Categories
Blog

How Justin Bieber Got Deported

Never Say Never (Justin Bieber song)
Never Say Never (Justin Bieber song) (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Or actually, he didn’t.

Canadian teenage pop sensation, Justin Bieber, appears to be suffering from “affluenza.” But if he isn’t careful, he will be on a one-way ticket to Canada.

Last night, Bieber was charged with resisting arrest and a DUI after illegally participating in street-racing upon leaving a strip club. Police reports also show that he had consumed alcohol and marijuana, and he faces up to 6 months in jail. Earlier, Bieber’s mansion was raided after he allegedly damaged his neighbor’s home, causing $20,000 worth of damage , which constitutes a felony crime in California. He also allegedly assaulted a man in Hamptons last year but escaped conviction.

People have been arrested, convicted and deported for far less. At least 1,200 people, including lawful permanent residents, are deported from the U.S. daily on far lesser charges. In fact, Credo Mobilize is running a campaign right now about Miguel Morales Patzan, an undocumented worker, who was jailed for 10 days for driving without a license, and now faces deportation.

Ideally, Justin Bieber should not serve as an example to enforce draconian criminal and immigration laws. He is a young man who shot to stardom overnight, and has faced immense pressures as a result. He is also berated and derided as a “faggot” for his infamous allegedly lesbian haircuts. But alas, Bieber will be just another case of rich, white privilege, if he manages to avoid deportation, again.

The teen superstar is here on a temporary visa, an O-1, which is usually reserved for foreign nationals with extraordinary ability. There are several ways in which he can be subject to deportation. While he is in jail, ICE could place a hold on him for his DUI charge in Florida, and take Bieber into custody even before he is convicted of any charges. If Bieber is prosecuted and convicted of the felony charge in California for egging his neighbor’s home, depending on the prison term, Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) can initiate deportation proceedings, and possibly deport him to Canada.

Had Bieber been a brown kid, he would’ve been well on his way out: arrested, charged, prosecuted, convicted and deported from the country before he could utter another lyric. Worse, if he was black like Richard Sherman, he would be berated as a “thug” or shot dead. But Bieber has white millionaire credentials so it is more than likely that he will continue to live in the U.S. for now.

Avatar photo

By Prerna Lal

Prerna Lal is undocumented, unafraid and unapologetic. As a founder of DreamActivist, Prerna helped to create a robust network of highly-organized and diverse undocumented youth with digital engagement capacity. Since then, her model of organizing has been used by immigration organizations across the country to end deportations. Her work and commentary for immigrant rights has been featured in newspapers such as The New York Times, USA Today, CNN, and magazines such as the US News and World Report, as well as international outlets in a dozen countries.

Prerna currently resides in Washington D.C. with her same-sex U.S. citizen partner, and has been a Board Director at Immigration Equality, an organization that works on issues around LGBT immigrants, since 2010. She is currently working on publishing her first book.

11 replies on “How Justin Bieber Got Deported”

This article is extremely convoluted and attempts to make racial issues where there are none. The racist reactions of many to Sherman’s (who I didn’t previously know of as I’m not a big sports fan but found to be very intelligent and well spoken when portions of his interview were aired on Piers Morgan’s program – just one of many examples of positive press he has received in the aftermath of the post game interview not to mention new endorsement deals) post game rant have nothing whatsoever to do with our nation’s immigration laws and the line about him being ‘shot dead’ is just bizarre (is this meant to be a reference to Trayvon Martin? One kid in a country of over 300 million who was killed by a racist vigilante? What does that have to do with this issue? Don’t blacks commit far more murders – relative to their percentage of the population – than people of other races and aren’t most blacks killed by other blacks? Are wealthy black performers regularly getting offed by racist vigilantes?)

In the article it is claimed that “At least 1,200 people, including lawful permanent residents, are deported from the U.S. daily on far lesser charges.” and that statement is immediately followed with “In fact, Credo Mobilize is running a campaign right now about Miguel Morales Patzan, an undocumented worker, who was jailed for 10 days for driving without a license, and now faces deportation.”

Well it is not a fact that the person referenced is being deported for driving without a license (an offense which – as with the case of DUI – is not a deportable offense) but because they are in the country illegally and therefore subject to deportation regardless.

There’s not much else to say…random unrelated issues are conflated here to make racial issues where there are none (class may be another story) and lines are blurred to obfuscate the difference between how LEGAL immigrants are treated versus those who did not immigrate to this country by legal means (or overstayed their visas), more people have been allowed to legally immigrate from Mexico than any other country and our nation’s immigration laws aren’t based on race.

Exactly. jeremysd is intentionally promoting confusion and falsehood. I’m 99% sure he is a white person and it is obvious from his comment that he is deliberately practicing racism.

He needs to be treated as any other, race, stardom and such should have no importance in the case he is a menace to those around him.

Comments are closed.