigration is. You get businesses paying people maybe $2 an hour for their work, and those same people are not even eligible for any kind of insurance despite being exposed to horrible working conditions.
If you want to see illegal immigrants have better opportunities to becomes citizens, you need to create ways (I know, those evil laws) to make it happen. You can’t govern by exception because it just opens a can of worms that no one can control.
1) Special Circumstances visa.
2) Allowed to remain to raise her at least until she is of age, then possibly punitative deportation for a set period.
3) Same thing.
4) Born and raised in Japan. no cultural or emotional ties to official nationality nation.
This is NOT like Mexicans going to the US. For one thing, it’s a fuck of a lot harder to do what they did instead of sneaking across and dropping off an anchor baby. It’s also physically harder to get into the country – you can’t just walk across. Illegal immigration is a problem in Japan, but not on the scale it is in the US.
So long as the government never makes it an official policy there is no problem. What these people are going through and have gone through is not “easy.”
Your second and fourth points would probably solve this problem.
They would reassure conservatives that there won’t be a flood of illegal immigrants pouring into the country and they would allow this poor girl to continue her studies and not suffer because of her parents mistake.
By having the stipulation of born and raised in Japan, it also dramatically lowers the number of people eligible for this special consideration.
Exceptions need to be dealt with carefully, especially in a case such as this. Exceptions mean loopholes, and we all know that illegal immigrants would only suffer with the presence of gaping holes in laws.
How about getting the nationality of the country you are born in…?
I agree– she was born and raised in Japan. She knows nothing else. Also as a human being, she has a right to live wherever she wants on this earth. It is not the right of a politician to tell anyone where they can and cannot live.
She is Japanese, and she should be a japanese citizen. One day, when people have grown up a little bit, hopefully we will realize that this whole ‘nation’ thing is nonsense. This is Earth, not Japan and Korea and America and China, etc.
What fairy tale world are you from? Governments and their supporting populace can restrict or permit immigration since that’s within their rights and duties. Not some vague notion of humanitarianism. That “nonsense” you mentioned is what keeps people who share a language, religion, institutions, and culture in a unified body of recognition. National identity and nation-states can’t be displaced or ignored. I realize that this is not the girl’s fault, but her parents for sneaking into Japan. If she’s lucky, she might be allowed to stay for her studies, but her family will have to leave.
”National identity and nation-states can’t be displaced or ignored.”
Historically, they can and have been. Frequently. The “nation” as we know it now is a modern idea. As is, to a surprising extent, national identity.
Punish the child for the sins of the father then, hey?
“…would you willingly allow unchecked immigration that disregards your respetive nation’s laws and have people come in without doing all the necessary paperwork and procedure?”
Depends on the circumstance, but most likely yes. Are they drug traffickers? No, of course not. Are they poverty stricken? My humanity tells me they deserve a chance.
“Why did my ancestors have to follow the rules when they came into the United States while others don’t?”
Why did your ancestors get to come when others didn’t? For that matter, why did my ancestors get to move to America while others didn’t?
“Are laws to be ignored and side-stepped?”
Oh, how wonderful it must be to live in a world of extreme black and white contrast. I’ve got all of these shades confusing mine.
Why should the children be punished for the sins of the parents?
This girl’s life will be impossible if she is sent to the Phillipines. No friends, no language, no cultural knowledge.
I’m actually surprised at how many “No” votes this got. If any of you “No” voters were to take in a roommate, only to discover (after his arrest) that he was dealing drugs without your knowledge, would you raise a fuss if the police decided that you needed to be incarcertated as a result.
I realize that’s an extreme example but, come’on… if this girl’s parents really did keep their illegal status from her and she wasn’t the one who entered the country illegally, why punish her? There’s nothing in the rule of law that says someone who unwittingly associates with a law-breaker is guilty by association. What kind of message does that send? You better not associate with anyone else, lest they be later accused of a crime and you’re left hanging out to dry as a result.
Deport the parents? Sure… Maybe let one or both stay another few years until their daughter can survive on her own and then, out they go. But she was born in Japan and did *not* enter the country illegally. Where’s the crime?
The point is, though that she was BORN there.
That’s like saying if a child was born at a concert you should arrest them for not having bought a ticket.
The child should not be considered an illegal immigrant. If her parents entered Japan without the proper paperwork I could see a case for deporting them.
Laws are not to be side-stepped, no. But the way i took the question was, should SHE be allowed to stay? Not, should her entire family be allowed to stay. If The girl could somehow work out maybe if she could stay with a friends family or something similar, it would be alright. Maybe she should have the choice of whether or not she should have to leave the country with her parents? She could stay temporarily with someone while her parents go through the processes of getting their legal visa. But I do think that she should not be outcast because of what her parents did. She should be considered a legal citizen just as anyone else born and raised in Japan.
Get rid of her law breaking parents, but let her stay.
Make her an orphan? She’d be the most recent case of poison-gas suicide.
I’m also surprise how many people voted yes. When her parents entered Japan illegally they already know quite well the consequence they’ll have to face it they get caught. The girl is still quite young, it’s possible for her to go back to the philippines and live a normal live there.
How is it possible to live a normal life when she has never been to the Philipines in her life? As the article stated she only knows Japanese which probably means that she never learned about the Philipino culture or the language. As far as I’m concerned she is Japanese just like all of us are our own nationalities. It’s not as easy as you think to adapt to a new country. Maybe if it was America I would understand, but the Philippines is a homogenous country so there is not as much support for other cultures like there is in the US.
I’m surprised she never learned Tagalog when both her parents were from the Phillipines. Did they speak only Japanese at home? Did they ever tell her she was officially a foreigner, or was this part of a long-term scheme to get – well, precisely this: the nearest to an anchor baby you can get in Japan.
And I’m even more surprised at those that insist she be deported due to abstract notions of legality. Yes, illegal immigration is bad, m’kay? I’ve jumped through the hoops to be legal here, and the parents definitely need some sort of punishment. But a key aspect of the law is that you shouldn’t be punished for what other people did. It was her parents who were at fault, not her.
Technically, she didn’t even immigrate. I think her case should be eligible for a “special circumstantial grant”, but it’s hard to achieve ideals in a bureaucracy.
No, I’m pretty sure her situation with regards to her not learning Tagalog is similar to that of some Filipino families that have children that can’t speak or understand Tagalog. I’m filipino myself and I can only understand a few words, they probably didn’t feel the need to teach her because they didn’t take into account that their daughter would be forced back into the Philippines.
I voted yes because I kind of agree with some of the posters that it was beyond her realm of control and she is innocent. Though because I am an American and that’s how the policy is for American born children (i think), I’d have to lookup what Japan’s foreign policy is with regard to children born to illegal immigrants. Looking at the comments again, I assume Japan doesn’t have a similar policy.
Either way, interesting story, I hope they do consider her case and allow her to stay. Such a sudden and extreme change in a person’s lifestyle like that just for something that they could not control is well…hard i guess you can say, but at the same time the parents knew what could possibly happen…
If she was born in Japan, she’s a Japanese citizen. Nationality isn’t about the color of your skin or your parents skin, it’s all about the location your birth. She was born there.
Incorrect. You are assuming that all countries in the world have birthright citizenship. Japan and quite a few other countries do not grant citizenship based on location of birth.
“Nationality isn’t about the color of your skin or your parents skin…”
Correct. It’s about the blood of your parents when it’s based on a jus sanguinis system.
And in fact despite what some think, jus sanguinis is the norm, not the exception. But since most of us from from jus soli countries, we’re not really used to that.
Redtoblack – thanks for your input. I still find it strange that the parents didn’t speak Tagalog in the home to each other. Or if they did, she din’t pick it up. If your parents are both Filipino, then why don’t you speak Tagalog?
That is exactly what I was thinking. Both parents are Filipino, and Pilipino would be their native language (Tagalog is the dialect spoken around Manila, it is not actually the national language although Pilipino is largely based on Tagalog). I really don’t see them speaking only Japanese around the home, listening to only Japanese music, watching only Japanese TV and videos. This girl may be much better at Japanese than at Pilipino (or Tagalog or Visayan or whatever her parents speak), probably even better than her parents, but I have never heard of the child of immigrants being only able to speak the language of their parents’ new home. In the US the legend was always 3 generations – the parents would learn enough English to get by, the kids would be bilingual, and the grandkids would speak English only.
And even if her parents did make a concerted effort to speak Japanese as much as possible, I somehow doubt they sat around at dinner every night eating only nikujaga or okonomiyaki or yakizakana. This girl has had to have had a lot of exposure to Filipino culture all her life. Being yanked out of Japan and deported to the Philippines would be stressful on her, for certain, but she would not be sent to some totally alien world as some seem to think she would.
Most countries allow people who are born and raised there to stay there.
I am sure she knows Tagalog despite saying she only knows Japanese, but she would not feel at home in Phils after being raised in Japan.
she is japanese thats all .
As far as I’m concerned, If you’re able to survive in another country you should be given rights to live there as a citizen. Why do we have to be so paranoid and guarding of borders anyways? Why do we have to insist on being guarded “nations” rather than just one of many locations to travel and live on the earth itself? If they want to be citizens of Japan let them be citizens of Japan!
“As far as I’m concerned, If you’re able to survive in another country you should be given rights to live there as a citizen.”
You are leaving out one very important part – so long as you are willing to adapt to your host country and not insist your host country adapt to you. If you are willing to do that, then as the Minister of Immigration for Overthinkerland, welcome.
She must know enough Tagalong to live in Philippine if not perfect. The thing is she can’t feel at home culturally nor economically in Philippine.
The authority is afraid of that behind this case there are much more similar cases and tax payers money will be used for them. But I guess she could probably continue living in Japan if someone pays for her living in Japan.
Think of it as a redistribution of resources. The Philippines needs more Japanese speakers to work in their girlie bars. She will definitely find her place within Filipino society.
Worry not!!
For those slightly less jaded, who want to see a happy ending. If it pleases you, think that Japan is losing a wonderful resources.
And Japanese wonder why foreigners don’t bother learning the Japanese language. We are all eventually being deported, so why bother making life easier on the immigration officials.
I have a lot of sympathy for Noriko. If the world could be fair, it would only be fair to allow her to stay; the wrongdoing was not hers, she has spent her whole life in Japan, and the deceit of her parents over her roots is wrong on many levels.
However, fairness has to be considered in the context of the “bigger picture”. If Noriko is allowed to stay, it will send a green light to anyone seeking a better life for their children (if not for themselves) to travel to Japan, have children there, and rest assured that even if they themselves are deported better opportunities will already have been secured for their offspring.
With Noriko’s education to date, it must be likely that she could return to Japan in the future and perhaps seek citizenship if she still wants to. There are natural consequences to Noriko’s parents actions, both for them and for Noriko. It is when we start to intervene in consequences that people cease accepting responsibility for their actions.
“However, fairness has to be considered in the context of the “bigger picture”. If Noriko is allowed to stay, it will send a green light to anyone seeking a better life for their children (if not for themselves) to travel to Japan, have children there, and rest assured that even if they themselves are deported better opportunities will already have been secured for their offspring.”
Yeah, it’s almost too easy. Forge documents to sneak into the country, convince a Japanese employer to give you an undocumented job, get your spouse pregnant and have her give birth at a Japanese hospital, then stay under the radar until your child gets into middle school. Keep your eye out for any plump-bellied South East Asians in the next few years…”We’re on to you, pregnant non-Japanese!”
“said she had believed that she was Japanese until her 38-year-old mother, Sarah, was arrested in July”
So she never noticed her surname was Calderon or that her parents spoke Japanese with an accent?? Well, I suppose when you are 12-13 you don’t necessarily connect these things up.
Anyway clearly she should be allowed to stay, it would be wrong to punish her for the crimes of her parents.
“Well, I suppose when you are 12-13 you don’t necessarily connect these things up.”
Either that, or she is exceptionally dense. Didn’t she ever think it was odd when the other kids in her class started picking on her for being a gaijin? I mean, that’s rampant here in xenophobic Japan, right?
What is even more amazing to me is it took the authorities 14 years to realize the mother was an illegal when some people supposedly get stopped on their bikes and carded every week or more right in front of their homes, by the same cops over and over!
Why is it possible in Japan to charge person A with a crime when it was persons B and C that commited it?
Because deportation is not a punishment for a crime.
If you do not have the right to stay in a country, you just have to leave the country.
But not being allowed back in again IS a punishment.
She can come back if she gets a valid visa.
Japanese government is reluctant to issue visas to immigration violators for 5 years. Since she stayed in Japan without a valid visa, she is not likely to come back for 5 years if deported.
Though, legally speaking, such consequence is not a criminal punishment. She can only blame her parents.
By the way, is the philipines jus sanguinis country?
“Japanese government is reluctant to issue visas to immigration violators for 5 years.”
Exactly. This is the punishment. Clock it in legal finery if you like (and let’s not mention the hefty fines) but it’s still a punishment.
Why would she need a visa to stay in the country she was born in?
Because she does not have citizenship. Google “jus sanguinis”
To deport her, Japan must convince the Filipino government that this girl is Filipino. The Japanese government doesn’t get to tell the Philipines “This girl belongs to you!!!”. That’s a decision for the Philipines to make.
According to this page http://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E8%A1%80%E7%B5%B1%E4%B8%BB%E7%BE%A9 in Wikipedia, the Philipines is a jus sanguinis country. She is a Filipina.
the law applies to all, otherwise none at all
i’m really saddened by Noriko’s situation as I am Filipino-Chinese myself. If this was the US she would have been given at the very least permanent residence already. I think the US system is more logical since the person will always have special attachment to the country he/she was born in.
Sadly that’s not the case in Japan as Japan is still quite homogeneous. I have stayed there and there’s a slight air of the country wanting to avoid letting foreigners into the country.
However I still think the Japanese system is correct. Many people go into the US, give birth there and kaboom, instant citizenship to your baby (a friend of mine did this) and sooner or later the parent’s citizenship will follow. The american law is quite abused already. If japan departs thousand of illegal immigrants anually then the same should be applied, otherwise it’s stupid to exempt one person from the law just by a few signatures.
“I have stayed there and there’s a slight air of the country wanting to avoid letting foreigners into the country.”
How is this manifest?
Tell you what, in terms of an air of not wanting to let foreigners in, the US is the worst I have experienced – and that was just as a tourist.
Why not apply to none at all? I still just don’t get people’s insistence on locking up their borders like this. Let anyone who wants it get citizenship after signing some brief paperwork. Why the hell not? People should be free to move and be citizens wherever they want in the world, it’s the way I feel about it!
I will be honest with you guys. The Japanese immigration law need to be changed. That is so ridiculous that a girl born and raised in Japan is at risk of being deported to other country. Despite of her parents mistake, the Japanese government should take in consideration her life and protect her rights. The Japanese constitution law should be revised and many things need to be changed.
1- Illegal immigrants should be deported when he or she arrive in Japan.
2- If the illegal immigrant has babies in Japan, the government should take in consideration such fact, such as
A – Giving a special permission to the child of illegal immigrant that has as a first language or unique language Japanese and fine his or her parents for such error. At any stance, his ou her parents should be punished in any other way without breaking the link between parents and children.
B- Give the rights for immigrants who has babies in Japan to live here safety. Give to the children the Japanese citizenship as long their parents want to live in Japan and keep the rules of Japan, as well as helping the country to improve the society.
C- Give equal rights for both foregners and Japanese Nationals. According to Sach, without equality, countries cannot develop more than they can do.
C-
“1- Illegal immigrants should be deported when he or she arrive in Japan.”
Difficult for all those visa overstayers. But that is exactly what the fingerprinting is designed to pick up – or rather, those that have been expelled once and are trying a different name.
Parents should be deported, but she should be given a choice. Either she can follow her parents to the Philippines. (Notice I didn’t say “go back” to the philippines, because that’s not where she’s from. Only her parents are.). If she decides to stay, she will either have to find a foster family that’ll take care of her. If, for some reason, she’s not able to find a foster family that’ll take care of her, then she’d have to be raised in an orphanage.She should be given a choice.
“If, for some reason, she’s not able to find a foster family that’ll take care of her, then she’d have to be raised in an orphanage.”
Who will pay for it? If you really care and if you live in Japan, you can adopt her so that she can live in Japan.
If Noriko is allowed to stay in Japan, then why not others? A flood of other cases would ask for the same leniency. For those that scoff at national law in the interest of humanitarian benovelence, then why don’t we consider this. Let’s say we accept all refugees from war-torn nations as well as those who are in dire economic straits to the United States. If we make a conservative estimate to how many people that accept this, let’s say 50 million. Now these 50 million people will most likely be unable to speak or read English, understand American civics and its institutions, their children will receive free education and medical benefits. Who pays for all of this? The American taxpayer. What happens after this? We become a 3rd World Nation. This is what happens when immigration is not done under official bureaucracy. People cannot just pick up and go to another country without legitimate channels.
I notice a considerable amount of Japan bashers commenting on this news blog. The Japanese are indeed a xenophobic society, but every nation is legally bound to deport those who don’t follow their immigration procedures. Immigration is not a right, it is a privilege. Borders are not invisible lines to be circumvented. In that case, nation-states no longer exist with that sort of thinking. And Japanese courts have allowed some special residence status to illegal immigrant families, pending on their situation. Like this story about an Iranian family in the Japan Times, http://search.japantimes.co.jp/cgi-bin/nn20070513f2.html. If the girl and her family are lucky, they might be as fortunate. But keep in mind, people, a nation that does not enforce its own laws INCLUDING the enforcement against illegal immigration, will have people ignore its other laws as well.
Another post that is really about US illegal immigration and not about Japan. The old “if we let those damn foreigners in then we’ll end up like Somalia” attack. First of all, what possible basis do you claim “a flood” from? You are also setting up a strawman by going on about all these foreigners flooding into the US when the whole point about this situation is that it this is a very unusual case. And of course if the US did accept all these people then it would be done officially – they would be legal, working through the system.
And I might point out, too, that these poor US taxpayers will include the newly-arrived 50 million of course.
“In that case, nation-states no longer exist with that sort of thinking.”
Interesing concept….
they would never allow this, if they did others will follow suit… sad for the girl but is her parents fault.
Never say never. There is a visa called “Teijusha visa” that is granted to foreigners for humanitarian reasons. There are a lot of cases where Teijusha visas were granted to children of illegal immigrants in Japan.
But I think the chances are slim for her to get Teijusha visa, because the visa violation of her parents is very serious and planned, unlike overstayers who are likely to get Teijusha visas.
I bet most of the people who said no to this issue is either living a decent life or a wealthy life. I am pretty sure if the Filipino family was well off they would never migrate to Japan. It is the choice to stay and probably die or migrate and maybe have a better life that pushes all these people to do this. I say let the girl stay. Isn’t Japan yelling about the decline of the younger population. If you ask me, this is what Japan is going to ultimately do if it wants to survive.
Japan needs young people. So even if it is necessary to deport her now, the Japanese government should smooth the way for her to come back in the near future. But no matter what decision the Japanese government makes, her difficult situation is entirely the fault of her parents, not the Japanese government. Her parents did the wrong thing. They are to blame.
i hope japanprobe makes an update to what finally happens to this girl.
Btw, has anyone read “into the country of standing men” by rey ventura? http://globalnation.inquirer.net/diaspora/diaspora/view_article.php?article_id=70214
… BASTARDS!
Poor girl. I can’t see how anyone would make her leave. She is Japanese. Just because her parent are illegal immigrants doesn’t change the fact she grew up in Japan. She has way more in common with a Japanese person of the same age. It just would be sadistic to send her to a country she doesn’t know. Sounds like the law needs to be altered. She was born in Japan. That’s all it takes to be a citizen in some countries.
And yet, similar problemｓ arise in those countries.
And that is also similarly heartless.
I can but put it into D&D terms.
It is pure lawful evil.
why is this a question? if your born in a country and grow up there; you’re a citizen of that country. how xenophobic can people possibly be? this is shocking. the girl is Japanese. she should even be allowed to become the prime minister of japan someday (but i doubt that will happen)
Legally she is not a citizen. Google “jus sanguinis”.
What Bruce said. This is not the US, nor any of the relatively small minority of nations that assign citizenship based on birth within that nation’s territory. Only children of Japanese citizens are given Japanese citizenship at birth.
STAY UNTIL JAN 14 GRANTED
http://headlines.yahoo.co.jp/videonews/jnn/20081127/20081127-00000068-jnn-soci.html
Noriko and her family have been allowed to remain until the 14th of Jan while the Ministry considers their case. This article, btw, is very sympathetic to them. It also indicates that if Noriko had been a little bit older when her mother was arrested then residency would be, if not perhaps automatic, certainly a lot easier.
In some countries, such as Japan, being born there does not automatically equal a grant of citizenship. Some countries in this world grant citizenship not based upon place of birth but on the nationality on the parents. In the eyes of Japanese law the girl is not Japanese but inherited her parents’ citizenship. This is an unfortunate situation and how innocent children became stateless individuals and are subject to the whim of an uncaring bureaucracy throughout the world.
Just because its how it works in the United States does not mean that is how the rest of the world automatically functions.
As of today’s date, April 14,2009.
Noriko’s parents are deported back to the Philippines, and there still seeking help to go back probably by next year to let them visit their daughter who is now staying with her Aunt in Japan.
I feel sorry for them but you should follow legal ways of being a residents of one country. and the lesson to this story is Just do the right thing, especially if there’s children involved.
Actually, the Philippines is one of the least homogenous countries in Asia. Noriko not being born or raised there would not be a huge deal with her being accepted by the Filipino people. The question really is, how Noriko herself would accept the Philippines.