Another Immigration sob story
When lights flashed in Luis Duque’s rearview mirror as he drove his boyfriend Oscar to work in Charlotte on Wednesday, he assumed it was police. But within two minutes, that traffic stop turned into a chaotic interaction with Immigration and Customs Enforcement and ended with his boyfriend being taken away.
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He pulled over off Independence Boulevard, not far from Bojangles Coliseum, and was immediately boxed in by other unmarked vehicles. About 10 armed federal agents in masks surrounded them on all sides asking for their IDs, Duque said.
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The agents didn’t have a warrant or any paperwork, the 24-year-old Charlotte native said. He handed his ID over, but his boyfriend, 26, who is in the process of becoming a U.S. citizen, didn’t have his.
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He knew what was going to happen the moment the agents identified themselves as ICE, Duque said, but he was still shocked when an agent said Oscar needed to step out of the car because he was being detained. Duque said he pleaded with agents to let him get out; he wasn’t sure when he’d see Oscar again.
No time for goodbyes: ICE takes Charlotte man’s partner during random traffic stop
The article is not being specific, but it does not matter. When it says “ in the process of becoming a U.S. citizen” one may assume he is a Green Card holder. If so, he is mandated by law to carry the card all the time for purposes of identification and presented on demand, no excuses. You are told this by the Immigration official that processed your case and later in the documentation you get when your card arrives. I never stepped out of the house without the darn thing because I accepted and played by the rules of my then host country.
Has people been detained and taken away before Trump for not having the Permanent Resident Card? Abso-effing-lutely. And they got to have crappy time being processed while they run prints and check for warrants and assorted other nastiness. The only reason this is now worthy of a sob story is because TDS and not because it is somehow illegal or immoral.
But again, things are not like they initially seem:
On Wednesday, Oscar was taken to the Department of Homeland Security office on Tyvola Centre Drive in south Charlotte. In their brief phone call, Oscar told Duque he was given two options: take $2,500 to self-deport to Mexico or stay at the Georgia detention center and wait three or four months to see a judge.
This is interesting because if you have a Permanent Resident Card, extradition or going to a judge are not options. You are simply released after a stern verbal spanking if you have no criminal issues, maybe a fine.
Oscar has been working with a lawyer since 2018 to become a U.S. citizen, Duque said. Recently, Oscar took steps to getting his citizenship with key paperwork filed, Duque said. But now Duque is frustrated, he said. The lawyer who was working with Oscar lacks urgency and won’t communicate with Duque since he’s not the client, Duque said.
Things are starting to be more clear. If you have a Green Card and do nothing stupid for five years, you apply for Citizenship (hefty fees apply) and within the next year (at least in my case) you will get called, have an interview, do the Citizenship test in English1 and then wait to be called to take the Oath of Allegiance and get your Naturalization Certificate. I used no lawyers and was done in under 6 years, Oscar had a lawyer and 8 years later was still more than likely an Illegal Alien because now I am suspecting that he actually never had a Green Card. After re-reading the article, there is no mention of Green Card or Permanent Resident Visa, just a generic use of the word “I.D.” to make it sound he was legally covered but more than likely was not.
The lawyer thing comes in two flavors. The first one is that the lawyer is a totally fictional character, especially when you read the line “The lawyer who was working with Oscar lacks urgency and won’t communicate with Duque since he’s not the client, Duque said.” By now we have seen stories of immigration cases where the lawyers step up to the cameras to plea the case of a client to anybody that is within earshot. That this one is mute is suspicious as hell.
The second flavor is that we have a scummy lawyer or somebody pretending to be an immigration lawyer but it is really sucking monies out of gullible illegal aliens. I was warned about these vermin when we moved to Miami and the rule of thumb was that if they had an office on the second floor of a rundown strip mall2, more than likely they were legal-ish bloodsucking-cash-stealing parasites. That goes double if you meet somebody3, happen to open up about your plight and the person offers: “I have a lawyer friend that can help you and cheaply.” Fucking run if you hear that because you will spend ten times more than the coyote that brought you to the US charged and you will never be legal.
So yeah, this is just another desperate story lacking a bit (lot) of digging and fact finding. Then again as I have been saying for decades, they are in the News Business, not in the Truth Business.
This is mandatory by law. My mom’s wish was to become a U.S. Citizen, but lacked the proficiency in English and she passed away before she could apply for a waiver based on age and time as Legal Alien.
And Lord knows there is plenty of those in Florida next above tag agencies and private job recruiting offices.
He will probably be from the same country of origin and will be collecting a finder’s fee for sending the poor “sardina” to the shark.
Your insight regarding the immigration process is invaluable, Miguel! Thanks for sharing it.
People (too often) immediately apply their bias as opposed to their intellect. If someone isn't looking at a situation from both sides, they might as well not look at all. I am blessed to be born American, and I thank you for becoming one.