His mother was an unmarried teenager and in an autobiography he describes hitch-hiking with her as a three-year-old and having to beg at age four.

BBC: Tom Connors file picture November 2009

However, six weeks earlier, Gonzalez and Mildred got married, canceling Mildred's ability to apply for legal status through her mother because she was no longer an unmarried daughter under the age of 21.

CNN: U.S. sailor: Don't deport my wife