Father of son with cancer gets one year stay of deportation
By Rebecca Savransky (thehill.com) / Feb 13 2018
Immigration authorities have granted an undocumented man whose 5-year-old son has leukemia a one-year stay of deportation.
Jesus Armando Berrones-Balderas was granted the stay on a humanitarian basis, CNN reported.
“In an exercise of discretion, ICE has granted Jesus Armando Berrones-Balderas a one-year stay of removal on humanitarian grounds,” Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) said in a statement Monday.
“ICE issued a previous one-year stay in June 2016. Berrones-Balderas, who has received a final order of removal, remains enrolled in the agency’s Alternatives to Detention program, which requires him to regularly check-in with the local ICE office.”
Last week, it was reported that ICE had denied an extension for Berrones to remain in the U.S. and he was scheduled to be deported.
His lawyer, Garrett Wilkes, said Berrones had attended his regular check-in appointments and that he had filed the paperwork necessary for a stay.
Wilkes said he was told by authorities last Thursday that the stay “was being denied.”
“We couldn’t get any feedback as to why it was being denied. The only response we were getting was no comment,” he told CNN.
Wilkes added that he provided more documents to authorities and believes that paperwork contributed to the reversal.
Berrones was brought to the U.S. by his parents in 1989 when he was 1 year old. When he was 19, he was deported after being caught driving with a fake license, his wife told The Huffington Post. He has since re-entered the country illegally twice.
His son was diagnosed with leukemia in 2016 and is currently undergoing chemotherapy.
In 2016, ICE granted Berrones a stay of removal on account of his son’s illness.
Last week, Berrones took refuge in a church in Phoenix, a sanctuary church offering a refuge for undocumented immigrants.
PB/TK – Here’s a question; What happened to the “marry a citizen get to stay” rule? Well folks, that’s all Hollywood magic, because more then likely the immigrant hubby/wifey still gets a bus ticket and can’t return for a timeframe. In Berrones case, since he entered illegally three times, he’s out
Thanks to the folks at alllaw.com – “If you are one of the many U.S. citizens or permanent residents who have married an undocumented (or illegal) immigrant, then you may be hoping to help that person get a green card and settle into your life together in the United States. However, we have both good news and bad news for you.
Eligibility for Green Card (Permanent Residence) Based on Marriage
The good news is that, under the U.S. immigration laws, immigrants who marry U.S. citizens or permanent residents are among the categories of people allowed to apply for green cards.
If the marriage is to a U.S. citizen, then the immigrant is an “immediate relative,” meaning that an unlimited number of immigrant visas (green cards) are available in that category every year, so the immigrant won’t end up on a waiting list.
If the marriage is to a U.S. lawful permanent resident (green card holder), then the immigrant is in preference category 2A, meaning there are a limited number of visas every year, so the immigrant will be on a waiting list. But it’s not as long a wait as in some other categories.
Complicating Factor: Not Everyone Eligible for a Green Card Can Adjust Status and Receive One
Now for the bad news. Whether the immigrant can “adjust status” — that is, apply for a green card without leaving the United States — depends on whether he or she fits into one of a few narrow exceptions. The immigrant can adjust status only if he or she either:
legally entered the U.S. with a visa or after inspection by an immigration officer (and wasn’t just using the visa with the intention of applying for a green card based on marriage, which happens to be visa fraud) and is either marrying a U.S. citizen or still on a valid visa, or
had a visa petition or labor certification filed for him or her several years ago when a law called “245(i)” was still in force.
If, however, the immigrant entered the United States by unlawful means, such as having been a stowaway or crossing over the border through a fence, adjustment of status is not an option. The only possibility is to apply for the green card through “consular processing,” meaning the immigrant will attend an interview at a U.S. embassy or consulate in his or her home country. That, however, carries a risk of not being allowed back into the U.S. for many years — three years if the period of unlawful presence was 180 days or more, and ten years if the period of unlawful stay was one year or more.”
