I know I didn’t write anything right after the hearing on Thursday and some people may be wondering what had happened. It was one hell of a long day let me tell you. I was up by 5:45 am to shower and get dressed since I was anticipating a fight of epic proportions from Ashley just to get her out of bed. It didn’t go so bad actually so we go out of the house earlier than I expected. The hearing was scheduled for 9 am, but Lance had asked me to get there by 8:30 am because the Pro Bono attorney would try to get her hearings done first unless I held the spot. I was in Bloomington by 7:15 am, so I figured breakfast was in order. I went to Denny’s and read my Kindle for a while. I was still at the USCIS/ICE office before 8:30, but at least I wasn’t the only one there.
Lance arrived close to 9 am and the judge walked through the waiting room shortly afterwards. The Judge grunted, “Which one of you is the pro bono attorney today?” I watched as all the other attorneys avoided eye contact while looking through their files or checked their phones for emails. Lance seemed bewildered and asked, “Wasn’t Amy supposed to be the Pro Bono today?” Apparently Amy had a conflict on her calendar and wasn’t able to keep her obligation to the immigration court and now 25 people were without representation. Lance glanced at the docket thoughtfully, and then called his wife. He asked her when she was going to be done across the street because he needed help, and she said she would come as soon as she was finished. Lance went to the window and asked for the paperwork on the Pro Bono cases to start reviewing who he could get done quickly without assistance since he didn’t speak much Spanish. He rushed a few people through hearings before our hearing before the Judge.
We were brought into the courtroom the last hearing was held in a month ago, and the proceedings began. The Judge obviously didn’t know what was going on with Alberto’s case, and the government attorney was as clueless as I’d assumed. He was a mousey looking man, almost like Drew Carey prior to the weight loss only not as good looking. The judge wanted clarification so the hearing was taken off the record and Lance began to explain why they couldn’t deport my husband. He explained how Alberto was brought into the country for criminal proceedings, and how he must be allowed a reasonable amount of time to depart on his dime after the parole is terminated. Alberto was not afforded this opportunity so the government had violated his rights. Lance went on to explain that we still do not know what type of parole granted so we are unable to determine if Alberto is eligible for relief or if we should terminate proceedings to return him to Mexico without a final order of deportation. The government attorney jumped in at that point, stating that we should go ahead with the termination of the proceedings and earned a sigh from Lance. You see, the government attorney was unable to determine what kind of parole Alberto was granted to enter the US, and he was unable to locate the rulings that outlined Alberto’s rights as an immigrant. We heard him muttering a steady stream of ‘what the hell’ as he was desperately searching for the documentation. The solution was another continuance because the Judge refused to spend 30 minutes on a single immigration hearing, with admonition that the attorneys submit their motions prior to the hearing so that the Judge could have a decision ready. Lance politely agreed to the continuance, which was scheduled for the 23rd of January.
Outside of the hearing I asked Lance to explain what was going on because Alberto would want to know. Lance said that twice now immigration had attempted to violate Alberto’s rights and this would be leverage should we ever need it on an appeal level. Alberto should have been allowed to leave on his dime, and the government should not have begun removal proceedings without informing him his parole was terminated upon his ‘release’ from jail for the criminal matter. So the government screwed up and the tax payers are footing the bill.
Brian has still not emailed me, so we’ll just have to wait and see what happens next on that front. I can use all of my email requests for a statement as evidence of my willingness to pay if need be in order to make the full and final payment legal. I’m standing my ground on not paying them until they send me a statement.
I’m tired and cranky. I guess I’m not terribly surprised in those regards, but I will do my best to get past how I feel.
“Adversity is like a strong wind. It tears away from us all but the things that cannot be torn, so that we see ourselves as we really are.”
Arthur Golden
Ciao
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