Lola claims immigrations officials at Seattle airport harassed and deported her

by Steve Angeles, ABS-CBN North America Bureau


October 10, 2013



PASADENA, California – It’s a simple backyard wedding, but it has now gotten the attention of the
Philippines, and the Philippine government all because one important guest was possibly harassed and deported by US officials.

Carina Grande was planning to watch her daughter Steph Grande tie the knot later this month to her fiance Ken Shaw.
 


Grande, a former Asian Development Bank employee, tried to come to the US on October 1st and make a stop in Seattle to visit relatives.

Upon her entry, she alleged that she was put in a room for 6 hours with no food or water, harassed by customs officials who accused her of attempting to illegally immigrate to the US to work as a caregiver after speaking to her aunt and grandson on the phone.

She also claimed that officials forced her to choose between immediate deportation or going to prison.

Her visa was also revoked.

Grande has visited the US a dozen times prior to this 13th and eventually unlucky visit.

“We were all looking forward to having mom here and my son Josh for the wedding. Unfortunately, this incident happened. We’re all very sad. She’s also very sad about everything that happened in Seattle,” said Steph.

“It looked like they had an agenda before talking to the aunt, they tried to get information out of the aunt just to make it look like she was going to work which couldn’t be farther from the truth. She’s 62 years old, she’s retired, she’s here to visit her grandson and she was here to attend our wedding,” added Shaw.

While bride-to-be Steph has sent a letter to her US Congressman, requesting him to look into the case, the Philippine Department of Foreign Affairs said it will investigate what happened at the Seattle International Airport.

“We are glad they’re willing to like help out, we’re just hoping that everything gets straightened out soon because it’s rough for everybody,” she said.
 


While every country reserves the right on whom to allow into the country, some legal experts say Grande has the right to file a civil lawsuit for the possible harassment and the way the procedure was carried out.

However, Steph and Ken are not looking into legal action but rather an explanation on the alleged harassment and hopefully another chance for Grande to come to the US.

“We’re not looking for punitive action. We’re not looking to sue. We just want her visa reinstated. We would like an apology. We would like the government to acknowledge what they did was wrong. They could’ve handled this properly. We’d like her visa reinstated and if all possible, we’d like her back here in time for our wedding,” he said.
 


Balitang America tried contacting the Seattle office of the US Customs and Boarder Protection (CBP).
However because of the government shutdown, they are also on furlough and unable to respond.
For more information, you may contact Steve Angeles at steve_angeles@abs-cbn.com