Thread: Hispanics in a Knot in Prince William(Illegal Immigrants)

Hispanics in a Knot in Prince William
Immigrants Fearful About Crackdown Pursuing Marriage

They were children in Guatemala when they met -- 10-year-olds who hadn't heard of Manassas or Prince William County or Virginia.

But somehow, more than 15 years later, life had brought them here: standing on the empty second floor of Prince William's courthouse, getting married. There was no white dress, no bouquet and no family other than their 1-year-old daughter.

All of that could wait, the couple said, but the marriage couldn't.

"We don't know what's going to happen later," the groom, Elvis Jimenez, 26, of Manassas, said in Spanish. "We heard that people without Social Security cards wouldn't be able to marry soon."

Since Prince William approved a resolution last month to root out illegal immigrants, officials say, calls from Hispanics wanting quick civil marriages have increased, a sign of growing desperation and fear. Immigration lawyers and community activists say many undocumented immigrants could be turning to matrimony as a route to legal status or choosing to tie the knot before the county starts denying public services to those who are here illegally.

In Herndon and in Loudoun County, which have large Hispanic populations and have pushed measures against illegal immigration, officials said they have not seen a sudden increase in marriages. Nor have clerks in Montgomery and Prince George's counties in Maryland. The Prince William resolution is the toughest in the state, directing police to check immigration status and seeking to deny public benefits to illegal immigrants.

Elvis and Marcia Jimenez said that they had been planning to get married but that they finally made the decision after hearing media reports that Prince William would soon deny the service of civil marriage to illegal immigrants. Although Marcia, a waitress, is a legal resident, Elvis, a painter, is undocumented.

Illegal immigrants do not automatically gain lawful status by marrying legal residents, but marriage allows them to apply through their spouses for legal standing.

"He's the head of this family," Marcia Jimenez said, holding their daughter, Daniela, and adding that she doesn't know what they would do if he was deported.

Maria Ramirez works for the county's Public Services Division, which handles marriage licenses, and is one of four people the county lists as a Spanish-speaking civil celebrant, a person authorized to officiate weddings. She performed the Jimenez nuptials.

Before the Board of County Supervisors passed the immigration measures by a unanimous vote July 10, Ramirez estimated that she was handling about 10 ceremonies a week. Now, she said, the number is as high as 20. The phone calls to her office also have increased, with many callers asking about identification requirements, such as whether they need to furnish a Social Security card.

"People are getting scared," Ramirez said.
Many callers also mention that they have an attorney -- which was unheard of before, she added.

"They used to do it on their own. Now they say, 'my lawyer, my lawyer,' " she said. "They want to be able to know first if 'I should go over there to Public Services.' They think we're going to call immigration on them."

After the Prince William vote, county staff members were given 90 days to figure out which services could be denied to illegal immigrants lawfully. The police department has 60 days to establish how it will check residency and what constitutes probable cause.

Shari Starr, a deputy clerk for the Prince William Circuit Court, remembered listening one night to a radio program about how Loudoun wanted to follow Prince William's lead in enacting the measures. By the next morning, Starr said, the calls to her desk increased. On the other end of the line were people with Spanish accents asking how they could get married -- now.

"It was immediate," Starr said, estimating she received at least 10 such calls that first day. "My thought was, they are just scrambling to be legal so they won't be thrown out of the area."

After Congress failed to pass comprehensive immigration legislation, many immigrants think that marrying someone who is here legally is their only option for legalization, said Claudia J. Zucker, an Arlington County immigration and family lawyer, adding that this opens the door to fraudulent pairings.

"Sometimes they are honest with their attorneys, and sometimes they are not," Zucker said. "They say, 'Look, I'm getting married because I have no choice.' It's a business proposition. Some of them even use the words 'business proposition.' "

Atchuthan Sriskandarajah, an immigration lawyer with five offices in Virginia, including one in Manassas, said he would never support a fraudulent marriage. But if a couple had been in a relationship for years and were contemplating marriage, he said, he wouldn't hesitate to advise them that they should consider doing it now. In Virginia, there are no residency requirements to obtain a marriage license, and identification is needed only as a proof of age.

"We have clients that are panicking," Sriskandarajah said, adding that many are asking what will happen to them if they are stopped by police. The unease has been growing since Prince William proposed its resolution, he said. "This is coming from my clients in Prince William. It is not coming from my clients in Fairfax."

In Prince William, the number of Hispanics has ballooned in the past few decades, with the community making up more than 18 percent of the population in 2005, compared with 4.5 percent in 1990. The percentage of Hispanic students in the county's school system since 1996 has swelled from 6.6 percent to nearly one-fourth.

Teresita Jacinto, of Mexicans Without Borders and the Woodbridge Workers Committee, said the uncertainty over how the resolution will be enforced has only added to the confusion in the community.

She said she is fielding questions from mothers about how to protect their children and is saying goodbye to entire families that are relocating. Jacinto thinks there is a sociological explanation for the recent surge in nuptials.

"In a time of crisis, that kind of thing happens," she said. "People find a way to respond to their unbearable situations, and marriage can be a good thing."

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/co ... 02228.html

"Marriage can be a good thing..." Yeah, if it's for the right reason!!

I know about two instances:

Iranian came here years ago to go to school....he was a pervert! Anything goes sexual....married a lesbian because he knew it was just to stay here.....I guess they got divorced, never heard of him again...but I can almost bet he's still here.

Palestinian married 4 times to stay here! He's now a citizen, and still married to his 4th.

Funny thing that "my lawyer, my lawyer" comment coming from illegals calling the county offices. Like it's going to get them somewhere.

"Lawyer" my foot.

Last month I had to send 6 non payment of rent cases over to our corporate attorney for eviction proceedings and all I heard for 2 weeks was threats from illegals about "my lawyer" this, that, and every other thing. Give them notice to clean their yard, get rid of the junk cars, or the 50 extra people living with them and it's "my lawyer".

For all these so called lawyers these people supposedly have, I've yet to see a single one.

Looks like they are scrambling in Prince William County,Virginia.

Head 'em up,move 'em out Rawhide!