ST. CLAIR SHORES MAN DEPORTED OVER 10-YEAR-OLD POT CHARGES

All-But-American Man Deported After Trip to Mexico

Stupidity is not a crime. But stupidity is a deportable offense.

Case in point: Charlie Castillo was born in Canada, the son of
Maltese immigrants. The family came to Detroit when he was 1 year old
and since then Castillo has spent his entire life in the metro area.

Castillo, 54, was as American as they come. He spent 33 years working
in the factories of General Motors. He bought a little house in the
suburbs and raised three children there. He also was convicted a
decade ago for growing two pot plants in his yard and possessing a
quarter-pound of pot in his house. Both felonies.

Castillo is not an American, technically. He never bothered to apply
for citizenship and so lived his life as a permanent resident alien.
According to immigration law, Castillo's marijuana convictions make
him akin to a narcotics trafficker. And narcotics traffickers are
supposed to be deported.

But Immigration agents never bothered with Castillo because Castillo
was small fry. Immigration authorities do not bother with a lot of
people in the United States. There are approximately 12 million
illegal immigrants living in the United States, according to a 2008
study by the Pew Research Center.

And in many big cities like Los Angeles, the police are prohibited
from contacting immigration officials no matter how heinous a crime
the person commits even if it is known to local authorities that the
person is in the country illegally.

For the marijuana charges, Castillo was allowed pay fines, told to
keep his nose clean and returned to his ranch house in St. Clair Shores.

'It Was Stupid'

But then in 2006, Castillo took his wife to Cancun, Mexico, figuring
the sun would be good for her multiple sclerosis. This was the post
9/11 world and when Castillo landed in Metro Airport he was
red-flagged and charged with violation of immigration law.

"I didn't know," said Castillo who was calling from Windsor, looking
out on the river, dreaming of coming home to Detroit. "I figured I
had paid my dues and that I was all right. It was stupid to go to
Mexico. I was stupid to grow pot and it was stupid that I never
bothered to apply for citizenship. But I'm an American. I don't know
anything else."

It took more than three years, but Castillo was ordered deported in
October by an immigration judge. He was arrested on Dec. 15, spent
the Christmas holiday behind bars and then dumped on Dec. 30 in
Windsor by immigration officers. Castillo was dressed in a pair of
thin loafers and a windbreaker and had $11 in his pocket.

He has been bouncing from motel to boarding house and paying for it
with remittances from his wife.

Castillo may never return to America, the immigration judge said.
This, despite his sick wife and a young grandchild with autism living
back home in America.

"I ain't the smartest guy, never was," said Castillo, near tears. "I
did a dumb thing when I was younger. I liked smoking pot. But now I
can never go home. I had this crushing feeling on New Year's Eve. A
newcomer in a new country. I just wanted to start walking across the
Ambassador Bridge and jump."

When immigration laws were overhauled in 1996, they were designed to
root out the most violent and dangerous and sentencing discretion was
removed from the hands of judges, immigration experts say. Even so,
overburdened immigration agents often turned a blind eye to the less
serious offenders.

But in the new super-charged world of jihadists and underwear
bombers, people like Castillo are finding there is increasingly less
tolerance for even minor offenders of immigration law.

"We see a lot of cases like this and there is no gray area -- he's
out," said Melanie Goldberg, a Detroit-based immigration lawyer who
is familiar with Castillo's case.

"Here is a guy who was born in Canada, but except for the few first
months of his life, he's spent his whole life here. He put in his
years at General Motors, retired with a pension. He has a wife with
multiple sclerosis. He has a grandchild he is supporting. He never
committed a violent crime and yet he has to wave to his family across
the Detroit River."

She went on: "You have to ask yourself: Is this the type of person
we're trying to keep out of the country?"

It should be noted that if Castillo and his wife were registered
users of medicinal marijuana and were caught today with the same
amount of pot he was convicted of growing and possessing a decade
ago, then he would be well within the legal limit.

Nothing Left to Do

Castillo wrote letters to the White House to no avail. He contacted
his congressman. Nothing. Immigration authorities confirmed that they
never pursued Castillo until he was caught at the airport. But since
he was, there is nothing left to do.

"People like this are here as guests," said Khaalid Walls, spokesman
for the Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency in Detroit. "When
they break certain laws, that privilege is revoked."

And so Castillo wanders the streets of Windsor, a stranger in a
strange land, wondering what the next chapter of life will bring him.
He is ineligible for Canadian welfare benefits because of his GM
pension. But he is unwilling to spend the pension money because his
family back in America depends on it.

"Maybe I can swim back," he said. "Maybe they won't find me. But if
they do so what? Being here is prison enough."