Married my fiance but having marital problems

[VanessaTony 3,567]

Hi Jim,

Could you please provide one or more actual examples or cases where a woman was deported without her USC infant , JUST for being out of status, when she never had any criminal charges against her?

here: http://www.law.berkeley.edu/files/Human_Rights_report.pdf it is an article for a Human Rights movement that discusses the number of USC children affected by the deportation of their parents and why policies should change. Though it DOES mention crimes and the fact the parents are LPR.. hmm

Happens more often than you think. Usually the child is a dual citizen though (without their parents home countries passport though travel there would be as a visitor). I'll keep looking for non-criminal non-resident stories. Here's a DHS article: http://www.dhs.gov/xoig/assets/mgmtrpts/OIG_09-15_Jan09.pdf and here is some random article: http://blog.lawinfo.com/2011/08/15/do-illegal-immigrants-with-u-s-born-children-ever-get-deported/ (though this article does prove that the illegal immigrant is free to take the child... but there is a caveat there that the other parent must approve it) you just need to google honestly. The info is there.

Edited August 27, 2011 by Vanessa&Tony

[SimranS 9]

here: http://www.law.berkeley.edu/files/Human_Rights_report.pdf it is an article for a Human Rights movement that discusses the number of USC children affected by the deportation of their parents and why policies should change. Though it DOES mention crimes and the fact the parents are LPR.. hmm

Happens more often than you think. Usually the child is a dual citizen though (without their parents home countries passport though travel there would be as a visitor). I'll keep looking for non-criminal non-resident stories. Here's a DHS article: http://www.dhs.gov/xoig/assets/mgmtrpts/OIG_09-15_Jan09.pdf and here is some random article: http://blog.lawinfo.com/2011/08/15/do-illegal-immigrants-with-u-s-born-children-ever-get-deported/ (though this article does prove that the illegal immigrant is free to take the child... but there is a caveat there that the other parent must approve it) you just need to google honestly. The info is there.

I checked the links you posted but didn't find info related to any actual cases like the OP's. They have some good general info about the issue. We all know that someone CAN be deported without their USC children, but in the exact circumstances of this case how likely is it to actually happen? Even if we were to find some isolated case of a lady in this situation being deported, for every one case of it happening how many similar cases are there where it didn't happen? We can see from recent posts on VJ and most of us know already that there are millions of illegal/out of status immigrants in the US and the vast majority are never going to be deported unless they commit a crime. The fact that a lady has a small USC child CAN play a role in whether the ICE decides to deport her or not, esp. if she has no criminal record.

[SimranS 9]

http://dreamacttexas.blogspot.com/2009/04/deportation-then-losing-your-child.html

Also found this link- contains a NYT article about an illegal Guatemalan immigrant woman with a USC baby who was jailed after a raid on her place of work. The story is very sad but also contains reference to the fact that parents of small children were let go:

"Immigration authorities quickly released several workers who had small children. But authorities said Ms. Bail was ineligible to be freed because she was charged with using false identification."

As is most often the case only the parent facing criminal charges was actually detained and ordered removed. If they're releasing illegal immigrant parents of small children then logically a woman who entered legally and is only out of status would be even less likely to be detained.

[JimVaPhuong 4,863]

http://dreamacttexas.blogspot.com/2009/04/deportation-then-losing-your-child.html

Also found this link- contains a NYT article about an illegal Guatemalan immigrant woman with a USC baby who was jailed after a raid on her place of work. The story is very sad but also contains reference to the fact that parents of small children were let go:

"Immigration authorities quickly released several workers who had small children. But authorities said Ms. Bail was ineligible to be freed because she was charged with using false identification."

As is most often the case only the parent facing criminal charges was actually detained and ordered removed. If they're releasing illegal immigrant parents of small children then logically a woman who entered legally and is only out of status would be even less likely to be detained.

The chance of them being deported now is practically nil. The president's recent executive order instructs DHS to review all pending deportation cases, and suspend cases where the alien has not been convicted of a crime or otherwise determined to be dangerous. This is current policy. It's not law.

Anyway, the most famous case is probably Elvira Arellano. She was working as a janitor at O'Hare airport in 2002 when she was arrested for Social Security fraud. She fought her deportation for years, and gained national attention when she tried to take sanctuary in a church in Chicago. She managed to escape undetected, and then tried to do the same thing in Los Angeles. She repeatedly claimed she should not be deported because her son was born in the US. She was finally caught and summarily deported in 2007.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elvira_Arellano

[SimranS 9]

The chance of them being deported now is practically nil. The president's recent executive order instructs DHS to review all pending deportation cases, and suspend cases where the alien has not been convicted of a crime or otherwise determined to be dangerous. This is current policy. It's not law.

Anyway, the most famous case is probably Elvira Arellano. She was working as a janitor at O'Hare airport in 2002 when she was arrested for Social Security fraud. She fought her deportation for years, and gained national attention when she tried to take sanctuary in a church in Chicago. She managed to escape undetected, and then tried to do the same thing in Los Angeles. She repeatedly claimed she should not be deported because her son was born in the US. She was finally caught and summarily deported in 2007.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elvira_Arellano

Thanks for posting the info. Does this mean that the OP doesn't really have to worry about being removed without her child if she fails to adjust status or remove conditions ?

[bbubble 0]

Thanks for posting the info. Does this mean that the OP doesn't really have to worry about being removed without her child if she fails to adjust status or remove conditions ?

I hope and pray that I am not in danger of losing my child. I couldn't bear that. I have been reading through the latest posts. Thank you SimranS for shedding some more light on my situation. I do not have a criminal record, I am not dangerous or deranged. I am just in a predicament through no fault of my own. That's why I have said that there has got to be something that can be done to protect me (and others like me). I am taking it one day at a time for now; I find that it's all I CAN do.

Edited August 29, 2011 by bbubble

[JAYKE 0]

Thanks for posting the info. Does this mean that the OP doesn't really have to worry about being removed without her child if she fails to adjust status or remove conditions ?

No, not at all. Some huge differences from the quoted cases, and the OP's, the most important being the child's father is a USC who the OP is married to. Am assuming the father is listed on the birth certificate and that the child has been processes thru the US as a citizen born abroad to US citizen father. And the father is involved and invested in the child's life.

As such, without a custody agreement allowing the OP to remove the child from the United States, the OP CANNOT do so, as the biological USC father has certain rights. I have a twelve year old son and cannot take him on holiday overseas without a notarized letter from his birth father who hasn't been in his life for ten years allowing me to take him. I have been asked for the letter both by the airlines and the border control in several European countries. You can and will be turned back if you cannot present either this letter or court document that specifies you may remove the child from the United States.

Yes, the OP can try to remove the child from the United States using his Australian passport, but if she does this against any court-ordered custody agreement, or without explicit written permission from his father, this will be seen by the US government as INTERNATIONAL CHILD ABDUCTION.... something you really don't want to mess around with.

If the OP does divorce and chooses to leave the US, she MUST argue for the right to leave the United States WITH the child, and will likely be a large uphill battle, as once she leaves, any other visitation agreement made by the court is unenforceable. Without the father's consent, it may get very ugly and expensive.

ETA: You questioned what would happen if OP were deported or removed for being out of status; again, that father would be able to file motions to keep the child with him, if there wasn't a custody agreement, and the above info in this post would apply. Those other deportation cases involve children who were citizens by virtue of their birth but don't mention how involved their father is, or if the fathers were in fact US citizens. At the end of the day, if the father wants to keep the child here, the child must stay unless the OP "wins" in a custody battle. It's not an immigration issue here, it's a family law issue.

Edited August 29, 2011 by JAYKE

[SimranS 9]

No, not at all. Some huge differences from the quoted cases, and the OP's, the most important being the child's father is a USC who the OP is married to. Am assuming the father is listed on the birth certificate and that the child has been processes thru the US as a citizen born abroad to US citizen father. And the father is involved and invested in the child's life.

As such, without a custody agreement allowing the OP to remove the child from the United States, the OP CANNOT do so, as the biological USC father has certain rights. I have a twelve year old son and cannot take him on holiday overseas without a notarized letter from his birth father who hasn't been in his life for ten years allowing me to take him. I have been asked for the letter both by the airlines and the border control in several European countries. You can and will be turned back if you cannot present either this letter or court document that specifies you may remove the child from the United States.

Yes, the OP can try to remove the child from the United States using his Australian passport, but if she does this against any court-ordered custody agreement, or without explicit written permission from his father, this will be seen by the US government as INTERNATIONAL CHILD ABDUCTION.... something you really don't want to mess around with.

If the OP does divorce and chooses to leave the US, she MUST argue for the right to leave the United States WITH the child, and will likely be a large uphill battle, as once she leaves, any other visitation agreement made by the court is unenforceable. Without the father's consent, it may get very ugly and expensive.

ETA: You questioned what would happen if OP were deported or removed for being out of status; again, that father would be able to file motions to keep the child with him, if there wasn't a custody agreement, and the above info in this post would apply. Those other deportation cases involve children who were citizens by virtue of their birth but don't mention how involved their father is, or if the fathers were in fact US citizens. At the end of the day, if the father wants to keep the child here, the child must stay unless the OP "wins" in a custody battle. It's not an immigration issue here, it's a family law issue.

Most of this info has already been posted in the first few pages of this thread. We already know it would be an uphill battle for her to take the child back to Australia when his father is a USC. My question was about whether SHE is likely to be deported, which, according to present policy, she isn't (as long as she has no criminal charges against her). Even if she is out of status, if she doesn't voluntarily leave on her own it's very unlikely the ICE would forcibly remove her. The other cases mentioned really aren't even relevant here because they all deal with parents who had CRIMINAL charges against them which the OP doesn't.

[JAYKE 0]

Most of this info has already been posted in the first few pages of this thread. We already know it would be an uphill battle for her to take the child back to Australia when his father is a USC. My question was about whether SHE is likely to be deported, which, according to present policy, she isn't (as long as she has no criminal charges against her). Even if she is out of status, if she doesn't voluntarily leave on her own it's very unlikely the ICE would forcibly remove her. The other cases mentioned really aren't even relevant here because they all deal with parents who had CRIMINAL charges against them which the OP doesn't.

I wondered why you were asking again, lol. In my defense, you asked "Does this mean that the OP doesn't really have to worry about being removed without her child if she fails to adjust status or remove conditions". As such, it sure appeared the question was relating to the status of the child. IMHO, she should always be concerned. Yes, there is an initiative by the present administration to remove low priority immigration cases from current court dockets, but this does not mean she couldn't still be charged, especially when you factor in a potentially vindictive ex, who is on the hook by virtue of a signed sponsorship. If he makes enough noise to his local immigration/ICE, one never knows. Living an existence constantly looking over one's shoulder is not an ideal one. Perhaps if you had concerns regarding a specific case outside of the OP's, a new thread may be in order.

[SimranS 9]

I wondered why you were asking again, lol. In my defense, you asked "Does this mean that the OP doesn't really have to worry about being removed without her child if she fails to adjust status or remove conditions". As such, it sure appeared the question was relating to the status of the child. IMHO, she should always be concerned. Yes, there is an initiative by the present administration to remove low priority immigration cases from current court dockets, but this does not mean she couldn't still be charged, especially when you factor in a potentially vindictive ex, who is on the hook by virtue of a signed sponsorship. If he makes enough noise to his local immigration/ICE, one never knows. Living an existence constantly looking over one's shoulder is not an ideal one. Perhaps if you had concerns regarding a specific case outside of the OP's, a new thread may be in order.

In the present situation her chances of being deported are practically "nil" as Jim noted above. Her husband would only be on the hook for financial sponsorship if she successfully adjusts status, which she hasn't yet. If she does adjust then she'll be in CR1 status and can file to remove conditions on her own, if needed. She wont have to worry about deportation after AOS because she'll be a legal resident.

She was worried about what would happen if her marriage dissolves before she can adjust status. Anyone would agree that being out of status and constantly looking over one's shoulder isn't ideal, but then what other choice does she have? She's the mother of an infant and the most important thing for her now is to be with her child.

[Ready to do it 101]

Don't forget... just because the present administration has a presented a policy of not deporting non-criminal aliens, does not mean this is a long-term law to make one feel like their status is safe. Policies change, and I suspect this policy will be abolished once we have a new president, if not sooner. It doesn't necessarily mean under a new president or policy she is at greater risk of being deported as there could be a comprehensive immigration policy that allows her to stay. I'm simply stating that I would not feel like I was safe if I was out of status, simply because it is this administrations current (newly stated) policy not to go after non-criminal aliens.

[bbubble 0]

From what I have gathered I am not in danger of being deported because I have no criminal record? Someone mentioned that I do not need to worry about being deported after AOS because I will be a legal resident -- but won't I be a conditional permanent resident? And being a CONDITIONAL permanent resident I can still be forced to leave, right? Constantly having to look over my shoulder is no way to live, but it's how I'm living these days.

Things have been very rocky at home. My AOS papers are pending. I am saving up money for a meeting with an immigration attorney. I am trying not to dwell too much on the horror that is currently my life Thank you to everyone for your input; it's what keeps me going and keeps my hope alive.

[nane1104 146]

If you get your AOS application approved without an interview, you are "safe" so to speak. If you have to go to an interview, you will need your husband in your corner, go with you and you will need to show you are in a valid, bonafide relationship.

Now, let's say you are separating before you get your AOS approved but then you get it approved without an interview, you are still safe at least until you have to remove those conditions. You would have to show you entered the marriage in good faith which I know you did but if your documents show that you were already separated before your initial greencard got approved, you can be in trouble again. At least this is what I read in previous posts. I hope, someone else can verify that.

So at this point, if you can hang in there and you and your husband are still together and he isn't trying to legally separate, you can look at it as "going through a rough time in your marriage, trying to make it work".

But no, once you have your greencard, you don't have to "look over your shoulder", you will be totally legal and won't have to worry about being deported.

[sachinky 465]

Right now you should be praying to God that your AOS gets approved without an interview.

And saving up proof/evidence that you entered the marriage in good-faith.

Good luck and keep us posted.

Edited August 31, 2011 by sachinky

[Jay+Kat 0]

I have read through the thread... It's so sad that OP has to go through the tough situation. I hope that they made it through. Any updates?