Girl chooses homeland in immigration case

Published: April 13, 2009 at 12:37 PM

TOKYO, April 13 (UPI) -- A 13-year-old girl says she chose to remain in Japan while her Filipino parents were deported since the country is her "homeland."

Noriko Calderon said while Japan's High Court ruled that her parents, Arlan and Sarah, must be deported to the Philippines, she decided to accept the government's offer to remain behind in the place of her birth, CNN said Monday.

"Japan is my homeland," the teenager said.

Calderon's parents, who illegally immigrated to Japan, expressed regret at their daughter's decision to remain in Japan with an aunt.

"We won't be there when she needs us the most," Arlan Calderon, 36, told CNN. "She has to protect herself on her own. I'm so sorry about that."

''I told her to take care of herself and make sure she doesn't catch a cold," Sarah Calderon, 38, said.

The Kyodo news agency said Arlan Calderon and his wife left Japan for the Philippines Monday from Narita airport.

The couple's daughter said she hopes to prove to her parents that her decision was the right choice.

"I hope I can show them the next time we meet that I do my best," the Saitama Prefecture junior high school student said.

© 2009 United Press International, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
Order reprints



Additional News Stories
UPI Sports Calendar for Sunday, Nov. 22 (10 min)
NHL: Ottawa 5, Buffalo 3 (21 min)
COL FB: Clemson 34, Virginia 21 (24 min)
NHL: Pittsburgh 3, Atlanta 2 (27 min)
COL FB: Houston 55, Memphis 14 (34 min)
UPI NewsTrack Sports (40 min)
NHL: Florida 3, New York Rangers 2 (52 min)
fark
You've shot yourself in the foot. Do you a) go to the hospital, b) call an ambulance, or c) try...
Man attacked by assailants intent on stealing loaf of bread. It's a wonder he survived
Progress: Story about cat stuck on top of utility pole has video. Fail: three minutes of cat's owner...
Photoshop this room under construction
Fili-busted
Pittsburgh plans to tax college students, wants them to pay fair share