I consider today to be somewhat of a disappointment, but I suppose it could have been worse. We had our third immigration hearing this morning and the weather certainly made driving interesting. The commute that normally takes under 30 minutes lasted a full hour and 45 minutes thanks mostly to snow stupor syndrome*. I have a definition at the bottom of the post for those of you that are unfamiliar with this horrible disorder although I suspect a great majority of my readers may have observed something similar. Lance arrived shortly after 9:30 am for the hearing and muttered his apologies, faulting the excessive traffic for his tardiness. I expect to arrive well ahead of the attorney in any given situation, so I wasn’t surprised in the least. Actually, I had been late myself, arriving about 10 after 9.
I have to say that the USICE office here in Minnesota is a downright depressing place to be. You first begin to feel the woe when you enter the hallway to be inspected before you’re allowed into the bowels of this immigration hell. The uniformed officials are cleverly disguised agents of evil that fix you with a potent glare and demand to see your hearing letter. I send my own potent glower at the head agent respond coolly that I am HERE for my HUSBAND, daring him to make an issue of my presence. I’m surprised they haven’t posted a sign in the room that says Abandon Hope All Ye Who Enter Here. What else could our broken immigration system be if not one of the Nine Circles of Hell created by the same people whose souls will be condemned to Eighth Circle?
I wholeheartedly agree with Lance’s observation; “Respondent is a hostage of the US Government.” How else can this appalling situation be explained? Alberto has complied with the all the USCIS has demanded of him and yet he is still detained over 2 months after the sentencing when he was released on probation. It seems like the USICE is malevolently attempting to override their own policy in order to railroad an immigrant who just wants a chance to be with his family. We were gifted with yet another continuance based on the fact that Honorable Judge Whatshisface was out of the office on Friday for his administrative day and therefor had yet to read the Opposition or subsequent Response. Lance explained that the ICE judges have rotating schedules; they work 5 – 8 hour days one week, and 4 – 10 hour days the next. It’s very possible that attorney Boris Badenov knew this and did it on purpose; not to say that his intention was to delay the proceedings, but to make it that much more difficult for Lance to respond. I sincerely hope that Judge Whatshisface keeps his promise to issue a decision prior to the next hearing on Monday because this is beyond ridiculous.
My day didn’t get any better when I arrived home from work. I skipped my work out because I wasn’t sure what the state of the roads would be and I was just beat. Before I turned off my car I noticed one of my headlights seemed to be out, so I got out and did a walk around. My driver’s side headlight and taillight were out. Fantastic! I needed to get the headlight taken care of tonight because I wasn’t going to go and visit Alberto at the jail just to win a ticket for my trouble. Number one on my list for the evening was to take care of that for sure. I had three letters waiting for me on the kitchen counter; two letters from the county, and another from a collection agency. The collection agency bill didn’t worry me overmuch, just another medical bill heading into collections. I expected as much so no big deal. The first county letter I opened was a disenrollment form for Ashley from Medical Assistance. I know I sent in my renewal packet, so I called the county worker and left her a message to see what the hell was going on there. The second county letter was addressed to Albertho*, but I opened it anyway as I usually do. I think my mouth dropped open; it was a letter demanding over $10,000 in restitution stemming from the criminal case.
I think my heart skipped a few beats when I read the bill again; $10k+ in restitution payable to the county with a term of 1 calendar year before a 20% penalty is applied. I called Brian’s cellphone in a blind panic. He immediately said in his best lawyerly voice that I needed to calm down and tell him what was wrong. I read the letter to him. Brian said that they only had 30 days from the sentencing to enforce restitution if they were going to request it and that period was up on December 21st. We can appeal the decision, and that is exactly what we are going to do. Now the question is, do I tell Alberto that when I see him tomorrow? He’s the only one I want to talk to about it, to see what he has to say, but to put that pressure on him? I don’t know if I can do it. When the incident keeps slapping me in the face like this, well I don’t know I’ll ever be about to forgive Caña or Don Cesar for the mess they got my husband into.
I’m hoping for a better tomorrow, but will be Tuesday and you know what I think about Tuesdays. Our only choice is to keep moving forward.
“It is the highest form of self-respect to admit our errors and mistakes and make amends for them. To make a mistake is only an error in judgment, but to adhere to it when it is discovered show infirmity of character.”
Dale E. Turner
Ciao
*Snow Stupor Syndrome: A dastardly type of amnesia suffered exclusively by the people of Minnesota in which residents lose their ability to drive while in the midst of a snowfall. The effects of this syndrome become less pronounced over time as the person afflicted becomes accustomed to the sight of snow.
*Misspelling intentional – they can’t seem to get his name right.
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