NEWS-TIMES WHIDBEY
SPORTS: Wolves win big. A10
SATURDAY, OCTOBER 15, 2011 | Vol. 120, No. 83 | WWW.WHIDBEYNEWSTIMES.COM | 75¢
Mom seeks mercy for husband Justin Burnett / Whidbey News-Times
Oak Harbor City Council candidates Larry Eaton and Beth Munns listen to a question from SE Pioneer Way merchant Kelly Beedle.
Candidates face tough Oak Harbor crowd By JUSTIN BURNETT Staff reporter
Jessie Stensland/Whidbey News-Times
Coupeville resident Terra Villicana comforts her daughter, Jasmine, while holding baby Sophia. Liliana, 18-month-old, watches them. The children miss their father, who is facing deportation to Mexico.
Father of five incarcerated by immigration service By JESSIE STENSLAND Staff reporter
By all accounts, Jaime VillicanaCampos is a wonderful husband and a beloved father to his children. He held two physically demanding jobs and worked seven days a week to support his large family. He somehow still made time to spend with his little girls, especially 6-year-old Angelica who suffers from epilepsy. She is particularly close to her doting father and is known in the family as “Daddy’s girl.” But because of the nation’s sometimes vexing immigration laws, Villicana-Campos is sitting in a Tacoma federal detention facility. He was nabbed by immigration officials in June, a month before his fifth daughter was born. He still hasn’t met baby Sophia. In the meantime, his wife and five daughters languish without him in a
‘This is beyond pain. This is torture. The hardest thing is to hear the kids cry at night. They just want their dad.’ -- Terra Villicana
Central Whidbey home that his brother-in-law rented for the family. His wife, Terra Villicana, is fighting for his freedom, but suffers from depression that’s so debilitating that she had to be temporarily admitted to a psychiatric unit. Tears constantly stream down her cheeks as she discusses the untenable situation. “This is beyond pain. This is torture,” Terra said. “The hardest thing is to hear the kids cry at night. They just want their dad.” Jaime Villicana-Campos is married to an American citizen and has five children born in America. He has lived in America since he was 14. He worked hard and paid taxes. But still, he faces prison followed by deporta-
tion to Mexico because of a mistake he made in 1997. Under federal law, Villicana-Campos can’t become a citizen because he was convicted of a felony. His wife explains that he was hanging out with the wrong crowd when he was a young man in Skagit County. He drove some friends to what turned out to be a drug deal and was arrested by the police. Villicana-Campos, who didn’t speak English very well at the time, got some poor advice from an attorney. Terra said he was advised to plead guilty with the promise that he’d be sentenced to work ethics camp and then would be able to return home. SEE FATHER, A4
A forum in Oak Harbor this week saw candidates in hotly contested city races linking themselves with Socrates, making claims that the public didn’t know what it was talking about, and playing hot potato with tough questions from the crowd. Held at the Elks Lodge Wednesday evening, the League of Women Voters forum was attended by about 90 people. Participating were hopefuls in several city races. Paul Brewer and Tara Hizon faced off for Position 1 on the city council while Larry Eaton vied with incumbent Beth Munns for Position 2. They were followed by Mel Vance and incumbent Rick Almberg who are hoping to fill Position 3. The evening was concluded with the mayoral heavyweight match between City Councilman Scott Dudley and incumbent Mayor Jim Slowik. The candidates remained civil, but they didn’t pull any punches either. “I understand it’s you I work for and it’s your money I’m spending,” Dudley told the crowd. “Talk is cheap Mr. Dudley,” fired back Slowik, which earned a chorus of “ooos” from the crowd.” Not surprisingly several controversial and familiar topics, from Pioneer Way to a dispute over open public
meeting rules that went all the way to the state Auditor’s Officer, were brought up and rehashed. Slowik was steadfast, saying he was proud of the downtown project but also admitted that mistakes, some of which he called “horrendous,” were made. However, he emphasized that it was a badly needed infrastructure project and was just one of 20 needed city projects begun since he took office. Dudley also faced critics. Slowik supporter Gerry Oliver, who was defeated by Dudley in a 2009 bid for city council, quizzed his former opponent about comments he made in a recent newspaper story concerning staffing changes Dudley said he would make if elected. When Dudley responded by saying that the big change would be one of attitude at City Hall, Oliver held onto the microphone and accused him of dodging the question. Oliver said it was unfair of Dudley to do so when so much of his campaign has been based on complaints about an existing lack of transparency. But perhaps no one felt the hot seat like Munns. She was SEE FORUM, A4