I can't believe this is happening in the USA

[Ted Striker]

Actually not a bad idea. I know some immigrants that spent time in Canada before coming to the US, so maybe he can hang out there for a while?

Keep your options open.

Chegitz will he be able to make it across the border without being harassed though? (When they asked for ID, etc).

[tandeetaylor]

If he leaves now, it will be at least 10 years before he is allowed to return. We have to go to school, we need to get our lives started. We can't just leave. If we were a little older, with degrees, I'd say, sure, let's go.

[Edan]

Were any arrested for which hadn't been commiting an illegal act ? And, again, those that had been arrested on trivial charges were released.

[Dinner]

I doubt gender and ethnicity have much to do with it but I couldn't blame the authorities if it did. Especially since the people who want to kill us come almost exclusively from Arab states. If your husband had not previously committed crimes then you wouldn't have anything to fear now. Is that not so?

Still I shall try to help you if you will accept it. My advice is to find a local Muslim or Lebanese Christian help organization. Not only will they have probably dealt with cases like this before but also they may even be able to provide you with funds to fill out the necessary paper work. Failing that you can always check on the Internet for immigrant help services in the city in which you live. They will have broad general advice, some of which may be applicable to your case.

In any event I suggest you accept that your current impasse is the result of your own failings and you cease blaming the U.S. for your problems. It would also be nice if you stop making all the hyperbole about the 3rd Reich. I hope you are able to find a solution to your problems.

[tandeetaylor]

Originally posted by Ted Striker
Oh and definitley get a lawyer before you do ANYTHING.

Lawyers are quite often people who take advantage of people in desperate situations. Tack on another $3,000 for lawyer's fees... (that's the price a friend of ours was quoted) They only charge $1,200 to help apply for the greencard. The more desperate the situation, the higher the fees.

[tandeetaylor]

Originally posted by Oerdin
I doubt gender and ethnicity have much to do with it

See quote above from INS website.

but I couldn't blame the authorities if it did. Especially since the people who want to kill us come almost exclusively from Arab states.

You're right. People should be arrested by demographic, not actual crimes committed. But this has been debated before. How can I argue if you're a racist.

If your husdand had not previously commited crimes then you wouldn't have anything to fear now. Is that not so?

Again, my husband has every right to be an American citizen ( or at least legal permanent resident) as of now. His status is due to INS inefficiency.

Still I shall try to help you

Aw, gee, you're just full of sugary goodness. Still...

It would also be nice if you stop making all the hyperbole about the 3rd Reich.

Che was eloquent and correct in one of his former posts. You don't start asking questions about a dictatorship after it has taken away all your rights.

I hope you are able to find a solution to your problems.

I doubt it. I am, after all, such a criminal.

I have to go for now, I'll be back.

[Dinner]

A lawyer may be expensive but the cost will be well worth it compared to deportation or imprisionment. If legal questions start to arise you would be well advised to seek legal help at once.

[Ted Striker]

I agree with Oerdin, yes in the short term the lawyer is going to cost alot of money. However what he said was true, in the long run, you can't afford to NOT get a lawyer, to cover your back.

Alot of the Iranians who got rounded up here in LA had lawyers and the LAWYERS were the ones who were going to the reporters and making a stink so everybody in the public got to know about what was going on.

I am sorry I didn't catch the name of the two main lawyers on the news but please keep your options open and definitley cover your back.

[Imran Siddiqui]

I'm sorry, but I feel that it is in many ways comparable. All this is is singling out members of a society because of gender and ethnicity.

Because we are about to send Arabs to concentration camps, right? We are going to make them put the star and cresent on their body, right?

You don't start asking questions about a dictatorship after it has taken away all your rights.

Wacko libertarians. This is why I don't join the party.

Any comparison between Nazi Germany and the INS is ludicrous. Sorry, but it was a dumb comment.

[Bonaparte]

Enough of the politically correct BS already...if you are hear illegal then leave-these people aren't above our laws....Just so you know I am an Italian and my Father was an immagrant...so stick it in your ear!! And we all speak english-imagine that! At the rate these people are comming into this country and breading and using our welfare (by the way) America will no longer be America...it will be more like a province of Spain. As far as Georga is concerned, I am well aware of its history, and in my opinion Georgia S**KS, but that is my biased opinion on that issue. Now if I have to listen to anymore politically correct garbage I am going to throw up. It's easy to be politically correct on this issue until you find yourself surrounded by neighbers who cannot even speak english and that don't give a hoot about this country...sure let them all in until they start moving in next door...enough is enough the 90s are over so can the politically correct retoric!!!

[Ted Striker]

Hey Bonaparte, are you aware that if we kick out all the illegals that the entire food supply will collapse? It's more than just political correctness, it's about freakin' practicality. And I guarantee you I've lived with more immigrants than you will ever know in your lifetime, so don't even pull that crap you hypocrite.

[Bonaparte]

Oh, Have I ruffled your feathers....wake up....these people hurt our economy....watch the news....and watch an American broadcast. By the way the term hypocrate doesn't apply - before use a big word when you engage in petty name calling look it up in a dictionary!!!! Did you go to school Ted...No...don't answer.

[Ted Striker]

They don't hurt the economy -- the entire agricultural market in the US, which is the largest agricultural producer in the world, is built on the backs of migrant workers. Get rid of them and that entire economy COLLAPSES.

Or maybe you can find me enough American citizens who will perform backbreaking work in poisonous environments for less than minimum wage?

Well I tried to look up "hypocrate" in the dictionary but apparently it wasn't there.

Try reading the Grapes of Wrath and replace the Okies in the book with South Americans and Mexicans and you have the exact situation decades later -- a bunch of migrant workers who are mistreated and paid crap wages so we can enjoy the food we eat.

[Sprayber]

Perhaps Lebanon would be a better place if the US is turning into the third reich?

That is what it comes down to right. Everyone wants here for economic reasons but those pesky little laws that have to be followed always seems to get in the way. Immigration is good. But unchecked immigration is a recipe for disaster. I am sorry for your situation, I truely am. But in the rush to get married and start a family, did the issue of can he legally stay in the country ever come up? Was there any thought about his legal status in this country being questionable and maybe that should have been the first thing to get settled. Now with a baby on the way and married the goverment is supposed to look the other way. Somehow it's the INS's sole fault?

It's a sad situation, but not entirely surprising.

[cia]

I have NO sympathy. My friend brought his wife over from the Ukraine after a year of effort and large sums of money and he still fights with the idiots every six months. If he, with a limited income, is willing to do it the right way, you should too. Of course INS sucks, it's a government agency after all. The IRS also sucks but I don't get to ignore them.