Physical Abuse and the Citizenship Dream

[kwirl 0]

Ok, this might end up being a lengthy post, but I shall to keep it was relevant as possible to the current sitation facing a good friend.

A friend of mine was born in South America, but has been living in America for a few years legally. She got a job, she was enrolled in college and has a few semesters under her belt on her way to a bachelors in financial studies. About a year ago she was told her time was basically up, and that she would have to return home.

Well, she was scared and afraid, so she went to someone she THOUGHT was a friend, and gave him her entire savings, almost 10 thousand dollars, money she had been saving for her education through years of overtime hours and working extra jobs. He took the money, they froze her accounts (i guess this is a normal part of the deportation process) and she went home to south america. After a few months, he convinced them to let her return, and they got married in a vegas weekend.

Then the problems started. This guy, almost 30 years her senior btw, began forcing her to degrade herself for him. She lives in fear of his seemingly godlike control over her fate and dreams of one day being a US citizen. He constantly makes rude sexual demands of her, and forces her to clean and do his trivial chores. He forbids her to have friends, or to leave the house. She can't or won't go to the authorities because her hopes of becoming a US citizen are in his hands. If he threatens to not sign her papers, she will be sent home and her dreams will be snuffed out.

My family has been in this countries for hundreds and hundreds of years, and to think that someone with this kind of desire to come do what she has done will be sent home just because of this creep disgusts me. I'm tempering myself and removing the option of physical violence from my list of solutions, but can someone here please tell me where to go to start finding a way for her to stay here without being tortured. Watching her dreams and ambitions fade daily is just killing me.

To be honest, I wish we could kick this selfish ####### out of the country and let her take his place.

Any help will be welcomed, thank you

-me

[Lona.C. 16]

Ok, this might end up being a lengthy post, but I shall to keep it was relevant as possible to the current sitation facing a good friend.

A friend of mine was born in South America, but has been living in America for a few years legally. She got a job, she was enrolled in college and has a few semesters under her belt on her way to a bachelors in financial studies. About a year ago she was told her time was basically up, and that she would have to return home.

Well, she was scared and afraid, so she went to someone she THOUGHT was a friend, and gave him her entire savings, almost 10 thousand dollars, money she had been saving for her education through years of overtime hours and working extra jobs. He took the money, they froze her accounts (i guess this is a normal part of the deportation process) and she went home to south america. After a few months, he convinced them to let her return, and they got married in a vegas weekend.

Then the problems started. This guy, almost 30 years her senior btw, began forcing her to degrade herself for him. She lives in fear of his seemingly godlike control over her fate and dreams of one day being a US citizen. He constantly makes rude sexual demands of her, and forces her to clean and do his trivial chores. He forbids her to have friends, or to leave the house. She can't or won't go to the authorities because her hopes of becoming a US citizen are in his hands. If he threatens to not sign her papers, she will be sent home and her dreams will be snuffed out.

My family has been in this countries for hundreds and hundreds of years, and to think that someone with this kind of desire to come do what she has done will be sent home just because of this creep disgusts me. I'm tempering myself and removing the option of physical violence from my list of solutions, but can someone here please tell me where to go to start finding a way for her to stay here without being tortured. Watching her dreams and ambitions fade daily is just killing me.

To be honest, I wish we could kick this selfish ####### out of the country and let her take his place.

Any help will be welcomed, thank you

-me

am so sorry to hear this I looked around the forum to see if there are other cases like the one you know , take a look at the 2nd posters signature

maybe that person can give you some advice I hope things work out for your friend

http://www.visajourney.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=102324

[diadromous mermaid 36]

Ok, this might end up being a lengthy post, but I shall to keep it was relevant as possible to the current sitation facing a good friend.

A friend of mine was born in South America, but has been living in America for a few years legally. She got a job, she was enrolled in college and has a few semesters under her belt on her way to a bachelors in financial studies. About a year ago she was told her time was basically up, and that she would have to return home.

Well, she was scared and afraid, so she went to someone she THOUGHT was a friend, and gave him her entire savings, almost 10 thousand dollars, money she had been saving for her education through years of overtime hours and working extra jobs. He took the money, they froze her accounts (i guess this is a normal part of the deportation process) and she went home to south america. After a few months, he convinced them to let her return, and they got married in a vegas weekend.

Then the problems started. This guy, almost 30 years her senior btw, began forcing her to degrade herself for him. She lives in fear of his seemingly godlike control over her fate and dreams of one day being a US citizen. He constantly makes rude sexual demands of her, and forces her to clean and do his trivial chores. He forbids her to have friends, or to leave the house. She can't or won't go to the authorities because her hopes of becoming a US citizen are in his hands. If he threatens to not sign her papers, she will be sent home and her dreams will be snuffed out.

My family has been in this countries for hundreds and hundreds of years, and to think that someone with this kind of desire to come do what she has done will be sent home just because of this creep disgusts me. I'm tempering myself and removing the option of physical violence from my list of solutions, but can someone here please tell me where to go to start finding a way for her to stay here without being tortured. Watching her dreams and ambitions fade daily is just killing me.

To be honest, I wish we could kick this selfish ####### out of the country and let her take his place.

Any help will be welcomed, thank you

-me

Where is she in the process? Does she have a conditional green card yet? If not, she needs to accumulate evidence that the marriage was bonafide (on her end, IF it was) and also evidence of his control over her. This might appear daunting, but if she thinks clearly about how oppressed she is, she might find ways to document it. Then, once armed with sufficient evidence, she can file a VAWA claim. It is not a simple solution to pursue this path, but VAWA was put into place to protect aliens that haven't acquired PR through marriage yet, but are being victimized by their sponsors.

[desert_fox 32]

She paid this guy 10 grand for a fraudulent marriage??? and now he is taking advantage of her??

[N400-2011 24]

She paid this guy 10 grand for a fraudulent marriage??? and now he is taking advantage of her??

Yeah...that's the part that bothers me. It certainly seems that this was a payment for marriage. And, if that is the case, I cannot in good conscience assist, because VAWA is meant to protect immigrants who are abused at the hands of their USC/LPR spouse. It is not meant to assist persons who entered into fraudulent marriages.

[N400-2011 24]

That said, abuse is abuse, regardless of a fraudulent marriage. You friend needs to call the police and get out of the relationship, and away from her abuser. She can worry about her immigration status AFTER she gets to safety.

[kwirl 0]

Ok, let me clarify - it isn't so much that she PAID him to marry her, its that she was told her accounts would be frozen as part of the process of sending her back home. she THOUGHT she could trust him, so she gave him the money for her, but once the process began, he used it to take advantage of her. He forces her to clean and cook for him just to get back her own money for various things like food and clothes. She did NOT just go pay some stranger money to live here, she entered what she thought would be a legal arrangement that would help her obtain citizenship so that she could continue living here and finishing her education.

I realize there are some poor choices she made, but I'm quite sure that not every 19 year old girl in her situation would have made the best call first when pressured and scared. This wasn't a stranger, this was a supposed 'friend' who is now taking advantage of a young girl who is scared and feels hopeless as she watches her dreams go down the drain every day.

[N400-2011 24]

Ok, let me clarify - it isn't so much that she PAID him to marry her, its that she was told her accounts would be frozen as part of the process of sending her back home. she THOUGHT she could trust him, so she gave him the money for her, but once the process began, he used it to take advantage of her. He forces her to clean and cook for him just to get back her own money for various things like food and clothes. She did NOT just go pay some stranger money to live here, she entered what she thought would be a legal arrangement that would help her obtain citizenship so that she could continue living here and finishing her education.

I realize there are some poor choices she made, but I'm quite sure that not every 19 year old girl in her situation would have made the best call first when pressured and scared. This wasn't a stranger, this was a supposed 'friend' who is now taking advantage of a young girl who is scared and feels hopeless as she watches her dreams go down the drain every day.

Marriage fraud will make her ineligible for gaining legal status in the US. Doesn't matter she entered into the relationship with a "friend" or not.

[Alt name 1]

Sad. The advice given earlier was good. Her personal safety is paramount. Immigration status is secondary. Since her, and your, big concern is her immigration status over personal safety, this would appear to be the proper answer:

It doesnt matter what her "hopes and dreams are". There are all sorts of ways to come to the US illegally. This is just a not particularly clever variation of an illegal "marry for money" scheme.

You said it best "once she entered what she thought would be a legal arrangement that would help her obtain citizenship" indicates that the intent in this case was not and never was marriage and family. This puts your question outside of the interest and purpose of the VJ forum.

Ok, let me clarify - it isn't so much that she PAID him to marry her, its that she was told her accounts would be frozen as part of the process of sending her back home. she THOUGHT she could trust him, so she gave him the money for her, but once the process began, he used it to take advantage of her. He forces her to clean and cook for him just to get back her own money for various things like food and clothes. She did NOT just go pay some stranger money to live here, she entered what she thought would be a legal arrangement that would help her obtain citizenship so that she could continue living here and finishing her education.

I realize there are some poor choices she made, but I'm quite sure that not every 19 year old girl in her situation would have made the best call first when pressured and scared. This wasn't a stranger, this was a supposed 'friend' who is now taking advantage of a young girl who is scared and feels hopeless as she watches her dreams go down the drain every day.

[Boiler 45,481]

Ok, let me clarify - it isn't so much that she PAID him to marry her, its that she was told her accounts would be frozen as part of the process of sending her back home. she THOUGHT she could trust him, so she gave him the money for her, but once the process began, he used it to take advantage of her. He forces her to clean and cook for him just to get back her own money for various things like food and clothes. She did NOT just go pay some stranger money to live here, she entered what she thought would be a legal arrangement that would help her obtain citizenship so that she could continue living here and finishing her education.

I realize there are some poor choices she made, but I'm quite sure that not every 19 year old girl in her situation would have made the best call first when pressured and scared. This wasn't a stranger, this was a supposed 'friend' who is now taking advantage of a young girl who is scared and feels hopeless as she watches her dreams go down the drain every day.

There is a Student Visa - F1, if that was truel her purpose.

Her acounts would not be frozen as part of deportation.

And she could have moved the money back to her home country at any time very easily.

It certainly sounds like she thought she was paying $10,000 for a Green Card, he looked upon it as a down payment, either way outside the remit of this forum.

[diadromous mermaid 36]

An application for relief under Section 204.2 for battered spouse

C) The petitioner must establish by clear and convincing evidence

that the prior marriage was not entered into for the purpose of evading

the immigration laws. Failure to meet the ``clear and convincing

evidence'' standard will result in the denial of the petition.

Such a denial shall be without prejudice to the filing of a new petition once

the petitioner has acquired five years of lawful permanent residence.

[JaEnglishGirl 34]

Obviously her desire for a green card outweighs all else...She needs to go back to where she came from.