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Filed: Timeline
Posted

My hope is that I can find someone on this website who might know a little more info than I do regarding a situation that has occurred with one of my family members.

The situation is that I have a family member who met a young lady from Mexico who was on vacation here in the US. To cut a long story short they started a relationship and the young lady ended up getting pregnant. They now both have a wonderful little boy who is a about 9-months old but their relationship has turned sour after the young lady found out what my family member is truly like. He is a bully and basically does nothing for his son, not even showing concern when his son is sick. He pays nothing towards his sons living cost and wouldn't even pay for the cost of formula, leaving his son to go hungry.

The young lady had previously left my family member to return back to Mexico but returned on the promise that everything would be better this time, but nothing has changed. So this young lady is now stating that she will return back to Mexico, Juarez where she is from, with her son. This is something we do not want and are very concerned not only for her son but also the young lady. My question is can we do anything to make her stay in the US permananent? I forgot to mention that the little boy was born in the US, does this have any bearing on this situation.

I hate having to do this, but my concern is for this little boy. None of his family members want him to leave, we love him very much.

Filed: Citizen (apr) Country: Canada
Timeline
Posted (edited)

I'm so sorry for your situation. It is a sad one all around. Unfortunately, there doesn't appear to be any 'easy fixes' for this situation.

The woman needs to have legal permission for her to remain in the US. She could obtain this by being married to a US citizen who sponsored her to come to the US and obtain a marriage based green card. She could have received a visa allowing her to enter for this purpose, or she could have applied for a green card based on marriage to a US citizen as long as she entered legally (eg, as a tourist, as a student, as an employee, etc.). You do not mention how she arrived in the US the second time, and this fact could mean the difference between difficult and impossible.

If she entered the US legally and was inspected at the border (went through the border officially rather than sneaking across the border), then she would be eligible to get her green card through a valid marriage (and not one just entered into for the purposes of staying in the US). It does not sound like she was ever married to her son's father, though, so it does not appear that this is an option. It also sounds like what ever legal status she may have entered on has long since expired which means she has accumulated out-of-status days in the US. Having 180 out of status days means that when she leaves the US she will incur a 3 year ban upon returning to the US. If she has more than a years' worth of out-of-status days, then she would incur a 10 year ban on returning to the US. Both of these may be waiverable in some circumstances but are extremely hard to get. Again, there would have to be a valid marriage relationship with a US citizen who would have to prove personal 'hardship' by having her outside of the US.

If she entered illegally (which it honestly doesn't sound like she did but I am just mentioning this in case that happened), then she would not be able to adjust her status and obtain a green card without leaving the US and being sponsored back - and will probably face a ban for having more than the 180 days illegal presence. If she is deported, there would be another potential ban. This is what would make the situation impossible, but if both of her entries to the US were legal, then it is difficult but not impossible.

Her son is not allowed to sponsor her to come to the US until he is an adult so that option is also out. I can appreciate your concern about having him and his mother living in a dangerous city like Juarez, but with the situation as you have recounted it does not seem likely that you will have much success in finding legal ways to keep them here.

If the mother has special employable skills she may be able to try for one of the employment type of visas. Some of these allow for a dual intent (becoming a permanent resident) and some don't. There are different requirements for different visas and right now, with the current unemployment rate in the US, only very specialized workers who are in short supply within the US are being successful in getting work visas. If she was a student going to a US college, she could also be here temporarily but would not be allowed to remain. Getting a student visa means being accepted by the school first , then providing proof that you have the finances both to pay tuition and to live while attending school. That too does not seem to be a likely option, and again, would only be temporary.

You could try for custody of the child, but again, it is unlikely that the father would be successful given the personality you have recounted and the fact that they were not married and the woman seems to be a good mother (you have not mentioned otherwise). It would also cause a lot of grief and distress for all concerned including the child and his mother, would be very expensive and would probably not be successful.

Perhaps what the family can do is help the young woman find a safer place in which to live and raise her child and keep in constant contact so the boy grows up having loving families on both sides of the border.

Edited by Kathryn41

“...Isn't it splendid to think of all the things there are to find out about? It just makes me feel glad to be alive--it's such an interesting world. It wouldn't be half so interesting if we knew all about everything, would it? There'd be no scope for imagination then, would there?”

. Lucy Maude Montgomery, Anne of Green Gables

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Filed: K-1 Visa Country: Vietnam
Timeline
Posted

Kathryn covered the situation nicely. :thumbs:

The only effect her US born son has is that he can sponsor his mother for an immigrant visa once he's 21 years old, as long as he meets the residency requirements. Contrary to the popular myth of the "anchor baby", having a child born in the US doesn't convey any automatic immigration status on the parents. The only thing it does is grant automatic US citizenship to the child.

Since the child is a US citizen then he can stay in the United States as long as he likes.

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Filed: Other Timeline
Posted

Since the child is a US citizen then he can stay in the United States as long as he likes.

However, since 9-months-old are often having problems expressing their wishes in a coherent matter, the parent having custody makes these decisions in the child's behalf until he/she becomes an adult. Since the biological father is not motivated in stepping up here, that would by default be the mother. By law, the US citizen baby will need a US passport to travel to Mexico, but in theory the mother will most likely be able to get around this.

There is no room in this country for hyphenated Americanism. When I refer to hyphenated Americans, I do not refer to naturalized Americans. Some of the very best Americans I have ever known were naturalized Americans, Americans born abroad. But a hyphenated American is not an American at all . . . . The one absolutely certain way of bringing this nation to ruin, of preventing all possibility of its continuing to be a nation at all, would be to permit it to become a tangle of squabbling nationalities, an intricate knot of German-Americans, Irish-Americans, English-Americans, French-Americans, Scandinavian-Americans or Italian-Americans, each preserving its separate nationality, each at heart feeling more sympathy with Europeans of that nationality, than with the other citizens of the American Republic . . . . There is no such thing as a hyphenated American who is a good American. The only man who is a good American is the man who is an American and nothing else.

President Teddy Roosevelt on Columbus Day 1915

 
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