IMMIGRANT FACES DEPORTATION FOR MEDICAL MARIJUANA

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) -- A Mexican with legal residency in the United States is
facing deportation for possession of what he calls medical marijuana.

Ismael Valenzuela of Sacramento and his cancer-afflicted wife, Mae, said she
bought two pounds of marijuana in 1994 and planned to use it as a treatment
for pain. Before a deportation hearing Monday, Valenzuela said he took the
rap for his ailing wife, an American citizen, when he pleaded guilty in 1995.

Now the 37-year-old truck driver says that he has paid his debt to society,
and that it would be unduly harsh on his five dependent children to force
him to return to Mexico.

"Is this the fairness the government is always talking about on the news? Is
this what they are talking about? Is this what America is about?" he said
Monday, his deeply etched face breaking into a frown. Valenzuela's
predicament stems from the federal Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant
Responsibility Act of 1996, which eliminated waivers for legal immigrants
facing deportation for felonies. Previously, judges could grant waivers when
deportation would hurt U.S. citizens, such as Valenzuela's children.

The law's impact was magnified by the Immigration and Naturalization
Service's decision, in March, to focus on deporting criminals.

"It's a tough law but that's the law that the people of the United States
put in place," said INS spokeswoman Sharon Rummery.

The nonprofit Immigrant Legal Resource Center, which gathered Valenzuela,
his wife and their children for Monday's press conference, is using his case
to bolster their call for a more lenient law. A judge on Monday postponed
making a decision in the case for 90 days.

"Current immigration law has resulted in separating thousands of families,"
said Mark Silverman, the group's attorney. "This law was not an
anti-immigration law but an anti-family law."

Rep. Barney Frank, D-Mass., is sponsoring legislation to restore flexibility
to the deportation process. He said the government should draw a distinction
between people who commit "particularly heinous or violent crimes" and those
who have "made mistakes" but are productive members of society.

Valenzuela's legal troubles began in 1994, when Sacramento police got an
anonymous tip he had 60 kilograms of cocaine.

Valenzuela allowed police to search his home and trucks, even lending them
tools to remove panels in his van. He claims he did not know his wife had
stashed pot on the van's battery.

The pot was mostly leaves, Mrs.Valenzuela said. Marijuana leaves have
nowhere near the intoxicating effect of the plant's buds.

Mrs. Valenzuela used the leaves to make compresses she used to relieve pain
from thyroid cancer.

When he pleaded guilty in 1995, a judge told Valenzuela his plea might
affect his immigration status. Valenzuela concedes he "wasn't paying
attention," but says his attorney should have explained the potential
consequences.

He was given an eight-month suspended prison sentence and ordered to give 90
days of community service. His conviction came a year before California
voters approved medical use of marijuana.

Now, a new attorney is seeking to overturn Valenzuela's conviction on the
grounds that he did not get enough advice from his attorney. The original
attorney, David Weiner of Cameron Park, denied the accusation, saying he
told Valenzuela he could be deported.

If the effort fails, immigration attorney Christopher Yun plans to appeal
the deportation order on the grounds that Valenzuela was convicted before
the stricter immigration law passed.

Valenzuela has considered returning illegally, said his wife. She opposes
that plan because it "would not give us any peace." She said she would not
move to Mexico because of her cancer.

One option the couple has discussed, she said, is divorcing. "I don't want
that," she said, and burst into tears.