CaribWorldNews, NEW YORK, N.Y., Weds. July 23, 2008: Since 2001, the Salmon family of Jamaica, West Indies, has been living in limbo. The head of the household, Roxroy, is unable to work and his wife and three kids are afraid that with a stroke of a judge`s pen he`ll be dispatched to Jamaica, the place where he was born but hasn`t been for more than three decades.

The Salmons are one of the thousands of families affected by the U.S.` increasingly harsh immigration policies.

`I don`t want to leave my family to go back to a place I know nothing about,` Roxroy Salmon told CWN yesterday. The 52-year-old has lived in the U.S. since he was 21. Salmon hasn`t been able to work since his residency here was challenged in 2001 over drug charges he was slapped with (he says unfairly) more than two decade before.

The resulting loss of income forced him and his wife and three kids to live in a homeless shelter for a while.

Now, with the help of city and community support, the Salmons, who live in Brooklyn, have an apartment and can otherwise take care of themselves. But because of the drug convictions from over 20 years ago, he now faces removal proceedings because of the 1996 immigration rule change that made greencard holders who commit crimes deportable.

For the Salmons, the uncertainty is taking an emotional toll.

`It affect them bad,` said Salmon, referring to his son Elijah, 12, and daughters Nyasia, 15, and Natasha, 18. For a while Salmon was worried it was affecting Elijah`s grades. But after a school transfer, Elijah is `doing good now,` said Salmon, who made the latest in a series of far-apart immigration court appearances on Tuesday.

His case was postponed until January.

While dealing with their own woes, the Salmons help others with theirs. They volunteer with anti-deportation organizations Families For Freedom and the New Sanctuary Movement. The father and  children speak at rallies and other events. Salmon makes the rounds of churches, synagogues and other places of worship to convince them to act as immigrant sanctuaries. So far his efforts have given eight families safe havens. And despite his troubles, Salmon remains optimistic.

`I feel positive about it,` he said of his case.  `That`s what I`m relying on right now - keeping the faith that this would work out for me and others in the same predicament.`

About 1.6 million children and spouses have been separated from family members since the 1996 law that mandated an immigrant be deported for even minor breaches of the law and regardless of when the breach took place, a report by the Human Rights Watch found last year.

Recently U.S. immigration officials have been ratcheting up the number of immigrant apprehensions and deportations. Between October and July, more than 3,000 people were deported to CARICOM countries, the largest numbers going to Haiti and Jamaica, CWN has learnt. Many of these deportations leave American-citizen children and spouses deprived of financial and emotional support. Even before separation, families like the Salmons` struggle to survive.
- By E.P. Andrews/CWNN/NY