Adoption activist arrested for illegal re-entry

by Sergio Chapa

A man who has become a poster child for complex citizenship laws in adoption cases has been arrested for illegally re-entering the United States.

U.S. Border Patrol agents arrested Robin Neal Whiteley on a felony illegal re-entry charge over the weekend.

Court records filed in his case show 35-year-old Whiteley was caught near Hidalgo on February 18th.

Whiteley's case has been profiled in the Fort Worth Star-Telegram and other media outlets as an illustration of a Catch-22 between immigration and adoption laws.

The Star-Telegram reported that Whiteley was born in Mexico but adopted by a Fort Worth couple as a baby.

The newspaper reported Whiteley obtained legal residency and has two American-born children but was convicted in a felony drug case and deported to Mexico in 2002.

The 35-year-old man took up residence in Reynosa where he pleaded his case with media outlets to draw attention to his case as well as complex international adoption and citzienship laws.

Whiteley appeared before U.S. Magistrate Court Judge Dorina Ramos on Monday.

A criminal complaint filed in Whiteley's arrest shows that it's his fourth time to enter the United States illegally.

Whiteley had previously been deported in Laredo in May 2008 and had served six months in jail for another illegal immigration case in October 2007.

Judge Ramos denied bond for Whiteley until a Thursday morning hearing.

Under federal law, Whiteley could face up to 10 years in federal prison if convicted in the case filed this past weekend.