It’s early October and that means it’s time for the Supreme Court to begin hearing oral arguments in cases it will decide this term. One such case was placed on the docket according to an order issued by the court in September. Carlos Martinez Gutierrez was nabbed trying to smuggle three Mexican children into California. The merits of this case will now be considered by the highest court in the land.

On September 27, the court granted certiorari in the case of Attorney General Eric Holder v. Carlos Gutierrez.  At the center of the case are several issues of vital importance for children of illegal immigrants. If Gutierrez wins, some immigrants may find it easier to avoid removal and stay in the United States.
 
"The case is significant," Gutierrez's appellate attorney, Stephen Kinnaird, said Tuesday, adding that "you can have possible breakups of families" in certain circumstances.
 
The facts of the case are these. In December 2005, Carlos Gutierrez attempted to smuggle aliens into the United States through the San Ysidro port of entry (a border community in the southernmost part of San Diego). Subsequently, Gutierrez fought deportation and it is his argument in that aspect of the case that concerns the court in the present matter.

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Photo: Traffic in Tijuana, Mexico, waiting at the San Ysidro port of entry.