Imagine coming to the U.S. with hopes of achieving your dreams. You arrive here and in the midst of working hard, you fall in love, get married and have two beautiful children. Over time your marriage falls apart. Your spouse becomes abusive and abandons you and your children. You go through a divorce alone, trying to raise your two children during this difficult period. Your dreams are a distant past, nowhere in sight. Amidst all this difficulty, you find a person who understands you, trust and respects you. You begin a life with them, only to be placed in removal proceedings with the threat of not coming back for 10 years.
Our client, a native and citizen of El Salvador, was in the same predicament. He entered the U.S. in 1985 to escape the Salvadoran civil war in which thousands of civilians became victims. Upon entering the U.S. our client started working. He fell in love, had 2 kids and got divorced. He became the sole legal and physical custodian of his two kids. In the midst of his life, he was charged and convicted of 2nd degree assault in the state of Maryland. Several years later, and after turning over a new leaf, he met his beautiful wife who had two children of her own. They married and worked hard to build their blended family. He started his own business and gained traction in the community for being a pious God-fearing individual always looking to do good in the community.
After spending several years trying to build their blended family, our client was picked up by ICE. The basis of removal was a 2nd degree assault conviction from 2001. At his immigration court hearing the government argued that our client was ineligible for bond because of his conviction. We were successfully able to argue that this conviction is not an aggravated felony and not a bar to bond eligibility. The Judge agreed with our argument and granted bond, to allow him to be released from custody and to work and provide for his family.
At the merits hearing we argued for relief in the form of Special Rule Cancellation of Removal under NACARA. Section 203 of NACARA applies to certain individuals from Guatemala, El Salvador, and the former Soviet bloc countries who entered the United States and applied for asylum by specified dates or registered for benefits under the settlement agreement in the class action lawsuit American Baptist Churches v. Thornburgh, 760 F. Supp. 796 (N.D. Cal. 1991). If relief under section 203 of NACARA is granted, the individual becomes a legal permanent resident (green card holder) of the U.S.
Client had met all the base requirements for relief. All that needed to be considered was the individual’s good moral character and the hardship his family would suffer if he were to be removed. At the time of the merits hearing, our client not only had his own two kids, and two step children, he also had a newborn with his wife. The Judge considered not only the family, kids, their ages and schooling; he also considered our clients business and the testimony of community members attesting to his good moral character. We worked hard to persuade to Judge to consider all the positive factors in our client’s life such as his wife, who he has supported financially and emotionally; his children, biological and step, who he has taken on as his own responsibility; his community who he supports and cherishes; and his business and employees who he cares for. In considering all of these factors the Judge could not deny the fact that our client was a good man who had made a mistake in his past. What he also could not deny was the fact that he had taken on the responsibility for providing for all his children and that he was doing his best to ensure they are physically, mentally and emotionally healthy.
Our firm worked very hard and diligently to gather all the evidence necessary to support our client’s claim. With our help, our client will be allowed to stay in the U.S. with a green card. Our client can now hope to become a U.S. citizen to stay permanently with his family without fear of being removed from the U.S. He can make sure to care for and financially support his family, fulfilling his parental and spousal obligations to his children and wife. Another happy ending.