waldo

I need some advice! I met someone seven months ago who is living and working illegally in the U.S. for the past twelve years. She crossed the Mexican/u.s. border on foot secretively by night. She recently is finishing her divorce with her husband who took flight back to Mexico after a run in with the law other than his resident status. They have been separated for four years. We have become good friends in which she has confided in me about her life. I would like to ask the "big" question(will you marry me?). But I do not know where we would go from here. What kind of legal mess would get into. By the way, I am a legal U.S. citizen by birth.

Chris Parker

    > I need some advice! I met someone seven months ago who is living and
    > working illegally in the U.S. for the past twelve years. She crossed
    > the Mexican/u.s. border on foot secretively by night. She recently is
    > finishing her divorce with her husband who took flight back to Mexico
    > after a run in with the law other than his resident status. They have
    > been separated for four years. We have become good friends in which she
    > has confided in me about her life. I would like to ask the "big"
    > question(will you marry me?). But I do not know where we would go from
    > here. What kind of legal mess would get into. By the way, I am a
    > legal U.S. citizen by birth.

You can marry her, however your marriage will not be able legalize
her. She will remain illegal, since she entered the U.S. without
inspection. Perhaps, if you as well are planning to move out of the
U.S. (such as to Canada maybe?), you can have a normal life with her
in another country. In this country, you can't expect her to be much
more than homemaker and always in fear that immigration authorities
may one day find her and attempt to deport her.

Make sure she is someone special.


CP

Rete

And please do not rely on the US' tradition of enacting an anmesty legislation every few years. It has been that they do this every 5 to 8 years so that illegals have an opporunity to legitimize their status to permanent residents. The last one ended in April 2001 but you had to be sponsored by a USC relative. And this is what Jerome and Em were hoping that Congress would extend as promised last summer. Unfortunately, world events nipped that in the bud.

[email protected]

Chris Parker wrote:

    > You can marry her, however your marriage will not be able legalize
    > her. She will remain illegal, since she entered the U.S. without
    > inspection. Perhaps, if you as well are planning to move out of the
    > U.S. (such as to Canada maybe?), you can have a normal life with her
    > in another country. In this country, you can't expect her to be much
    > more than homemaker and always in fear that immigration authorities
    > may one day find her and attempt to deport her.

Although he shouldn't expect anything, there is a chance that additional
LIFE legislation will be passed.

    > Make sure she is someone special.

Not really a required remark.

Paulgani

"Rete" wrote in message
news:429526.1033395465@britishexpats-
.com...
    > And please do not rely on the US' tradition of enacting an anmesty
    > legislation every few years. It has been that they do this every 5 to 8
    > years so that illegals have an opporunity to legitimize their status to
    > permanent residents. The last one ended in April 2001 but you had to be

The amnesties are passed every once in a while in order to give hope to the
millions of illegals and potential illegals that if they just stay in the
U.S. long enough, keep out of trouble, and of course, work in slave like
conditions for slave like wages in order to benefit the standard of living
of America's legal residents, that one day, they will be rewarded with legal
status of their own, thus making it all worthwhile.

That said, I don't see a new amnesty until the economy picks up, and the
economists have determined that we need a new influx of slave laborers, and
the best way to accomplish that would be to grant amnesty to the slaves that
have paid their dues long enough, and thus in turn attract new slaves to
come to the United States with the hope that they too, will one day be able
to escape slave status.

Paulgani

Andy Platt

One thing I would like to mention is that there is a difference between a
real amnesty (a.k.a the registry date) and section 245(i) which has been off
and on for a while. The registry date enables anyone who was here from a
certain date to apply for immigration benefits; section 245(i) only allows a
small subset to apply.

Most people who post for help here would fit into the 245(i) category
though.

Andy.

--
I'm not really here - it's just your warped imagination.
"paulgani" wrote in message
news:[email protected]
m...
    > "Rete" wrote in message
    > news:429526.1033395465@britishexpa-
    > ts.com    ...
    > > And please do not rely on the US' tradition of enacting an anmesty
    > > legislation every few years. It has been that they do this every 5 to 8
    > > years so that illegals have an opporunity to legitimize their status to
    > > permanent residents. The last one ended in April 2001 but you had to be
    > The amnesties are passed every once in a while in order to give hope to
the
    > millions of illegals and potential illegals that if they just stay in the
    > U.S. long enough, keep out of trouble, and of course, work in slave like
    > conditions for slave like wages in order to benefit the standard of living
    > of America's legal residents, that one day, they will be rewarded with
legal
    > status of their own, thus making it all worthwhile.
    > That said, I don't see a new amnesty until the economy picks up, and the
    > economists have determined that we need a new influx of slave laborers,
and
    > the best way to accomplish that would be to grant amnesty to the slaves
that
    > have paid their dues long enough, and thus in turn attract new slaves to
    > come to the United States with the hope that they too, will one day be
able
    > to escape slave status.
    > Paulgani

Chong

So there is usually no anmesty during a recession?


On Mon, 30 Sep 2002 11:14:44 -0400, "paulgani"
wrote:

    >"Rete" wrote in message
    >news:429526.1033395465@britishexpat-
    >s.com    ...
    >> And please do not rely on the US' tradition of enacting an anmesty
    >> legislation every few years. It has been that they do this every 5 to 8
    >> years so that illegals have an opporunity to legitimize their status to
    >> permanent residents. The last one ended in April 2001 but you had to be
    >The amnesties are passed every once in a while in order to give hope to the
    >millions of illegals and potential illegals that if they just stay in the
    >U.S. long enough, keep out of trouble, and of course, work in slave like
    >conditions for slave like wages in order to benefit the standard of living
    >of America's legal residents, that one day, they will be rewarded with legal
    >status of their own, thus making it all worthwhile.
    >That said, I don't see a new amnesty until the economy picks up, and the
    >economists have determined that we need a new influx of slave laborers, and
    >the best way to accomplish that would be to grant amnesty to the slaves that
    >have paid their dues long enough, and thus in turn attract new slaves to
    >come to the United States with the hope that they too, will one day be able
    >to escape slave status.
    >Paulgani

[email protected]

chong wrote:
    > So there is usually no anmesty during a recession?

Politically it would be a challenge.
There would a perception the immigrants are stealing jobs from the
unemployed USCs.
In reality, the unemployed Americans aren't rushing to apply for these
jobs.

Rete

Personally I don't see that a recession has anything to do with it. The crux of the problem at the moment is the public's animosity towards the legalization of illegal immigrants and the current fevor over lax INS screening of visaholders who proved to be terrorists. This is my personal take on the issue.

I've seen that legalization of illegals occurs when a politican wants to buy votes which was the reason behind the desire to legalize hundreds of thousands of Mexican illegals in the US before 9/11/01.

Rete

Paulgani

Ahh, 245i. The establishment's attempt at social engineering. We need your
labor, but we don't want your culture. If you sell out and marry an
American, we will release you from slavery sooner. Otherwise, you'll just
have to stay enslaved until your U.S. born children turn 21.

Paulgani

"Andy Platt" wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
    > One thing I would like to mention is that there is a difference between a
    > real amnesty (a.k.a the registry date) and section 245(i) which has been
off
    > and on for a while. The registry date enables anyone who was here from a
    > certain date to apply for immigration benefits; section 245(i) only allows
a
    > small subset to apply.
    > Most people who post for help here would fit into the 245(i) category
    > though.
    > Andy.

Paulgani

"Rete" wrote in message
news:429694.1033408781@britishexpats-
.com...
    > I've seen that legalization of illegals occurs when a politican wants to
    > buy votes which was the reason behind the desire to legalize hundreds of
    > thousands of Mexican illegals in the US before 9/11/01.

Buy votes? I can see that, in a "I'll need the vote 5 years from now when
you're a citizen" kind of way. But you've also got to win now, and that
means money, which means campaign contributions. Now, who contributes more
to political candidates than businessmen who need laws passed which benefit
them? No one.

Paulgani

Rete

Buy Votes? Of course it does. From both the common laborer and big business with campaign dollars. The common laborer is from a fairly large immigrant population. Many of which are citizens and will vote for the candidate which is helping to make their illegal family member or friend legal in the US. The businessman is going to give support money so that you can sway those immigrants your way and help ensure that other big businessman know whose side you are really one.

It is a win-win situation for the candidate unless the tenor of of the times socially is so anti-migration that the issue will turn on you and bite you in the arse.

Johng3110

waldo wrote in message news:...
    > I need some advice! I met someone seven months ago who is living and
    > working illegally in the U.S. for the past twelve years. She crossed
    > the Mexican/u.s. border on foot secretively by night. She recently is
    > finishing her divorce with her husband who took flight back to Mexico
    > after a run in with the law other than his resident status. They have
    > been separated for four years. We have become good friends in which she
    > has confided in me about her life. I would like to ask the "big"
    > question(will you marry me?). But I do not know where we would go from
    > here. What kind of legal mess would get into. By the way, I am a
    > legal U.S. citizen by birth.

* * *

What follows is not legal advice. It is merely commentary. And
although I am an attorney, your reading this does not make me your
attorney.

* * *

The situation does not look good. For this man and woman to marry and
live in the U.S., the woman would need a green card.

However, she entered the U.S. illegally. Illegal entrants cannot
adjust status; in other words, they cannot acquire the green card
while they are inside the U.S. (INA 245i, the one exception that used
to exist in the law, has been essentially closed since the end of
April, 2001.)

Also, she was in the U.S. illegally for 12 years. If she left the
U.S., she would be prohibited from reentering the U.S for 10 years.
That is because aliens (foreigners) who are in the U.S. illegally for
more than 6 months are barred (prohibited) from returning to the U.S.
for 3 years; aliens who are in the U.S. illegally for more than 1
year are barred for 10 years. Since she was in the U.S. illegally for
12 years, and if she left the U.S., she would be barred from returning
to the U.S. for 10 years.

Finally, if the couple is tempted to apply for a visa anyway and
"forget to mention" her 12 illegal years in the U.S. and her illegal
entry to the U.S., they would be committing visa fraud. She could be
permanently barred from the U.S., and he (and any American who helps
them) could be subject to prison and fines.

There is the possibility of an "extreme hardship waiver." Basically:
they would marry, and she would go into deportation proceedings, and
she would ask the judge to be allowed to stay because deportation
would cause "extreme hardship" to her American husband. Missing each
other does not count as extreme hardship; losing financial support
does not always count, either. Instead, there must be something
besides those things, and that something must be more severe: the
American is an invalid and the alien is the caregiver, the American
would be forced to move to another country but be totally unable to
support the family, etc. Proving "extreme hardship" can be hard and
tricky to do. Generally, it requires a lawyer who has experience with
the local immigration court and what that court considers to be
"extreme hardship" (it can vary from court to court.)

In sum, I think this couple should think very, very hard about their
future. Essentially, they face her living in the U.S. illegally (till
/ if caught) or both of them living in Mexico. Living illegally in
the U.S. is no fun (the kids born to them would be U.S. citizens, but
that still wouldn't help here since she entered the U.S. illegally),
and there are no amnesties on the horizon. Proving extreme hardship
(in order for an illegal entrant to stay in the U.S.) is usually a
long shot, and it always requires an expert's touch. If they really
want to marry, they should find a competent immigration lawyer in
their area and consult with that person.

--John

LeightonJ

hi john,my name is jerome
what u are say is so true,my lawyer say that he have to put my in deprtation and then get me out.but may i ask u a question (what is your meaning of extreme hardship?).i told my wife what is her meaning of extreme hardship? she told me if they deport me she will kill her self .and she said, she will tell the immigration judge extreme hardship is when u can live without the person that keep her going,and that when she first met me that i change her life.i know i can do what i want.and i know i am goiing to win this shit.

Johng3110

LeightonJ wrote in message news:...


    > hi john,my name is jerome
    > what u are say is so true,my lawyer say that he have to put
    > my in deprtation and then get me out.but may i ask u a
    > question (what is your meaning of extreme hardship?).i told my
    > wife what is her meaning of extreme hardship? she told me if
    > they deport me she will kill her self .and she said, she will
    > tell the immigration judge extreme hardship is when u can
    > live without the person that keep her going,and that when she
    > first met me that i change her life.i know i can do what i
    > want.and i know i am goiing to win this shit.


* * *

What follows is not legal advice. It is merely commentary. And
although I am an attorney, your reading this does not make me your
attorney.

* * *


Hi, Jerome,

The problem with "extreme hardship" and similar standards is that no
one really knows what they specifically mean. Instead, each
immigration court must decide for itself what these standards mean.
From their decisions, a general understanding develops.

Thus, the general understanding of "extreme hardship" is simply this:
hardship to the U.S. citizen (not the alien / not the foreigner) which
is beyond the normal hardship that a separation would cause. That
means it is more than people missing each other or being heartbroken;
it is also usually more than difficulties in financial matters.
Instead, it must be something that causes unusual and intense
suffering to the U.S. citizen. And that is different for every case.

Thus, it is important to consult with an immigration attorney who is
experienced in these kinds of cases and with the local immigration
court. That person can evaluate your case, and he / she can determine
what facts in your specific case might count as "extreme hardship"
with that local court. Since you already have an attorney, I suggest
you discuss this more with him.

Good Luck.

--John
1 October 2002