You all need to read this from Senator Robert Menendez's site:
" We, the United States of America, the greatest democracy in the entire world, have been injecting people with heavy doses of drugs in order to deport them or just to move them around the system with more ease.
Immigration officials drug people going through U.S. facilities, and they drug people who are about to be deported. They drug some people so heavily that when they get off the plane they collapse on the tarmac, or they have to be rolled off the plane in a wheelchair.
They don’t only drug people to make it easier to kick them out. One story that stood out in both the Washington Post and a segment on 60 Minutes was that of a woman named Amina Mudey. Last year, Amina fled from Somalia to the U.S. to seek asylum after she was tortured and her family was killed before her eyes.
When she arrived at JFK airport, she was shackled, thrown in a van and driven to a windowless converted warehouse in New Jersey. Immigration authorities didn’t so much as find an interpreter.
Instead, they decided to lock her up, decided she was insane without even talking to her, and decided to inject her full of a drug to treat a disease she didn’t have. The side effects were awful. Her tongue swelled so much she couldn’t close her mouth. She drooled and vomited uncontrollably, and began to lactate.
When she complained, they upped the dose. She thought to herself, “maybe I’m going to die in here.â€
Finally, five months after she was detained, she won her asylum case in court and was released from the detention center. Without the perseverance of her lawyer, Amina would never have emerged from her drug-induced state. She would never have found the asylum she so desperately needed"
Originally posted by Rough Neighbor: For anyone who is following this matter, this is good news - so little, so late, but better than nothing! Luckily, some reasonable minded 'arbiters' in our courts are always there to remind some of our USCIS people of their oftentimes 'arbitrary and rigorous' interpretations of laws. RN
'Widow Penalty' case progress
""The Court concludes that in light of Freeman v. Gonzales, 444 F.3d 1031 (9th Cir. 2006), and district court decisions from other jurisdictions agreeing with Freeman, see e.g., Robinson v. Chertoff, 2007 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 34956, at *4 (D. N.J. 2007); Taing v. Chertoff, 2007 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 91411, at *28 (D. Mass. 2007); Lockhart v. Chertoff, 2008 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 889, at *30 (D. Ohio 2008), there are serious questions going to the merits of this case. Specifically, it appears that defendants have improperly determined that the death of a United States citizen spouse before the two-year marriage anniversary of the citizen spouse and alien spouse, deprives the alien spouse of his or her ‘surviving spouse’ status." Hootkins v. Chertoff, C.D. Cal., Apr. 7, 2008."
Second Life Artist Faces Setback in Struggle For American Citizenship
Posted by Mitch Wagner, Jun 27, 2008 01:12 AM
The U.S. government recently denied a green card application by a well-known Second Life artist, declaring her two-year marriage to an American citizen to be fraudulent. The news isn't all bad for her, though -- the denial gives her an opportunity to appeal and prove that the marriage was legitimate.
However, she says she's growing weary of trying to untangle the red tape, and is preparing for the probability that she'll be forced to abandon her adopted home in America.
Irena Morris, known in Second Life as "Eshi Otawara," married an American citizen who died while her application for residency was still in progress. A provision in U.S. immigration law called the "widow's penalty" says that, in that situation, an alien's green card application should be rejected if the marriage lasted less than two years. The Morrises were married one year and 10 months when Glenn Morris died suddenly.
We wrote about Morris' immigration problem two weeks ago.
Morris, 27, said in a phone interview this week, "The last few days I've been bouncing around whether I should leave or fight this." She can't legally get a job in America, and since her husband died, she's been living off of the kindness of friends, and the small amounts of money she can earn as an artist in both Second Life and real life. "I'm packing. I don't know what to do. I have limited financial resources to fight this." She's also working on a motion to reopen her case with the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Service. "They can stretch this out for the next two years. What am I supposed to live off of?"
She doesn't want to leave America, but she may have to, and return to her native Croatia. "I don't think I belong there. I don't want to go there. I'd feel like an American in exile," Morris.
The U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services is looking for evidence that Morris and her husband had a legitimate marriage. Generally, they look for joint bank accounts, bills, property and leases in both their names, according to Mike Castlen, a former immigration counselor who's helping Morris with her case. However, because Morris's husband supported her while she was waiting for her green card and work permit to clear, all their financial records were in his name only.
So Morris is assembling e-mails that she and her husband exchanged, as well as a few photos taken of them together (although she doesn't have many of those -- as an artist, generally she was the one behind the camera). And she's collecting affidavits from all their friends who can swear they were really married.
The e-mails are the kind that would be exchanged by any two people who'd been married only a short time, ranging in content from heartfelt declarations of love to mundane discussions of taxes and what time to have dinner. She said she thinks the e-mails are better evidence of the authenticity of their marriage than bank statements, which would be much more easily forged.
Castlen, who is helping Morris with the case, met Morris through Second Life. He worked as an American immigration counselor 20 years ago, and now works for a not-for-profit that does social work in developing countries. He said he got into Second Life last year to investigate how it might be used as a tool for social change, but now he just goes in to Second Life to play.
The way that he and Morris got together is an example of the power of social media to connect people.
Castlen and Morris met through a mutual friend in Second Life whose SL name is "Harper Beresford." Harper is also a friend of mine.
Beresford and Castlen attended college together in real life, and they reconnected in Second Life and on Twitter.
At first, Castlen had no idea that his new Second Life friend was also his old college friend, because Beresford, like many people in Second Life, keeps her real-life identity secret. But Beresford then revealed her real-life identity to Castlen.
When Beresford heard about Morris' problem, she connected Morris and Castlen, knowing about Castlen's background as an immigration counselor. And Castlen helped Morris find Brent Renison, an immigration attorney who works on widow's penalty cases pro bono.
Morris's case reminds me of another incident: "American Journalist Uses Twitter To Bust Out Of Egyptian Jail:" "As Egyptian police were descending on UC Berkeley graduate journalism student James Karl Buck, he had time to send just one word to his friends on Twitter: "ARRESTED." A day later, he walked out of jail, accompanied by an Egyptian attorney hired by UC Berkeley and the U.S. Embassy on the phone."
Both Morris and Buck used social media to find the connections they need to help them out of a bureaucratic disaster. That kind of leveraging social media is becoming more commonplace, as Clay Shirky writes in his book, Here Comes Everybody: The Power Of Organizing Without Organizations.
But the connections and leverage have to be there first. In that respect, TechCrunch completely missed the point when they headlined their story about the Egyptian incident, Twitter Saves Man From Egyptian Justice.
Blogger Prokofy Neva corrected TechCrunch: "$29 Billion in US Foreign Aid to Egypt in 30 Years Saves Twittering College Kid." Neva adds: "His translator remains in jail. As do Egyptian journalists, bloggers, lawyers, human rights activists. As do bloggers in Saudi Arabia or all kinds of places where states control people's expression."
Neva is right. The entire weight of Twitter and Second Life and all the other social media in the world combined won't help you out if the bureaucracy you're fighting against doesn't care. But it's equally true that all the money and connected friends in the world won't help you if you can't get to them. And social media can help make those connections.
We'll see if those connections are enough to help Morris become an American.
___________________________________________________________________ "The letter of the law is a sword that killeth; its intent is a spirit that giveth life."
Very sad story. No widow should be penalized for actions beyond the control of a normal human. If her lawyer were to be smart, he should have her file VAWA. If fraudsters can take advantage of the loophole, may some legitimates should also take advantage of it. I am in full support of that.
I am not racist. I am not anti-immigrant. I am AGAINST CRIMINALS, FRAUDSTERS, WHO DISOBEY THE LAW, BREAK THE LAW AND PERPETRATE THE FRAUD.
You may not like what I have to say but that does not mean I am wrong.
Posts: 1617 | Location: For Women In Your Heart | Registered: 05-05-2008
Originally posted by whiteUSCNeedsHelp: Very sad story. No widow should be penalized for actions beyond the control of a normal human. If her lawyer were to be smart, he should have her file VAWA. If fraudsters can take advantage of the loophole, may some legitimates should also take advantage of it. I am in full support of that.
Originally posted by whiteUSCNeedsHelp: Very sad story. No widow should be penalized for actions beyond the control of a normal human. If her lawyer were to be smart, he should have her file VAWA. If fraudsters can take advantage of the loophole, may some legitimates should also take advantage of it. I am in full support of that.
Let me remind you that a green card USC spouse. If there is no longer a USC spouse, then there is no longer a need for the benefit. Marriage is barely 2 yrs. There should not be any problem to return to home country and unite with family (if they have one) once marriage is terminated.
There are no longer any VALID ties to be here , other than want.
Imagine... if alien automatically got greencard if spouse dies... How many USC spouse deaths would start occuring Somehow, divorce is a bit more palitable, wouldnt you agree
Originally posted by whiteUSCNeedsHelp: Very sad story. No widow should be penalized for actions beyond the control of a normal human. If her lawyer were to be smart, he should have her file VAWA. If fraudsters can take advantage of the loophole, may some legitimates should also take advantage of it. I am in full support of that.
Let me remind you that a green card USC spouse. If there is no longer a USC spouse, then there is no longer a need for the benefit. Marriage is barely 2 yrs. There should not be any problem to return to home country and unite with family (if they have one) once marriage is terminated.
There are no longer any VALID ties to be here , other than want.
Imagine... if alien automatically got greencard if spouse dies... How many USC spouse deaths would start occuring Somehow, divorce is a bit more palitable, wouldnt you agree
I do see where you are going. More murders, more inconclusive deaths, sudden suicides . Can't help it. But firmly believe an immigrant should not be penalized because of a natural death of a spouse. I say we kick all those who have filed fraudulent VAWA.
I am not racist. I am not anti-immigrant. I am AGAINST CRIMINALS, FRAUDSTERS, WHO DISOBEY THE LAW, BREAK THE LAW AND PERPETRATE THE FRAUD.
You may not like what I have to say but that does not mean I am wrong.
Posts: 1617 | Location: For Women In Your Heart | Registered: 05-05-2008
Originally posted by 4now: Let me remind you that a green card USC spouse. If there is no longer a USC spouse, then there is no longer a need for the benefit. Marriage is barely 2 yrs. There should not be any problem to return to home country and unite with family (if they have one) once marriage is terminated.
There are no longer any VALID ties to be here , other than want.
Imagine... if alien automatically got greencard if spouse dies... How many USC spouse deaths would start occuring Somehow, divorce is a bit more palitable, wouldnt you agree
It's a bit of a stretch to say that murder will be the next form of fraud, 4Now.
As for the no valid ties, I'm not 100% sure I agree on that. It's not as cut and dried as saying that if I divorced, or if JC died - knock on wood (where's MIR??!) - I'd pack my things and go. There are some things I'd have to seriously consider first.
Most importantly is my children. If they didn't want to leave the US, then I couldn't either. They might be old men at 18 and 17, but they're still my babies. They may have girlfriends, jobs, educations that they're not so willing to give up.
Second to that comes something that all USC's want of immigrants - assimilation. The US wants us to embrace American life. Say, I've done that ... I've got a home and a job I love, friends I adore, and a good future ahead of me ... would I be so willing to abandon that and return to my home country where I'd be forced to start over after already selling my home and my possessions, quitting my job, and saying goodbye? I'm not so sure.
The widow penalty is unfair, period. There's no recourse from it, when it's something that's beyond your control. It's ridiculous that a divorce gives you more options than the death of your spouse. Granted, the green card shouldn't be handed out willy nilly, but the same onus to prove the validity of the marriage should apply.
************************************** The whole of life is but a moment of time. It is our duty, therefore to use it, not to misuse it - Plutarch
Posts: 1223 | Location: Las Vegas | Registered: 07-29-2007
If I were a politician, I'd pass a law that widow should be given citizenship right away and people who divorce should be packed and shipped back to their country. A natural death is out of our control, the divorce is a complete setup by these fraudsters. Why should a widower pay the price for which he/she does not have any control?
The more I get into justice system...ooppss no such thing as justice. Correction. The more I get into injustice system, I see laws are made to protect criminals. To hand out injustice to victims.
I am not racist. I am not anti-immigrant. I am AGAINST CRIMINALS, FRAUDSTERS, WHO DISOBEY THE LAW, BREAK THE LAW AND PERPETRATE THE FRAUD.
You may not like what I have to say but that does not mean I am wrong.
Posts: 1617 | Location: For Women In Your Heart | Registered: 05-05-2008
She might be disappointed. This guy didn't get nearly what he expected. Though, he wasn't included. Maybe his first mistake. His second would be that he's not surgically 'enhanced'. LOL.
************************************** The whole of life is but a moment of time. It is our duty, therefore to use it, not to misuse it - Plutarch
Posts: 1223 | Location: Las Vegas | Registered: 07-29-2007
Originally posted by Brit4064: You all need to read this from Senator Robert Menendez's site:
" We, the United States of America, the greatest democracy in the entire world, have been injecting people with heavy doses of drugs in order to deport them or just to move them around the system with more ease.
Immigration officials drug people going through U.S. facilities, and they drug people who are about to be deported. They drug some people so heavily that when they get off the plane they collapse on the tarmac, or they have to be rolled off the plane in a wheelchair.
They don’t only drug people to make it easier to kick them out. One story that stood out in both the Washington Post and a segment on 60 Minutes was that of a woman named Amina Mudey. Last year, Amina fled from Somalia to the U.S. to seek asylum after she was tortured and her family was killed before her eyes.
When she arrived at JFK airport, she was shackled, thrown in a van and driven to a windowless converted warehouse in New Jersey. Immigration authorities didn’t so much as find an interpreter.
Instead, they decided to lock her up, decided she was insane without even talking to her, and decided to inject her full of a drug to treat a disease she didn’t have. The side effects were awful. Her tongue swelled so much she couldn’t close her mouth. She drooled and vomited uncontrollably, and began to lactate.
When she complained, they upped the dose. She thought to herself, “maybe I’m going to die in here.â€
Finally, five months after she was detained, she won her asylum case in court and was released from the detention center. Without the perseverance of her lawyer, Amina would never have emerged from her drug-induced state. She would never have found the asylum she so desperately needed"
She might be disappointed. This guy didn't get nearly what he expected. Though, he wasn't included. Maybe his first mistake. His second would be that he's not surgically 'enhanced'. LOL.
LOL! Hopefully the lady gets a better deal!
Do all the good you can, in all the ways you can, as long as ever you can.
Very sad . The times have changed now. People with power cannot distinguish among cheat, deceit and legit. The cheats and deceits know inside and out of the system. They can easily abuse the system. The legit don't know and have to pay the price. The list of victims is long, miles and miles long. Nothing can happen. The true justice is to hang all the criminals and fraudsters at Times Square on 31st. Let the world see that we do help victims. There is no place for victims.
Our immigration system is so much like what's happening with real life - sometimes, it's unfair. Here we have somebody who has a legit marriage and she's just so tired battling the bureacracy that she's willing to go to her first home country where she feels unwelcome, and then, on the other hand, we have some scammers who get protection from the system and give immigrant spouses a bad rep. In situations like these, the USCIS should determine it on a case-to-case basis and not just blindly implement the regulations.
Do all the good you can, in all the ways you can, as long as ever you can.
Our immigration system is so much like what's happening with real life - sometimes, it's unfair. Here we have somebody who has a legit marriage and she's just so tired battling the bureacracy that she's willing to go to her first home country where she feels unwelcome, and then, on the other hand, we have some scammers who get protection from the system and give immigrant spouses a bad rep. In situations like these, the USCIS should determine it on a case-to-case basis and not just blindly implement the regulations.
It's for these reasons that there has to be a CIR (Comprehensive Immigration Reform act). Actually, the USCIS are supposed to determine on a cases-by-case basis already but one wonders sometimes if they do.
CBP = Customs & Border Patrol. The guys that greet you with a smile at the airport
We voted Democrat. They'll be no need to sneak in anymore
Originally posted by whiteUSCNeedsHelp: Very sad story. No widow should be penalized for actions beyond the control of a normal human. If her lawyer were to be smart, he should have her file VAWA. If fraudsters can take advantage of the loophole, may some legitimates should also take advantage of it. I am in full support of that.
Let me remind you that a green card USC spouse. If there is no longer a USC spouse, then there is no longer a need for the benefit. Marriage is barely 2 yrs. There should not be any problem to return to home country and unite with family (if they have one) once marriage is terminated.
There are no longer any VALID ties to be here , other than want.
Imagine... if alien automatically got greencard if spouse dies... How many USC spouse deaths would start occuring Somehow, divorce is a bit more palitable, wouldnt you agree
Indeed, this is yet another contentious issue, a gray area, in real-life immigration law world - the 'widow penalty' phenomenon.
Congress legislated the law defining 'spouse' for immigration purposes. The Executive Branch care of its Cabinet, the DHS/USCIS, executes it. The Judiciary interprets it. (See Marbury v. Madisson).
The current conflict rests on the execution and interpretation of the same law. (See Chevron v. NRDC).
In Freeman v. Gonzal e z (2006), the US Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit held: “We conclude, through our review of the language, structure, purpose and application of the statute, that congress clearly intended an alien widow whose citizen spouse has filed the necessary forms to be and to remain an immediate relative (a spouse) for purposes of § 1151 (b)(2)(A)(i), even if the citizen spouse dies within two years of the marriage. As such, the widowed spouse remains entitled to the process that flows from a properly filed adjustment of status application. The two-year durational language in the second sentence of § 1151 (b)(2)(A)(i), grants a separate right to an alien widow to self-petition, within two years of the citizen spouse’s death by filing a form I-360 where the citizen spouse had not filed an immediate relative petition prior to his death.â€
But the government counters this holding by the 9th Circuit drawing its very rigid interpretation of 8 C.F.R. 204.2 (b) on the two-year marriage and other requirements, without which the surviving alien spouse could 'not' adjust status.
Wherefore the Court stated: “The government’s position is that regardless of there being no two-year minimum to qualify either as a spouse for filing or being granted an adjustment of status, if the citizen spouse dies short of a two-year marriage and before DHS has acted, his alien spouse’s opportunity for adjustment of status dies with him because the alien is no longer an immediate relative of citizen. We cannot accept this untenable interpretation. (Citing Dabaghian, 607 F. 2nd at 87 (“The word ‘spouse’ in § 1151 (b)(2)(a)(i), includes the parties to all marriages that are legally valid and not sham. There is no exception for marriages that the INS thinks are ‘factually dead’ at the time of adjustment.â€
The Court concluded: “the government’s contentio
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Somehow, divorce is a bit more palitable, wouldnt you agree 
. Can't help it. But firmly believe an immigrant should not be penalized because of a natural death of a spouse. I say we kick all those who have filed fraudulent VAWA.
