Thread: Man ordered deported to Spain despite wife’s appeal

Man ordered deported to Spain despite wife’s appeal

By Phil Fairbanks | News Staff Reporter | @PhilFairbanksBN | Google+on March 25, 2015 - 5:34 PM

Tali Lopez’s campaign to save her husband from deportation was barely off the ground Tuesday when word came that he was already packing his bags.

Just a day after filing a motion to stay his removal, Lopez received word that immigration officials had denied her motion and were putting her husband on a plane out of the country.

Omar Lopez, a citizen of Spain visiting here on a visa waiver, was arrested after a traffic stop last month and later detained when he was found to have overstayed his visit by several months.

He left behind his wife, a Buffalo native, and an infant stepdaughter, Mila.

“It was extremely disappointing to witness first hand the complete lack of attention given to our case,” said Tali Lopez.

“After my up-close-and-personal experience with bureaucracy in this country, I have to say I’ve lost some respect for, ‘the land of the brave and the land of the free.”

Julie Kruger, Lopez’s lawyer, said she was surprised Immigration and Customs Enforcement, the agency that detained Lopez, took so little time to review her client’s legal arguments.

She said ICE’s letter rejecting Lopez’s motion was almost identical to the letter it had previously sent informing her of the decision to deport him.

“We made arguments that removing Omar would cause extreme hardship on Tali and Mila,” Kruger said. “It doesn’t seem like they even considered those arguments.”

ICE officials declined to comment Wednesday on their review of Lopez’s motion and repeated their contention that, “as a visa overstay, his case is a priority under the agency’s current enforcement strategy.”

The final decision on Lopez’s removal was made, not by an immigration judge, but by Michael T. Phillips, ICE’s field office director in Buffalo.

Friends and family say Lopez’s deportation was excessive given his infraction, overstaying his visa waiver. He also was found to be driving without a license.

Tali Lopez said she and Mila plan to leave Buffalo, their hometown, and join Lopez in Spain.

“Our little family did not come about in the traditional way, but that does not make it any less real,” she said.

Lopez’s case is the latest in a series of deportations nationwide that critics think have been wrong headed and heavy handed.

They say the Obama administration has publicly indicated it would focus deportation efforts on criminals and other high-risk detainees, not law-abiding visitors married to U.S. citizens.

Lopez was here on a visa waiver program that allows visitors from certain countries to stay in the U.S. for 90 days. His deadline for leaving passed last May.

email: pfairbanks@buffnews.com

http://www.buffalonews.com/city-region/man-ordered-deported-to-spain-despite-wifes-appeal-20150325

The final decision on Lopez’s removal was made, not by an immigration judge, but by Michael T. Phillips, ICE’s field office director in Buffalo.
...........

Tali Lopez said she and Mila plan to leave Buffalo, their hometown, and join Lopez in Spain.

Yes, that's the way it should be. They'll be very happy there. Spain is a very nice country. This is the way all visa overstays should be handled, which represent about 40% of all illegal immigration. ICE field directors can issue the order to deport. Perfect. Almost half or 2/5 of the problem solved with a letter and a verification of departure.

Does anyone else suspect a "family of convenience arrangement" here. Age of baby stop-child, length of overstay, fishy to me.

Originally Posted by kevinssdad

Does anyone else suspect a "family of convenience arrangement" here. Age of baby stop-child, length of overstay, fishy to me.

I thought the same thing. He comes in for 90 days which means last February if he was supposed to be gone by May, and here in March a year later, the child looks to be about 3 months old and they look pretty happy so the pic was taken before they got the news about his deportation, so it all looks and sounds fishy to me. But, I wish them all well in Spain with Daddy, where they belong!

• It's not his kid.
  
  
  He left behind his wife, a Buffalo native, and an infant stepdaughter, Mila.

Originally Posted by JohnDoe2

• It's not his kid.

LOL!! Good catch! I bet it's not his wife either. Can illegal aliens marry in the US? Who gives them a license?

Can an Undocumented Immigrant Marry a U.S. Citizen?

There's no law preventing an undocumented (illegal) immigrant from marrying a U.S. citizen, but getting a green card (permanent residence) is not quite so simple.



by Ilona Bray, J.D.
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If you are an undocumented immigrant in the United States (sometimes referred to as an "illegal immigrant"), nothing stops you from marrying a U.S. citizen, or most anyone else you wish to marry. U.S. citizens marry illegal immigrants on a regular basis. (The main limitations on marriage in the U.S. have to do with your age and whether the person you wish to marry is a close relative.)

Whether that marriage will get you a green card (U.S. permanent residence) however, is another matter. In theory, these immigrants are "immediate relatives," and are eligible for a green card through the marriage. But undocumented immigrants face some very high hurdles in claiming this right.

The Problem of Inadmissibility

Despite the fact that your marriage may be valid, when an illegal immigrant seeks to become a legal resident, various issues come up. The biggest concern is the time you have spent without legal documents in the United States, particularly if you entered without inspection (for example, by crossing the border illegally).

If you have spent more than six months here after an illegal entry, and apply for a green card, you will most likely have to travel to a consulate outside the U.S. for your green card interview. There, you will be penalized for your illegal entry and stay by having to spend three years outside the United States before returning. If you have spent more than one year here, you'll need to spend ten years outside the United States before returning. You may be able to get a "waiver" (legal forgiveness) of your illegal stay, but these are hard to get. The reason that all of this will happen at a U.S. consulate outside the United States is that, due to your illegal entry, you have no right to "adjust status" (file all your green card paperwork and attend your interview) within the United States. (There are a few exceptions, however, for people who fall under an old law called 245(i) -- to find out who can take advantage of these, see "Adjustment of Status to Permanent Resident - FAQ.")

Immigrants who entered the United States (on their most recent entry) with a visa or other valid paperwork don't, however, have this problem. That's because they are allowed to submit all their paperwork within the United States and attend their interview here -- which means they can't be penalized by being kept from returning to the United States, because they never left. (They may face a separate problem, however, if they used a visa meant for one purpose, such as tourism, with the secret idea of marrying a U.S. citizen and getting a green card. That's visa fraud, and can lead to green card denial.)

Meeting Other Criteria for Getting a Green Card Through Marriage to a U.S. Citizen

Of course, to get a green card based on marriage, you would also have to prove that you meet all the various other eligibility criteria, such as that it is a valid (legally recognized) marriage and that it's "bona fide" (you're not just getting married to get a green card).

You'd also have to overcome any other possible grounds of inadmissibility, by showing, for example, that you haven't committed certain types of crimes (or more than two of any crimes), don't have a communicable disease that would present a danger within the U.S., and won't require public assistance (sometimes called welfare). But as mentioned above, these are the least of your worries if you entered without a visa.

Get Advice From an Immigration Lawyer

If you're an undocumented immigrant who wishes to obtain a green card based on marriage, you should absolutely consult with an immigration attorney before making any decisions. Whatever you do, don't walk into an office of U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) to ask for advice. Such a move could end up with you getting removed (deported) from the United States, and prohibited from returning for many years. An attorney can help you evaluate your situation, determine whether you have a possible path to a green card, assess your prospects of getting a waiver if you choose to go forward with an application that requires your being interviewed abroad, and help you with the application process.

http://www.alllaw.com/articles/nolo/...y-citizen.html

Thank you JohnDoe2. I wonder why a government license to marry acknowledging the legal validity of a marriage that only matters with regards to lawful rights under a marriage would be issued to someone who has no lawful rights in the United States. Where have all the marriage defense actors been all these years? Gay US citizens can't get a license to marry in most states, but illegal aliens can marry in any state they want?

Wow. I hope someone rises to fix this occasion during the 2016 elections.