Students need help!

[eap620 0]

So I used to be on this site for my own situation but am now divorced & not going through the stress anymore. I am now teaching in my hometown in Texas and we hava large number of kids in school that have no papers.

Recently, a student, who is now 18, asked me how he could obtain residency & then citizenship. He was brought here illegally by his parents when he was 12 years old. He has been here the entire time but is now "of age" so I don't know what the process would be for him.

Please let me know any info. that could help him get some sort of documentation to help him with college/work as he will be graduating this year.

I hope this is making sense right now as I am rushing as I write this before my next class of kiddos come in

Thanks,

Erin

[john_and_marlene 162]

So I used to be on this site for my own situation but am now divorced & not going through the stress anymore. I am now teaching in my hometown in Texas and we hava large number of kids in school that have no papers.

Recently, a student, who is now 18, asked me how he could obtain residency & then citizenship. He was brought here illegally by his parents when he was 12 years old. He has been here the entire time but is now "of age" so I don't know what the process would be for him.

Please let me know any info. that could help him get some sort of documentation to help him with college/work as he will be graduating this year.

I hope this is making sense right now as I am rushing as I write this before my next class of kiddos come in

Thanks,

Erin

At 18 they begin accruing overstay time. The only way to become legal is to leave the U.S. and come back with an immigrant visa. If they wait more than 180 days after turning 18 they have a 3 year ban. If they wait more than 1 year after turning 18 they have a 10 year ban.

There is currently no way to become legal without leaving.

[Brother Hesekiel 2,236]

Another aspect of this might be lurking in the dark: when registering for school, including high school, or community college, one must either mark "US citizen" on the application or provide proof of legal presence. If that's the case in your school as well, the parents of some students might have misrepresented their child in their behalf which could potentially open a huge can of worms for the adult student when applying for a visa.

I actually read of a case on another board where a woman was applying for naturalization, yet had visited a community college many years previously, and marked "US citizen" on the application in order to avoid proof of legal presence, which, as you can imagine, could have devastating consequences for her when it came up at the FBI background check.

[eap620 0]

So he can file and admit that he has been here for the last six years and not be penalized, correct? I understand that he will be affected by the ban from now on since turning 18 but the years before turning 18 do not count against him, right?

I don't think anybody could talk a student in his situation to go back and file at this point. It's a shame because I would hate for him to be affected by these bans and denied later. However, he is scheduled to graduate in seven or so months. I don't think anyone could force him to give that up at this time.

Thanks for your help. If anyone else knows of any ideas for these kiddos, let me know. Oh...what about the kids under 18. Is there anything they can do, or do they have to wait until the turn 18?

[JERIII 8]

So he can file and admit that he has been here for the last six years and not be penalized, correct? I understand that he will be affected by the ban from now on since turning 18 but the years before turning 18 do not count against him, right?

I don't think anybody could talk a student in his situation to go back and file at this point. It's a shame because I would hate for him to be affected by these bans and denied later. However, he is scheduled to graduate in seven or so months. I don't think anyone could force him to give that up at this time.

Thanks for your help. If anyone else knows of any ideas for these kiddos, let me know. Oh...what about the kids under 18. Is there anything they can do, or do they have to wait until the turn 18?

The problem with going back and "filing" is that he can't file - he has no basis for immigrating.

You might want to check out this story:

http://www.cnn.com/2009/US/10/22/lia.detai...dren/index.html

It says, in part, the following:

In Marta's case, her lawyer, Michelle Abarca, determined during interviews with her that she had no place to go home to and no safe place to live in the United States. She argued in court that Marta qualified for a special visa for children who have been abused, abandoned or neglected and need the protection of the United States. She now lives in a foster home in Florida and has a U.S. visa.

I don't think any of us on VJ are likely to know enough about this sort of law to be definitive.