in article kakke0hl4om49mmg0ardb6fie6k1uhg7ug@4ax.com, Raj Feridun at
rferid@NOSPAMyahoo.co.jp wrote on 7/6/04 4:19 PM:

> On Tue, 06 Jul 2004 16:00:50 +0900, Ernest Schaal
> <eschaal@max.hi-ho.ne.jp> wrote:
> 
>> in article 40EA4B2C.9050002@hotmail.com, Declan Murphy at
>> declan_murphy@hotmail.com wrote on 7/6/04 3:48 PM:
>
>> The point I was making is that each country can determine who is a citizen
>> and who is not, and if a person is not a citizen then that country can
>> deport the non-citizen and/or refuse re-admittance of a non-citizen who has
>> left the country.
>> 
>> If they wanted to, under international law, they could send her packing to
>> Thailand. Under international law, they could send her packing even if she
>> was born here, if she is not a citizen. Now, Japanese law could limit their
>> options.
> 
> Forgetting the letter of the law for a moment how about a MORAL
> interpretation of the code, Ernest? How about taking into
> consideration that she has loving Japanese grandparents who have
> legally adopted her and want to raise her here and that her parents in
> Thailand are dead?

You speak of the "moral" interpretation of the code, which presupposes that
your concept of morality is controlling. Considering recent admissions by
your, that presupposition seems a tad ridiculous.

I must admit that one of pet peeves is gaijin coming to Japan and
complaining because the Japanese have a different value system than your
country. 

The fact that she has loving Japanese grandparents who have legally adopted
her and want to raise her here and that her parents in Thailand are dead can
be taken into consideration, but it does not mean that the outcome must be
as you prescribe.

I don't know if you have been following US news, but the San Francisco
Chronicle had a story on their website of a family where the parents came
here and overextended their visa by over a decade. The children only knew
the United States, but the parents were deported anyway.

You might not like the fact that the Japanese government can determine which
non-citizens can stay and which have to go, but that is their right to
decide, NOT YOURS. 

>> You might think they should, but they don't have to do as you demand.
> 
> Well actually as it turns out they do. The public outcry from we who
> feel like this way is most definitely being heard and affecting the
> Immigration Department's handling of the case.

Basically, I don't think the Immigration Department really cares what you or
I (or other gaijin) think about it. The public outcry that mattered was from
Japanese citizens. You and I, they can safely ignore.