Old crime haunts
reformed immigrantA Philippines native faces
deportation over felony
convictions dating from 1996
Stuck in legal limbo, Christopher M. Ulep, 28, will spend the New Year behind bars, unsure when he will be released or where he eventually will end up.
He wants to return to Maui, where he held two jobs, attended apprenticeship school, helped support his mother and younger sister, and, by all accounts, had successfully turned his life around after serving two months on Oahu for several felony convictions in 1996.
The truth is, Ulep, a resident alien from the Philippines, should have been deported back then. His drug and firearm convictions were deportable offenses. But circumstances conspired to give him a second chance.
It was a reprieve he used well, according to counselors, colleagues, relatives and others who know him. Ulep, they say, has become a contributing, law-abiding member of society, defying great odds to leave behind a troubled past of gangs and drugs.
Earlier this year, however, that past suddenly caught up to him.
Immigration authorities arrested Ulep in March and, nearly seven years after the fact, began deportation proceedings. For them, it didn't matter how he used those seven years. The law is the law, and it says Ulep, convicted of an aggravated felony, must be deported, according to federal authorities.
Since June, Ulep has been confined at the federal detention center in Honolulu. He is contesting his deportation but must remain imprisoned until the courts decide his fate, a process that could last one to two years.
To Ulep's supporters, his case underscores a serious shortcoming in a system that penalizes a resident alien who ran afoul of the law years ago, made amends and has since become a productive member of the community.
Those who know Ulep applaud his work habits, his dedication to his family and his willingness to help others.
"If you have any sense of right and wrong and what's just, this case seems to beg for reform," said Sid Rosen, chief executive of Adult Friends for Youth, a nonprofit group that helps at-risk youth. The organization began working with Ulep when he was 15, about two years after he came to Hawaii.
Rosen and colleague Deborah Spencer, who has known Ulep for more than a decade, say he demonstrated great strength of character in overcoming an environment in which many of his peers in Kalihi were involved with drugs, gangs and violence.
Ulep, at age 19, was arrested twice in 1995 and convicted the following year for possession of an eighth of an ounce of crystal methamphetamine, promoting a dangerous drug and possession of a prohibited firearm, according to court records. Once convicted, Ulep did everything the court required of him, including completing a drug rehab program, and eventually moved to Maui to help his mother and sister escape a life of poverty, Rosen and Spencer said. He was the family's main income provider.
"That's what's so sad and tragic about this case," Rosen said. "Here is someone who really overcame his environment, did what the system required, was rehabilitated, has committed no other offenses, got a good job, and is respected by his peers and employer. Essentially, his crime now is he's an alien."
But immigration officials say they have no choice but to detain and deport Ulep.
In the 1990s, Congress eliminated virtually all discretion authorities had once a resident alien was convicted of an aggravated felony (generally, most drug offenses or crimes resulting in sentences of at least a year).
Driving the immigration reform was criticism that hundreds of aliens guilty of serious crimes were on the lam in cities across the country. Today, the law mandates that such felons be imprisoned while their deportations are processed, even if appeals are pending.
"We have a responsibility to ensure they are detained until a final decision is made," said Virginia Kice, a spokeswoman for U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
Regarding Ulep's case, Kice said, "The fact is he committed some very serious crimes before he came around."
Kice could not explain why Ulep wasn't immediately deported following his felony convictions.
Ulep's brother, Domingo Jr., was arrested as part of the same 1995 drug case and was sent back to the Philippines following his convictions.
Ulep said he was never told why he wasn't deported in the 1990s. His current lawyer, Ronald Oldenburg, and his former lawyer, Ramon Ferrer, also didn't know.
When Ulep was convicted in December 1996, a state judge sentenced him to time already served -- two months in jail -- and placed him on 10 years probation. Ulep also was ordered to complete the three-year drug rehab program, perform 200 hours of community service, and find a job or go to school.
Ulep said he did everything the court ordered and thought he successfully had put his troubled past behind him.
But immigration authorities contacted him in March and asked him to report to the Maui police station. They didn't say why.
When he got there, he was questioned, jailed and told he would be deported.
Asked why the immigration agency resurrected Ulep's case after nearly seven years, Kice said the agency "got some information" about a Maui felon subject to deportation and began looking into the case. She wouldn't elaborate on how her department got the information or whether it was provided by a tipster.
But earlier this year, the federal government's national database was enhanced to include millions of arrest and conviction records, some decades old, of resident aliens. Even data on minor infractions now are more readily accessible, resulting in an increase in deportations and denials of entrance into the United States.
Ulep hired Ferrer to fight the deportation proceedings, but an immigration judge ruled that Ulep must be sent back to the Philippines. An appeals board upheld the ruling despite pleas from family, friends, colleagues, former counselors and others, all of whom spoke highly of Ulep's work ethic and character.
"He's one of the best workers we've had," said Ray Hinojosa, a foreman at the Maui construction company where Ulep was employed. "I can't believe this has happened. He's paid his dues. I don't think it's justice at all."
Ulep's mother, Virginia Ulep, 52, said she's sick with worry that her son will be sent back to the Philippines, depriving her family of the critical financial and emotional support he provided. "I hope and pray they can release him," she said.
Ferrer said the immigration judge told Ulep that because of his drug convictions, he has no possible relief for contesting deportation.
Ulep unsuccessfully appealed the immigration rulings to the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals. The appeals court ruled it lacked jurisdiction.
But his new lawyer, Oldenburg, is trying to get the 9th Circuit to reconsider its decision, arguing that Ulep was denied due process because he was inadequately advised by his previous attorney -- a charge Ferrer disputed.
Oldenburg was able to get the appeals court earlier this month to stay Ulep's deportation pending a ruling on the reconsideration motion.
If the 9th Circuit grants that motion and eventually sends the case back to the immigration court, Oldenburg plans to argue that the lower court has the discretion to consider Ulep's rehabilitation based on a provision of the law that was in effect at the time of his convictions.
He acknowledges that winning Ulep's release is a long shot.
"I'm not all that optimistic," Oldenburg said. "We have a good, viable legal argument, but whether the 9th Circuit will agree is another question."
Ulep, in a brief phone interview from the detention center, said he's trying to remain optimistic.
"I do the best I can so I don't think negative things," he said.
One of the most intriguing aspects of his case is that Ulep could be a free man if he simply gave up his challenge of the deportation.
But that freedom would come only in the Philippines, and if Ulep is deported, he likely wouldn't be allowed to ever return to this country because of his felony convictions.
By fighting deportation, Ulep has a chance, however slim, of remaining in his adopted country.
But he must remain imprisoned while his legal challenge runs its course, and even then he could lose and still be forced to return to the Philippines.
That's a huge gamble he is willing to take -- at least thus far.
"I want to stay in Hawaii," Ulep said. "This is home."