Regarding the March 17 article "Calderon girl gets year stay": It is no wonder that the issue of deporting (back to the Philippines) the parents of 13-year-old Noriko Calderon causes so much controversy. While the law seems clear, it is more than unreasonable. If Japan was not an aging society on the brink of extinction, there might be some bizarre reason — other than spite — for kicking out two decent, hardworking parents of a child who will sooner or later qualify as a Japanese. Offhand, though, I can't think of any.
What I can think of is the glaring exceptions that the same Justice Ministry has made in the past — with people like Albert Fujimori, a former Peruvian president implicated in mass murder, and Charles Jenkins, a U.S. Army deserter who worked for North Korea, Japan's mortal enemy. There can be no legitimate reason for the special treatment that they both received. That makes the Calderon case all the more bitter for a young girl who mistakenly thought she might get just a little justice, if not simple common sense and mercy, from those who seem to make decisions purely on the basis of injustice and certainly not in line with international or domestic law.
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