Re: US cracking down on overstayers, even if married to US citizens
Originally Posted by nun
(Post 12219300)
I would argue that a "utilitarian" approach is good in such circumstances. Deporting the non-resident spouse and separating them from their family hurts more innocent people than it punishes. Also overstaying a visa is a small infraction. There is little public interest in ripping apart US families...it causes more harm than good. There is the law and then there is the just application of the law and I think ICE is being unjust in such cases.
Who is separating who? |
Re: US cracking down on overstayers, even if married to US citizens
Originally Posted by nun
(Post 12219300)
I would argue that a "utilitarian" approach is good in such circumstances. Deporting the non-resident spouse and separating them from their family hurts more innocent people than it punishes. Also overstaying a visa is a small infraction. There is little public interest in ripping apart US families...it causes more harm than good. There is the law and then there is the just application of the law and I think ICE is being unjust in such cases.
While a few cases may be minor - when viewed in isolation - one of the issues is that then spreads, and you are then looking at hundreds of thousands of cases "in isolation." That is when the "stuff that" theorem kicks in. Why have immigration law at all then, if the law is only going to apply to people following it, but gets waived if someone chooses not to and says "stuff that?" It isn't about "punishment" but also about protection - both for the migrant and the country. |
Re: US cracking down on overstayers, even if married to US citizens
This happened to a woman (from Singapore) in Britain a few weeks ago. .... It in that case, like this one, when there are several routes to a satisfactory and legal outcome, it is a mystery why the immigrant didn't take a route freely available to them (though perhaps with a related cost) and instead chose to stick their head in the sand for many years? :confused:
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Re: US cracking down on overstayers, even if married to US citizens
Originally Posted by nun
(Post 12219253)
We should be maximizing happiness, not deporting people that have overstayed a visa and are now trying to get back into compliance. Deportation will separate US families and cause hardship. I would prefer to see a policy that seeks to keep families together rather than splitting them apart.
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Re: US cracking down on overstayers, even if married to US citizens
It happens in the UK as well. There have been a couple of well publicised cases recently - one a UK guy married to a Singaporean lady, been in UK off and on for 29 years, I think,. She never applied for citizenship as it meant giving up her Singaporean citizenship Woman sent back to Singapore despite 27-year marriage - BBC News
Another was a family that failed to meet the financial requirements when applying for FLR - they knew the rules but spent most of the savings they used for the original application and did not earn the required amount so their earnings, plus the allowable portion of savings took them below the minimum. Sorry, cannot find the link at this moment. The point is as others have said, it is up to you to be aware of the rules and make sure you can meet them. Yes, there should perhaps be some leeway for specific cases but not for blatant ingnoring of the law. At least the US/Canada/UK and others allow you to apply for citizenship after a specific period of time so if you intend staying why not do this? |
Re: US cracking down on overstayers, even if married to US citizens
Sorry Pulaski, you posted whilst I was typing!
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Re: US cracking down on overstayers, even if married to US citizens
Originally Posted by Pulaski
(Post 12219312)
This happened to a woman (from Singapore) in British a few weeks ago. .... It in that case, like this one, when there are several routes to a satisfactory and legal outcome, it is a mystery why the immigrant didn't take a route freely available to them (though perhaps with a related cost) and instead chose to stick their head in the sand for many years? :confused:
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Re: US cracking down on overstayers, even if married to US citizens
Originally Posted by nun
(Post 12219326)
I read about that case....of course the people in Lowell were taking the official steps to normalize their residence status...they were at a Green Card interview and were taken into custody afterwards.
* In fairness, I would suggest that "most" people follow the rules and don't even have a first contact with the ugly end of USCIS! :lol: |
Re: US cracking down on overstayers, even if married to US citizens
Originally Posted by quiltman
(Post 12219317)
It happens in the UK as well. There have been a couple of well publicised cases recently - one a UK guy married to a Singaporean lady, been in UK off and on for 29 years, I think,. She never applied for citizenship as it meant giving up her Singaporean citizenship Woman sent back to Singapore despite 27-year marriage - BBC News
Unfortunately, as the Government cannot comment on specific cases due to privacy regulations, we don't actually know why she kept getting rejected. We just get this woman's side of the story which was apparently good enough for BBC. One hole I see immediately: She cannot provide evidence of contact with her family because of Yahoo messenger and pre-paid phone calls? There were no visits, no weddings, no graduations, no gifts, no hand-written cards? Not that I am saying privacy laws should be changed - but be wary of accepting 100% people's stories when the other side can't respond. |
Re: US cracking down on overstayers, even if married to US citizens
Originally Posted by civilservant
(Post 12219081)
Little sympathy where someone has previously not been following the law. The trouble with living outside the law is that you no longer have the protection of it.
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Re: US cracking down on overstayers, even if married to US citizens
Originally Posted by nun
(Post 12219300)
I would argue that a "utilitarian" approach is good in such circumstances. Deporting the non-resident spouse and separating them from their family hurts more innocent people than it punishes guilty ones. Also overstaying a visa is a small infraction. There is little public interest in ripping apart US families...it causes more harm than good. There is the law and then there is the just application of the law and I think ICE is being unjust in such cases.
Yes it is cruel to break apart families, and it seems that the symptom rather than the cause of the problem is being addressed- lack of efficient border control, and how easy it is in the USA to live as an illegal for many years. I still do not understand why the USA there is even a debate about border control. |
Re: US cracking down on overstayers, even if married to US citizens
I'm surprised AOS while on a B visa wasn't the first thing that was stopped.
The sooner that loophole is scrapped the better. |
Re: US cracking down on overstayers, even if married to US citizens
Originally Posted by quiltman
(Post 12219317)
It happens in the UK as well. There have been a couple of well publicised cases recently - one a UK guy married to a Singaporean lady, been in UK off and on for 29 years, I think,. She never applied for citizenship as it meant giving up her Singaporean citizenship Woman sent back to Singapore despite 27-year marriage - BBC News
Another was a family that failed to meet the financial requirements when applying for FLR - they knew the rules but spent most of the savings they used for the original application and did not earn the required amount so their earnings, plus the allowable portion of savings took them below the minimum. Sorry, cannot find the link at this moment. The point is as others have said, it is up to you to be aware of the rules and make sure you can meet them. Yes, there should perhaps be some leeway for specific cases but not for blatant ingnoring of the law. At least the US/Canada/UK and others allow you to apply for citizenship after a specific period of time so if you intend staying why not do this? https://uk.yahoo.com/news/popular-no...110400817.html |
Re: US cracking down on overstayers, even if married to US citizens
It is believed his leave to remain in the country expired in 1999 but he has been working and paying taxes since then without any problems. |
Re: US cracking down on overstayers, even if married to US citizens
Originally Posted by morpeth
(Post 12219959)
I still do not understand why the USA there is even a debate about border control. |
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