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LOS ANGELES, Jul 20, 2006 (UPI via COMTEX) -- A judge in Los Angeles is under investigation for telling an illegal immigrant to leave his courtroom or face deportation.
Aurora Gonzalez was seeking a restraining order against her husband, claiming that Francisco Salgado was "verbally and emotionally abusive" to her and their sons, The Los Angeles Times reported. She also said that Salgado threatened to report her to immigration authorities.
Judge Pro Tem Bruce Fink asked Gonzalez if she was an illegal immigrant. When she acknowledged she was, the judge told her he wanted her out of the courtroom by the time he counted to 20.
Fink, an experienced lawyer specializing in family law, defended his action, saying he believed that the couple had just had a spat and did not really want to separate. He said that granting Gonzalez a restraining order would have also ended her husband's efforts to get her legal status -- "We'd wind up with exactly the opposite of what these people wanted."
URL: www.upi.com Copyright 2006 by United Press International
