Mrtravel

LeightonJ wrote:
    > We will qualify under the 2nd life act, which is what most immigration lawyers are
    > calling it. The 2nd proposed "Liife Act" falls under appx. 38 different bills,
    > which senate was supposed to vote on this session, but they put it off so hopefully
    > next session they will get around to
    > it. We paid the $1,000 fine just incase it passes, therefore our lawyers can
    > immediately start the process. If it doesnt pass, we will get our money back.

Who did you pay this money to? Are you saying your lawyer took $1000 to hold for a
fine that doesn't exist in your case?


For more information, go to Thomas.loc.gov and
    > type in immigration, and scroll down till u see the bills beginning with "H" those
    > are the bills pertaining to the "2nd life act"

It gets confusing when you switch from sounding like the wife and sounding like the
husband. Are both of you writing? In any case, this response is meant for the wife as
I am getting confused about who I am responding to.

What did you get from the lawyer you paid the $5000 (actually $6000, including a fine
for legislation that doesn't exist)? I am curious. As I understand it..

1. Your husbnad is still here illegally and subject to deportation.
2. If he is deported, LIFE 2, if he isn't going to help him.


If he would have voluntarily left the US at 18, he would be able to get a immigration
visa without worrying about his illegal entry at age 2. Given the option of getting
caught or turning himself in, he will be better off turning himself in.


By the way..

I do this:

go to http://thomas.loc.gov enter "immigration"
in "Word Phrase" section of the search for bills in the 107th Congress. The resulting
list is not in alpha order and it doesn't show "2nd life act". Even a search for "2nd
life act" doesn't return anything. So, maybe I am stupid.

Mrtravel

LeightonJ wrote:
    > Originally posted by Mrtravel:
    > > LeightonJ wrote: .
    > > > >
    > > > We have paid a lawyer $5,000, and I have even already paid the $1,000 fine for
    > > > the new Life Act. Now, its just a waiting game and I need to be prepared. Also,
    > > > I married because I wanted to settle down. Life has more to offer than being
    > > > with many people.
    > >
    > > I am confused. If you are qualified under LIFE, then what is the problem? If not
    > > qualified, then why pay the $1000 fee?
    > >
    > Sorry to confuse ya! Im sorry..we actually paid our lawyer to hold the fee for us
    > therefore if and when life act 2 passes this september, it will already be in my
    > lawyers hands..

Do you know it is passing in Septamber? So, my question still is: What did the lawyer
do to earn his $5000? Filing a petition under LIFE shouldn't cost that much, since it
is pretty much the same as a regular I-130/I-485, isn't it? And Matt is FAR more
reasonable in his fees for this.

LeightonJ

First of all who is Matt? lol... Also, upon calling around diifferent lawyers and telling them of the situation and gettiing an estimate, our lawyer was fairly reasonable in his cost, therefore proving how difficult it is going to be to pull this off. Some lawyers even denied us, stating that they couldnt help us....also, i am only 21 (emily writing) and jerome is 19...we don't have the experience to follow proper protocol without someone overseeing us (in my opinion.)

Chris Parker

    > So, he would have been better off if he had left within 180 days of turning 18,
    > correct? Does this apply like a visa overstay.

U.S. departure after age 18 1/2 will trigger the 3-year inadmissibility, after age 19
the 10-year inadmissibility.


CP

Chris Parker

    > Cp, thanks for your thoughts. you seem to be thinkiing on the same lines as my
    > lawyer. 245i is still up in the air in the senate, and since they are on a break,
    > we have to wait for the next session, which will start soon. INS doesnt know he is
    > here.....there has been no orders of removal or anything of the such. thanks for
    > wriiting.

The Homeland Security Act is what is pending consideration in the Senate when it
resumes session this week. That bill, as presently drafted, splits the INS in two
pieces, leaving immigration services in the Justice Department and moving Border
Patrol, Immigration Inspectors, investigations, etc. into the new department. It
does not have any current provisions to reinstate INA 245(i). However, the Senate
can do anything it wants to the bill while under its consideration, including a full
substitution or addition of riders, but of course for the bill to become law it will
need concurrence from the House. The president wants this bill passed by September
11th, so you'd expect they are going to try avoid any controversial changes after so
much committee work was done in the House in July.

There have been several failed attempts in committees this year to reinstate INA
245(i) again temporarily as a rider onto unrelated bills. LIFE itself was passed
this way (a rider to the District of Columbia appropriations bill). I'd recommend
you two just live your lives together as you normally would. If 245(i) comes out
again, then I'd pursue adjustment of status within the permitted application period,
but not any sooner!

Your husband isn't likely to get placed into removal proceedings unless he gets
arrested or collects welfare benefits anyway. If that does happen, even a green card
wouldn't save him from deportation anyway. The only disadvantage you need to live
with is he will never be able to become a U.S. citizen unless another amenesty is
passed, but I warn you that the American public and the Congress are sick of giving
aliens permission to break the new immigration laws, and the provisions of Section
245(i) are currently being viewed as a threat against national security. In
particular, it has been noted that a 1993 World Trade Center bomber had a green card
as a result of the congressional amenesty offerred under the Immigration Reform and
Control Act of 1986 (which Jerome's parents should have used also).

Good luck. CP

James Donovan

INS is really going to throw the book at him. Not only is he here illegally, but INS
is going to put him under the microscope for his marriage while under deportation
proceedings.

Rete <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:<[email protected]>...
    > If I remember his story correctly. He is Jamaican and his Mom had paid someone to
    > bring him into the US at the age of 3 while she waited in Canada. He has lived
    > here for 19 years and the INS has found out he is illegal. They started
    > deportation proceedings but he went and got married on the advice that the Section
    > 245(i) would be reinstated and because he married a USC he would be able to
    > adjust. Well the Section has not been passed again so he is being ordered to
    > leave and now his wife (the poster) wants to know if anyone has gotten through the
    > deportation procedure and not been deported. You can look for his and his wife's
    > previous posts the last month or so under the same name. It is easy to tell who
    > is writing what.

LeightonJ

Why will they? Let INS put us under a microscope.....we love eachother. They CANT fault us for loving eachother!!!

Mrtravel

LeightonJ wrote:
    > Why will they? Let INS put us under a microscope.....we love eachother. They CANT
    > fault us for loving eachother!!!

They don't need to put you under a microscope. The illegal entry is plain enough.

All he had to do was leave at age 18 1/2 and there would be no problem. Then, a k-1
petition could have been filed and he could have been here in months. In the time
leading up to the 18 1/2 birthday, money could have been saved for him to have living
expenses in Jamaica. True, it isn't the best place to live, but it can be cheap if
you rough it. Many young men learn how to rough it. Many GI's have lived in the
field. It might not be great, but it is doable. And, and he might be able do some
work to supplement his savings. At least, for him, he had a way into the US, YOU...
For many other people living in poor conditions the outlook is not so good. A few
months of sacrifice could have had him here legally. There are worse things in life.
Instead, he waited until he is subject to a 10 year ban and hopes that a pro
immigrant law will be passed in times of much anti immigrant sentiment.

Mrtravel

LeightonJ wrote:
    > >
    > Sorry to confuse ya! Im sorry..we actually paid our lawyer to hold the fee for us
    > therefore if and when life act 2 passes this september, it will already be in my
    > lawyers hands..

What else did the lawyer do to earn $5000? You have given a lawyer a total of $6000,
and you don't appear to have gotten anywhere. You indicated INS knows nothing about
your husband's status. So, what good has the lawyer been?

LeightonJ

im not asking you to cry for me but if you read my postings please understand....I am 21 years old. My husband is 19. We have acceptance from my side of the family but that is it. No one is going out of their way to help us, (nor should they...) But, when we hired the lawyer, we were looking for someone to "be on our side"....someone to talk to and help us through this. I honestly don't know WHY I was so ignorant.....well, I wasn't ignorant, I just wasn't as informed as I am now of immigration issues. I didn't want to waste time after we got married, so we immediately hired our lawyer. Heres my question.....if I ask for our money back (of course there are the monies that we have already used due to meetings, etc) our lawyers cannot contact INS on him, can they? Isn't there a confidentiality law that they have to abide by?

LeightonJ

You are totally right about going to Jamaica for a few months....and, had we had any idea of that, it would have been done by now! But, as I said in another post, you can't change the past....so here is another ?? for you........ HOW would INS know if he left now? He wouldnt have to show a passport when leaving, just when arriving to the US, correct? Besides...he has a valid Jamaican passport....then I can apply for the fiance visa (I havent changed any documents into my married name yet.) Wouldnt that work? just a thought.........

Mrtravel

LeightonJ wrote:
    > You are totally right about going to Jamaica for a few months....and, had we had
    > any idea of that, it would have been done by now! But, as I said in another
    > post, you can't change the past....so here is another ?? for you........ HOW
    > would INS know if he left now?

I mentioned that in a past post. I thought it was relative to this specific case. I
wouldn't try it unless I actually had to live in the US and couldn't do it another
way. That said, if they EVER find out, you will be in a world of pain. After all,
there is no doubt this would be fraud.

    > He wouldnt have to show a passport when leaving, just when arriving to the US,
    > correct? Besides...he has a valid Jamaican passport....then I can apply for the
    > fiance visa (I havent changed any documents into my married name yet.) Wouldnt
    > that work? just a thought.........

No, you can't apply for a fiance visa. You would apply for a spouse visa by
filing I-130.

While he might get by with convincing them he lived in Jamaica, it isn't that
difficult to find out you married him here.

Just to be clear...This would be ILLEGAL. However, if you have to be illegal, don't
be stupid about it. That is, file the I-130, no sense in giving them something else
to find out by finding out you are married. Oh no.. I thought of something else..
See, how one bad thing leads to another.

So, when did he marry you? Was it before he was 18 1/2? If not, then he was in the
country after age 18 1/2. Oh oh.............

See.. trying to avoid one problem can cause more. So, if you were doing this, it
would have been better if you didn't marry.

YOU paid a lawyer $5000 (actually $6000 counting that fee), do what HE says You
claimed he was a good lawyer, why are you NOT following his advice? You still haven't
said what you got for this $6000 spent thus far.

Mrtravel

LeightonJ wrote: I didn't want to waste time after we
    > got married, so we immediately hired our lawyer. Heres my question.....if I ask
    > for our money back (of course there are the monies that we have already used due
    > to meetings, etc) our lawyers cannot contact INS on him, can they? Isn't there a
    > confidentiality law that they have to abide by?

Yes, you can ask for the money back if it was a retainer and not for a specific
service (I think so, any way.. Matt would know). I don't know why he just didn't take
a consulting fee. It seems the consultation would have been to simply tell you the
options. It doesn't look like anything has been accomplished thus far. I am no
lawyer, but I could have told him that his choices were:

1. Leave voluntarily
2. Turn himself in and throw himself on the mercy of INS
3. Wait around for another LIFE law.

Unfortunately, not getting married or leaving by 18 1/2 would have give him
additional options. Or... if he got married while LIFE was still around... As
I said... the marriage in the US wouldn't be a difficult thing to find out if
INS looked.

LeightonJ

OK, this is getting difficult to respond and read things from the same person in 3 diff. places...so i will respond to all of them here.....first of all, you have to understand.........jerome found out of his situation a couple months before he turned 18. his mom wouldnt let himi take his money (she was on the account for the trust funds) till he got married. jerome and i got married one month before he turned 19. thats when she gave him his money....like i said, she is very stupid and hard to work with. And, you wont believe me, Im sure, but she actually has a NYS drivers liscence and lives off the system. When I say that, I say that she has an apartment PAID for as well as insurance paid for by our government. She has bank accounts a nd charge cards and has even enrolled others of her (American born) chiildren enrolled in school. GO FIGURE! She lives off of the system...recieving food stamps and the whole nine yards....and she isnt even a citizen. You say she did what she could for her son? How about filing the proper papers to come here, like......getting a visa or whatever documents she would have needed so she wasnt illegal. So, u cant possibly blame jerome, because since he has found out, he has done as much as he could with no money and no support....what 17 year old do u know who could battle the iNS? Also, I am confident in my lawyer, but it is just hard to wait......and waiting brings doubts of their abilities....and 6000 is a lot of money. Also, Jerome has a year and a half old son from another girl...which he loves and takes care of but the girl doesnt let us take him without her and since he is illegal, we cant go to court to get custody....it just sucks, thats all.

Chris Parker

    > Heres my question.....if I ask for our money back (of course there are the monies
    > that we have already used due to meetings, etc) our lawyers cannot contact INS on
    > him, can they? Isn't there a confidentiality law that they have to abide by?

You can ask for your money back. BTW, "Charging a grossly excessive fee" is one of
the acceptable grounds for INS disciplinary action against lawyers. This can lead to
temporary or permanent disbarment. You should try to work out this disagreement out
with him before filing a complaint, however. http://www.usdoj.gov/eoir/press/00/profcondfaks.htm http://www.usdoj.gov/eoir/eoirforms/-
eoir44.pdf

Can he contact the INS about Jerome? You're right, client-attorney privilege madates
that it is confidential. However, if you've worked with lawyers enough, you'll find
that their legal status as "officers of the court" and the rules of ethics also
pressure them to make sure proper justice is done. In this regard, it has been my
experience that when a lawyer knows of certain illegal activity, he will either
refuse to represent the client or will accept the client and secretly "leak" the
information to the authorities. You can be sure he'll never admit that he leaked the
information, or that there will be any evidence in a resulting proceeding that links
him to the disclosure, but the facts usually show that he is the only one who could
have given the information away. There are all kinds of lawyers, and these are of
course personal interpretations by individual lawyers about what constitutes ethics,
so this is general advice and not a hard-fast rule.

Good luck. CP