STAR-BULLETIN / 2001
At home in Mililani last June, Efren Villaros displayed
a photo of his adopted son, Alfredo, and the paperwork
compiled in efforts to bring in the boy from the Philippines.

Mililani couple
lose adoption appeal

An immigration panel denies the
request to bring an adopted
son from the Philippines

---

By Rosemarie Bernardo
rbernardo@starbulletin.com

A federal immigration panel has dismissed the appeal of a Mililani couple who have been trying to bring their adopted son to Hawaii since 1995.

Efren and Emelita Villaros said they discovered their appeal was dismissed after calling the Immigration Court in Falls Church, Va. on Wednesday. They had just watched a news program on President Bush's consideration of a plan to grant amnesty to some 3 million illegal Mexican immigrants.

"I feel like my life stopped," Emelita Villaros said. "I was in shock. I just cried."

Rick Kenney, spokesman for the Executive Office of the Immigration Court and Board of Immigration Appeals, said the couple do not meet the legal requirements to bring the 7-year-old boy, Alfredo, to Hawaii.

"The child has to live with them (adoptive parents) for two years," he said. "It's unfortunate, but there really are no options."

Villaros was told his appeal was dismissed as of Aug. 24.

"They shut the door," he said. "I have no options left."

The couple, who are unable to conceive a child, adopted Alfredo from Emelita's sister, Rosemarie Rabanal-Dakis, on Nov. 10, 1995.

The U.S. Immigration & Naturalization Service denied the couple's petition to bring Alfredo to Hawaii in June 1997. Officials stated the petitioner needed to fulfill a two-year residency requirement with their adoptive son.

Villaros and his wife took turns visiting their son in the Philippines to accumulate the two-year requirement. The couple filed another petition, but they were again denied in November 2000.

Immigration officials said they considered Alfredo to be the Villaros' nephew and reiterated that their trips to spend time with him in the Philippines were considered visits that did not satisfy the two-year residency requirement.

Villaros said he and his wife plan to visit the district director for the INS on Wednesday to discuss whether they have any alternatives to bring their son to Hawaii.

"We'll keep trying," Emelita said.