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Blount County Circuit Court Judge W. Dale Young issued a response to Ana Calixto’s appeal this week, stating that Calixto is in the United States illegally and is not a resident of Tennessee based on state law.

The document, obtained by The Daily Times, then denies her request.

Young’s response, signed Oct. 23, outlines details of Calixto’s divorce and her request for an order of protection from her estranged husband. Young dismissed the requested order of protection and has not issued a ruling on the divorce.

Attorneys Mike Whalen, of Knoxville, and Benjamin Pressnell, of Tazewell, who were referred by the American Civil Liberties Union and are working for Ana Calixto pro bono, filed the appeal Oct. 9.

In Young’s response, he states, “They were illegal, non-resident aliens and there were, in the court’s mind, serious legal questions to be answered before the case proceeds further.”

The judge’s statement ends with, “Mrs. Calixto is in the United States of America under the auspices of a “work visa” which has expired. She does not have any appropriate documentation which allows her to remain legally in the United States of America. Mrs. Calixto cannot establish domicile and/or residence in Tennessee because she cannot stay here legally and she must return to her home country.”

According to multiple witnesses who were in the courtroom on Sept. 7, the judge asked the Calixtos if they were in the United States legally, told them they had no rights in court and instructed them to go back where they came from. He then dismissed Ana Calixto’s request for an order of protection.

Ana Calixto says she has been in the United States legally since 1994 when she came here to attend school and work. Her current employment authorization card from the U.S. Department of Homeland Security and the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services Department — of which The Daily Times has obtained a copy — is valid through Jan. 5, 2009.

She met her husband, an immigrant from Mexico, in the United States and the couple has a U.S. marriage license issued by the state of Virginia.
The Calixtos have been separated for 10 months.

Although Ana Calixto is a legal immigrant, law experts say immigration and residency status is irrelevant in a U.S. court.

In late September, the Tennessee Court of the Judiciary launched an investigation of Young and a state investigator, Jim LaRue came to Blount County to conduct numerous interviews.

The Court of the Judiciary is charged with providing a process by which sanctions can be imposed against a judge and, when necessary, provide procedures for the removal of a judge.

Earlier this month, three civil rights groups sent a formal letter to the disciplinary counsel for the Tennessee Court of the Judiciary requesting action against the judge for his treatment of the Calixtos. The Tennessee Immigrant and Refugee Rights Coalition (TIRRC), the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) and the Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund (MALDEF) asked the court to “strongly consider remedial action” against Young.

Young has not returned repeated calls from The Daily Times to his office and home since the story was first reported on Sept. 12.

Ana Calixto’s appeal is expected to be heard in the Tennessee Supreme Court’s Eastern Division Appellate Court in downtown Knoxville.