purplepenguins

Its not that there's no room for you- its that its quite incredible that you appropriate the "coming out of the shadows" rhetoric that doesn't really apply to you. When were you in the shadows? Were you smuggled here? Immigration help is intricately connected to one's own life experiences. You crossed the border as a tourist, just like I've done to go into Canada. No visa required. However, I went to Canada for vacation. I didn't come with a partner who intended to file asylum. I didn't come and get a drivers licence. I didn't get a place to live. I didn't have children. Its incredible you don't acknowledge your own privilege. There are 12 million undocumented immigrants in the US, and a very slim amount have your lived experience. They can't just mosey across the border for a day trip and take up residence. One of my family members wants to come to the US for asylum. He is gay. His partner was killed. His friend was killed- all for being gay. He has been attacked and is targeted. He is eligible for asylum, but he has NO WAY to get here SAFELY. It is dangerous crossing Mexico and illegal w/o a Mexican tourist visa, which he is ineligible for. You don't have that worry. You just drove across the border and took up residence. Your personal background directly affects your immigration experience, and you refuse that and say I'm attacking you. The only reason your kids are now faced with the trauma of relocation is because you decided to have them born and raised here. You made that decision, no one forced you to. Most other undocumented immigrant parents come here for economic opportunity, a chance for their kids to get an education, or to escape violence. You're not in the same boat- yet again, your life experience influences your immigration case. I am merely acknowledging your privilege. Good luck with your case. I have nothing more to say to someone who won't listen.

I'm a woman. I never faulted you for driving legally. Let me be clear. I'm faulting you for admitting on a public website that as a Canadian passport holder, you won't get stopped for "driving while brown", something that affects the daily life of most undocumented immigrants. I'm faulting you for admitting on a public website that you tried to trick the DMV with chocolates, lies, and internet printouts just so you could illegally renew your license. I'm faulting you most of all for being irresponsible by playing Russian Roulette with your children's lives and refusing to apply for the Canadian citizenship they're entitled to, just as a backup to prevent familiar separation should you ever be detained and deported.
Also, while I'm explaining why I "jumped" on you and "faulted" you, I'm also faulting you for admitting on a public website that your family qualifies for and receives public assistance in various forms and yet you do business internationally while working from home. Seems like you have an income stream coming in. You obviously are well educated and physically capable of working. If you're capable of driving kids to FL, you can work to support your family, but you prefer to divert your income out of the US so you can continue to receive aid here. I know there people with real needs- people who are illiterate, who can't speak English, who are disabled, who've gotten hurt on the job, who's job was sent overseas. These are people that I gladly pay taxes for to have a safety net available for them.

THANK YOU! I'm glad that someone understands my issue. This is really an incredible situation. SD went on for hundreds of posts about he MUST have a driver's license. It wasn't, I need immigration relief due to crime. It wasn't, I want status so I can get a job to support my kids. It wasn't, I'm currently living in fear or in a violent situation. It was, "I tried to trick the DMV into renewing my license, but it didn't work and I need to renew my license so THAT'S why I want status". Backwards priorities.

I have worked with men of different sexual orientations who have filed VAWA and U visa in a variety of circumstances. I've worked in DV/SA/human trafficking since 1998, so please don't belittle me with the assumption that I believe that intimate partner violence only occurs in heterosexual relationships and victims are exclusively female and perpetrators exclusively male. My issue is that by his own admission in his first post, his goal has been to renew his driver's license. He is in a serious situation being the undocumented sole caregiver for 2 children with special needs.
He says he's a good parent, and I don't know if he is. I hope he is. Yet, it's totally irresponsible for him to refuse to get his kids Canadian passports and just feel they entitle him to remain here. He can't "see the forest for the trees", as they say. He could get detained and deported. His kids could get put in foster care. This isn't an optimal situation especially given he has the wonderful option to be together as a family in Canada.
Check out today's Huffington Post. Kids sent Christmas cards to the White House asking to stop deporting their parents. This is real.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/12/13/deportation-family-kids-stop-letters-congress_n_2292559.html#slide=1878300

Let's see your first post on this site:
"Fully 11 years in US, my state now refuses (Real ID Act) to renew my Driver License – as I never had SSN or any INS paper issued to me. So I must apply for lawful residency – but how to do it safely?"
You acknowledge you "must" now become a LPR to be able to renew your license. Not protect you or your kids from violence. You were fishing for any possible way to do this- hardship to USC kids, potential VAWA case, anything. I have to say, I've never once heard an undocumented immigrant say they want immigration relief so they can renew their drivers license, let alone a VAWA case. Do you see how this self-serving manipulation of VAWA can enrage actual advocates for immigrants?
I agree! As a non-white US citizen married to a non-white immigrant, imagine the slap in the face I felt reading about how you have no fear of illegally driving in the US due to your race and Canadian passport that's apparently only convenient when it serves you. Otherwise, Canada isn't an option!

Help others? I read your posts, and I saw you working to help yourself to something that you're really not entitled to. The most hilarious part is you freely and arrogantly acknowledged that you see yourself as more deserving of a driver's license than other (non-white) undocumented immigrants (in your "how can I get a drivers license" posts), tried to use your Canadian citizenship only when it potentially was helpful (to maybe legally drive with a Canadian license)...and now consider yourself an immigrant akin to other undocumented immigrants applying for relief. Do you think immigrants from Latin America, Africa, or Asia have much luck at the local DMV with gifts of chocolates?
I'd LOVE to see stats of how many Canadians thatwere waived in without even a visa have subsequently filed to prevent their return to Canada. Want to escape violence in the US? Ok, go back to Canada. I am definitely envious of your healthcare system. I live with a family member with autism, and I know his caregiver would LOVE free healthcare for him.
To me, flagrant abuse and manipulation of our already broken immigration system is inhumane. Refusing to get your kids dual Canadian citizenship when you very well could be deported, leaving them stuck in foster care, is inhumane. I guess we'll have to agree to disagree.

Here, I know you love helpful links. Check them out! And keep in mind your privileged position as a Canadian passport holder. Your children could go with you to a first world country with socialized healthcare and compulsory primary and secondary education.
This case made national news. An undocumented single mother's parental rights were terminated w/o her being present and and her child adopted while she was in detention in KS. State supreme court affirmed termination of her parental rights.
http://womensrefugeecommission.org/programs/detention/parental-rights/encarnacion-romero
US Born Kids of Deported Parents Struggle as Family Life is 'Destroyed': http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/08/25/us-born-kids-deported-parents_n_1830496.html
Undocumented Immigrants Losing Fight to Keep Children who are US Citizens: http://www.annarbor.com/news/undocumented-immigrants-losing-the-fight-to-keep-their-us-citizen-children/
Life after Deportation: Young Citizen Children Left Behind: http://articles.chicagotribune.com/2011-04-06/news/ct-met-deported-parents-children-20110331_1_citizen-children-immigration-laws-immigrant-parents
Children Bear Greatest Burden of US Deportation Policies: http://www.albany.edu/news/26689.php
A Much Needed Spotlight on Families Ripped Apart by Deportation: http://immigrationimpact.com/2012/12/12/a-much-needed-spotlight-on-families-ripped-apart-by-deportations/
When Parents Get Deported, Citizen Children Fight to Survive: http://asu.news21.com/2010/children-of-deported-parents/
Shattered Families: http://arc.org/shatteredfamilies

SD: I stumbled upon your dilemma, and I was so intrigued yet simultaneously incredulous that I read through all your threads. I really have to say that I think your manipulation is rather shameful. You seem very well educated, but you make statements that are either blatantly false (Canada is too cold for my children, but NYC is fine) or deceitful (I have no idea where my wife is, can't figure out if I'm divorced or not, yet out of all the billions of photos online I have found smutty photos of her on the internet and seen her around on the train). You refuse to discuss your own citizenship, yet you reference your mother being in the states and having an Order of Protection against your (ex?) wife. What?? She jumped ship from Canada too?
I worked for a DV program and translated for our staff attorney as the only bilingual staff member who does pro bono work for VAWA, U, and T visas. I saw victims of abuse who wanted to use these options for immigration relief to get out of a dangerous situation and away from their controlling abuser. You got out! You've been fine for nearly a decade
Furthermore, these people I translated for do not have the many privileges you have. I read your delight in paraphrased comments like "I'm a white Canadian passport holder. I won't get racially profiled and pulled over for driving w/o a license. I went to the DMV and tried to trick them into saying Canadians don't have an I-94. I wooed the woman at the counter with chocolates so she'd fraudulently renew my drivers license". The clients for which my former employer advocated don't have these LUXURIES and PRIVILEGES. They are undocumented, unable to speak the language, and truly living in the shadows...yet...they have documents. Lots of them. Every pay stub, lease, phone bill, encounter with the police. You conveniently have ACS reports, which you quote word for word, from this time period....but NO evidence of commingling of resources from 9 years ago. Are you not aware of the possibility of calling creditors, utilities, housing, anything with which you interacted to get old records? Perhaps the real story is there ARE no evidences.
Same with the marriage certificate. You need an official, certified copy. Period. Not a photocopy. Not a story about a ripped up copy. These are the rules that everyone plays by. Why are you exempt? I just read so much arrogance in your posts, and I think its really sad. I pray justice will prevail in your case.
Finally, on a side note, I'm a Court Appointed Special Advocate in cases of child abuse and neglect. I work nearly exclusively with Latino families, and I can attest to many cases where an undocumented parent is deported, their rights terminated, and the children are put in foster care or adopted. I remember you went on and on about this...saying "how many of the deported 46,000 parents of USC children were single parents? Good parents? Lived in NYC?" It was inane. MANY are single parents and good parents. If you utilize your intelligence and do a simple Google search, you can find evidence of this. Some cases recently have even been in national news.

SD: I stumbled upon your dilemma, and I was so intrigued yet simultaneously incredulous that I read through all your threads. I really have to say that I think your manipulation is rather shameful. You seem very well educated, but you make statements that are either blatantly false (Canada is too cold for my children, but NYC is fine) or deceitful (I have no idea where my wife is, can't figure out if I'm divorced or not, yet out of all the billions of photos online I have found smutty photos of her on the internet and seen her around on the train). You refuse to discuss your own citizenship, yet you reference your mother being in the states and having an Order of Protection against your (ex?) wife. What?? She jumped ship from Canada too?
I worked for a DV program and translated for our staff attorney as the only bilingual staff member who does pro bono work for VAWA, U, and T visas. I saw victims of abuse who wanted to use these options for immigration relief to get out of a dangerous situation and away from their controlling abuser. You got out! You've been fine for nearly a decade
Furthermore, these people I translated for do not have the many privileges you have. I read your delight in paraphrased comments like "I'm a white Canadian passport holder. I won't get racially profiled and pulled over for driving w/o a license. I went to the DMV and tried to trick them into saying Canadians don't have an I-94. I wooed the woman at the counter with chocolates so she'd fraudulently renew my drivers license". The clients for which my former employer advocated don't have these LUXURIES and PRIVILEGES. They are undocumented, unable to speak the language, and truly living in the shadows...yet...they have documents. Lots of them. Every pay stub, lease, phone bill, encounter with the police. You conveniently have ACS reports, which you quote word for word, from this time period....but NO evidence of commingling of resources from 9 years ago. Are you not aware of the possibility of calling creditors, utilities, housing, anything with which you interacted to get old records? Perhaps the real story is there ARE no evidences.
Same with the marriage certificate. You need an official, certified copy. Period. Not a photocopy. Not a story about a ripped up copy. These are the rules that everyone plays by. Why are you exempt? I just read so much arrogance in your posts, and I think its really sad. I pray justice will prevail in your case.
Finally, on a side note, I'm a Court Appointed Special Advocate in cases of child abuse and neglect. I work nearly exclusively with Latino families, and I can attest to many cases where an undocumented parent is deported, their rights terminated, and the children are put in foster care or adopted. I remember you went on and on about this...saying "how many of the deported 46,000 parents of USC children were single parents? Good parents? Lived in NYC?" It was inane. MANY are single parents and good parents. If you utilize your intelligence and do a simple Google search, you can find evidence of this. Some cases recently have even been in national news.

Its not that there's no room for you- its that its quite incredible that you appropriate the "coming out of the shadows" rhetoric that doesn't really apply to you. When were you in the shadows? Were you smuggled here? Immigration help is intricately connected to one's own life experiences. You crossed the border as a tourist, just like I've done to go into Canada. No visa required. However, I went to Canada for vacation. I didn't come with a partner who intended to file asylum. I didn't come and get a drivers licence. I didn't get a place to live. I didn't have children. Its incredible you don't acknowledge your own privilege. There are 12 million undocumented immigrants in the US, and a very slim amount have your lived experience. They can't just mosey across the border for a day trip and take up residence. One of my family members wants to come to the US for asylum. He is gay. His partner was killed. His friend was killed- all for being gay. He has been attacked and is targeted. He is eligible for asylum, but he has NO WAY to get here SAFELY. It is dangerous crossing Mexico and illegal w/o a Mexican tourist visa, which he is ineligible for. You don't have that worry. You just drove across the border and took up residence. Your personal background directly affects your immigration experience, and you refuse that and say I'm attacking you. The only reason your kids are now faced with the trauma of relocation is because you decided to have them born and raised here. You made that decision, no one forced you to. Most other undocumented immigrant parents come here for economic opportunity, a chance for their kids to get an education, or to escape violence. You're not in the same boat- yet again, your life experience influences your immigration case. I am merely acknowledging your privilege. Good luck with your case. I have nothing more to say to someone who won't listen.

I'm a woman. I never faulted you for driving legally. Let me be clear. I'm faulting you for admitting on a public website that as a Canadian passport holder, you won't get stopped for "driving while brown", something that affects the daily life of most undocumented immigrants. I'm faulting you for admitting on a public website that you tried to trick the DMV with chocolates, lies, and internet printouts just so you could illegally renew your license. I'm faulting you most of all for being irresponsible by playing Russian Roulette with your children's lives and refusing to apply for the Canadian citizenship they're entitled to, just as a backup to prevent familiar separation should you ever be detained and deported.
Also, while I'm explaining why I "jumped" on you and "faulted" you, I'm also faulting you for admitting on a public website that your family qualifies for and receives public assistance in various forms and yet you do business internationally while working from home. Seems like you have an income stream coming in. You obviously are well educated and physically capable of working. If you're capable of driving kids to FL, you can work to support your family, but you prefer to divert your income out of the US so you can continue to receive aid here. I know there people with real needs- people who are illiterate, who can't speak English, who are disabled, who've gotten hurt on the job, who's job was sent overseas. These are people that I gladly pay taxes for to have a safety net available for them.

I have worked with men of different sexual orientations who have filed VAWA and U visa in a variety of circumstances. I've worked in DV/SA/human trafficking since 1998, so please don't belittle me with the assumption that I believe that intimate partner violence only occurs in heterosexual relationships and victims are exclusively female and perpetrators exclusively male. My issue is that by his own admission in his first post, his goal has been to renew his driver's license. He is in a serious situation being the undocumented sole caregiver for 2 children with special needs.
He says he's a good parent, and I don't know if he is. I hope he is. Yet, it's totally irresponsible for him to refuse to get his kids Canadian passports and just feel they entitle him to remain here. He can't "see the forest for the trees", as they say. He could get detained and deported. His kids could get put in foster care. This isn't an optimal situation especially given he has the wonderful option to be together as a family in Canada.
Check out today's Huffington Post. Kids sent Christmas cards to the White House asking to stop deporting their parents. This is real.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/12/13/deportation-family-kids-stop-letters-congress_n_2292559.html#slide=1878300

Let's see your first post on this site:
"Fully 11 years in US, my state now refuses (Real ID Act) to renew my Driver License – as I never had SSN or any INS paper issued to me. So I must apply for lawful residency – but how to do it safely?"
You acknowledge you "must" now become a LPR to be able to renew your license. Not protect you or your kids from violence. You were fishing for any possible way to do this- hardship to USC kids, potential VAWA case, anything. I have to say, I've never once heard an undocumented immigrant say they want immigration relief so they can renew their drivers license, let alone a VAWA case. Do you see how this self-serving manipulation of VAWA can enrage actual advocates for immigrants?
I agree! As a non-white US citizen married to a non-white immigrant, imagine the slap in the face I felt reading about how you have no fear of illegally driving in the US due to your race and Canadian passport that's apparently only convenient when it serves you. Otherwise, Canada isn't an option!

Here, I know you love helpful links. Check them out! And keep in mind your privileged position as a Canadian passport holder. Your children could go with you to a first world country with socialized healthcare and compulsory primary and secondary education.
This case made national news. An undocumented single mother's parental rights were terminated w/o her being present and and her child adopted while she was in detention in KS. State supreme court affirmed termination of her parental rights.
http://womensrefugeecommission.org/programs/detention/parental-rights/encarnacion-romero
US Born Kids of Deported Parents Struggle as Family Life is 'Destroyed': http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/08/25/us-born-kids-deported-parents_n_1830496.html
Undocumented Immigrants Losing Fight to Keep Children who are US Citizens: http://www.annarbor.com/news/undocumented-immigrants-losing-the-fight-to-keep-their-us-citizen-children/
Life after Deportation: Young Citizen Children Left Behind: http://articles.chicagotribune.com/2011-04-06/news/ct-met-deported-parents-children-20110331_1_citizen-children-immigration-laws-immigrant-parents
Children Bear Greatest Burden of US Deportation Policies: http://www.albany.edu/news/26689.php
A Much Needed Spotlight on Families Ripped Apart by Deportation: http://immigrationimpact.com/2012/12/12/a-much-needed-spotlight-on-families-ripped-apart-by-deportations/
When Parents Get Deported, Citizen Children Fight to Survive: http://asu.news21.com/2010/children-of-deported-parents/
Shattered Families: http://arc.org/shatteredfamilies

SD: I stumbled upon your dilemma, and I was so intrigued yet simultaneously incredulous that I read through all your threads. I really have to say that I think your manipulation is rather shameful. You seem very well educated, but you make statements that are either blatantly false (Canada is too cold for my children, but NYC is fine) or deceitful (I have no idea where my wife is, can't figure out if I'm divorced or not, yet out of all the billions of photos online I have found smutty photos of her on the internet and seen her around on the train). You refuse to discuss your own citizenship, yet you reference your mother being in the states and having an Order of Protection against your (ex?) wife. What?? She jumped ship from Canada too?
I worked for a DV program and translated for our staff attorney as the only bilingual staff member who does pro bono work for VAWA, U, and T visas. I saw victims of abuse who wanted to use these options for immigration relief to get out of a dangerous situation and away from their controlling abuser. You got out! You've been fine for nearly a decade
Furthermore, these people I translated for do not have the many privileges you have. I read your delight in paraphrased comments like "I'm a white Canadian passport holder. I won't get racially profiled and pulled over for driving w/o a license. I went to the DMV and tried to trick them into saying Canadians don't have an I-94. I wooed the woman at the counter with chocolates so she'd fraudulently renew my drivers license". The clients for which my former employer advocated don't have these LUXURIES and PRIVILEGES. They are undocumented, unable to speak the language, and truly living in the shadows...yet...they have documents. Lots of them. Every pay stub, lease, phone bill, encounter with the police. You conveniently have ACS reports, which you quote word for word, from this time period....but NO evidence of commingling of resources from 9 years ago. Are you not aware of the possibility of calling creditors, utilities, housing, anything with which you interacted to get old records? Perhaps the real story is there ARE no evidences.
Same with the marriage certificate. You need an official, certified copy. Period. Not a photocopy. Not a story about a ripped up copy. These are the rules that everyone plays by. Why are you exempt? I just read so much arrogance in your posts, and I think its really sad. I pray justice will prevail in your case.
Finally, on a side note, I'm a Court Appointed Special Advocate in cases of child abuse and neglect. I work nearly exclusively with Latino families, and I can attest to many cases where an undocumented parent is deported, their rights terminated, and the children are put in foster care or adopted. I remember you went on and on about this...saying "how many of the deported 46,000 parents of USC children were single parents? Good parents? Lived in NYC?" It was inane. MANY are single parents and good parents. If you utilize your intelligence and do a simple Google search, you can find evidence of this. Some cases recently have even been in national news.

Its not that there's no room for you- its that its quite incredible that you appropriate the "coming out of the shadows" rhetoric that doesn't really apply to you. When were you in the shadows? Were you smuggled here? Immigration help is intricately connected to one's own life experiences. You crossed the border as a tourist, just like I've done to go into Canada. No visa required. However, I went to Canada for vacation. I didn't come with a partner who intended to file asylum. I didn't come and get a drivers licence. I didn't get a place to live. I didn't have children. Its incredible you don't acknowledge your own privilege. There are 12 million undocumented immigrants in the US, and a very slim amount have your lived experience. They can't just mosey across the border for a day trip and take up residence. One of my family members wants to come to the US for asylum. He is gay. His partner was killed. His friend was killed- all for being gay. He has been attacked and is targeted. He is eligible for asylum, but he has NO WAY to get here SAFELY. It is dangerous crossing Mexico and illegal w/o a Mexican tourist visa, which he is ineligible for. You don't have that worry. You just drove across the border and took up residence. Your personal background directly affects your immigration experience, and you refuse that and say I'm attacking you. The only reason your kids are now faced with the trauma of relocation is because you decided to have them born and raised here. You made that decision, no one forced you to. Most other undocumented immigrant parents come here for economic opportunity, a chance for their kids to get an education, or to escape violence. You're not in the same boat- yet again, your life experience influences your immigration case. I am merely acknowledging your privilege. Good luck with your case. I have nothing more to say to someone who won't listen.

Its not that there's no room for you- its that its quite incredible that you appropriate the "coming out of the shadows" rhetoric that doesn't really apply to you. When were you in the shadows? Were you smuggled here? Immigration help is intricately connected to one's own life experiences. You crossed the border as a tourist, just like I've done to go into Canada. No visa required. However, I went to Canada for vacation. I didn't come with a partner who intended to file asylum. I didn't come and get a drivers licence. I didn't get a place to live. I didn't have children. Its incredible you don't acknowledge your own privilege. There are 12 million undocumented immigrants in the US, and a very slim amount have your lived experience. They can't just mosey across the border for a day trip and take up residence. One of my family members wants to come to the US for asylum. He is gay. His partner was killed. His friend was killed- all for being gay. He has been attacked and is targeted. He is eligible for asylum, but he has NO WAY to get here SAFELY. It is dangerous crossing Mexico and illegal w/o a Mexican tourist visa, which he is ineligible for. You don't have that worry. You just drove across the border and took up residence. Your personal background directly affects your immigration experience, and you refuse that and say I'm attacking you. The only reason your kids are now faced with the trauma of relocation is because you decided to have them born and raised here. You made that decision, no one forced you to. Most other undocumented immigrant parents come here for economic opportunity, a chance for their kids to get an education, or to escape violence. You're not in the same boat- yet again, your life experience influences your immigration case. I am merely acknowledging your privilege. Good luck with your case. I have nothing more to say to someone who won't listen.

Its not that there's no room for you- its that its quite incredible that you appropriate the "coming out of the shadows" rhetoric that doesn't really apply to you. When were you in the shadows? Were you smuggled here? Immigration help is intricately connected to one's own life experiences. You crossed the border as a tourist, just like I've done to go into Canada. No visa required. However, I went to Canada for vacation. I didn't come with a partner who intended to file asylum. I didn't come and get a drivers licence. I didn't get a place to live. I didn't have children. Its incredible you don't acknowledge your own privilege. There are 12 million undocumented immigrants in the US, and a very slim amount have your lived experience. They can't just mosey across the border for a day trip and take up residence. One of my family members wants to come to the US for asylum. He is gay. His partner was killed. His friend was killed- all for being gay. He has been attacked and is targeted. He is eligible for asylum, but he has NO WAY to get here SAFELY. It is dangerous crossing Mexico and illegal w/o a Mexican tourist visa, which he is ineligible for. You don't have that worry. You just drove across the border and took up residence. Your personal background directly affects your immigration experience, and you refuse that and say I'm attacking you. The only reason your kids are now faced with the trauma of relocation is because you decided to have them born and raised here. You made that decision, no one forced you to. Most other undocumented immigrant parents come here for economic opportunity, a chance for their kids to get an education, or to escape violence. You're not in the same boat- yet again, your life experience influences your immigration case. I am merely acknowledging your privilege. Good luck with your case. I have nothing more to say to someone who won't listen.

I'm a woman. I never faulted you for driving legally. Let me be clear. I'm faulting you for admitting on a public website that as a Canadian passport holder, you won't get stopped for "driving while brown", something that affects the daily life of most undocumented immigrants. I'm faulting you for admitting on a public website that you tried to trick the DMV with chocolates, lies, and internet printouts just so you could illegally renew your license. I'm faulting you most of all for being irresponsible by playing Russian Roulette with your children's lives and refusing to apply for the Canadian citizenship they're entitled to, just as a backup to prevent familiar separation should you ever be detained and deported.
Also, while I'm explaining why I "jumped" on you and "faulted" you, I'm also faulting you for admitting on a public website that your family qualifies for and receives public assistance in various forms and yet you do business internationally while working from home. Seems like you have an income stream coming in. You obviously are well educated and physically capable of working. If you're capable of driving kids to FL, you can work to support your family, but you prefer to divert your income out of the US so you can continue to receive aid here. I know there people with real needs- people who are illiterate, who can't speak English, who are disabled, who've gotten hurt on the job, who's job was sent overseas. These are people that I gladly pay taxes for to have a safety net available for them.

SD: I stumbled upon your dilemma, and I was so intrigued yet simultaneously incredulous that I read through all your threads. I really have to say that I think your manipulation is rather shameful. You seem very well educated, but you make statements that are either blatantly false (Canada is too cold for my children, but NYC is fine) or deceitful (I have no idea where my wife is, can't figure out if I'm divorced or not, yet out of all the billions of photos online I have found smutty photos of her on the internet and seen her around on the train). You refuse to discuss your own citizenship, yet you reference your mother being in the states and having an Order of Protection against your (ex?) wife. What?? She jumped ship from Canada too?
I worked for a DV program and translated for our staff attorney as the only bilingual staff member who does pro bono work for VAWA, U, and T visas. I saw victims of abuse who wanted to use these options for immigration relief to get out of a dangerous situation and away from their controlling abuser. You got out! You've been fine for nearly a decade
Furthermore, these people I translated for do not have the many privileges you have. I read your delight in paraphrased comments like "I'm a white Canadian passport holder. I won't get racially profiled and pulled over for driving w/o a license. I went to the DMV and tried to trick them into saying Canadians don't have an I-94. I wooed the woman at the counter with chocolates so she'd fraudulently renew my drivers license". The clients for which my former employer advocated don't have these LUXURIES and PRIVILEGES. They are undocumented, unable to speak the language, and truly living in the shadows...yet...they have documents. Lots of them. Every pay stub, lease, phone bill, encounter with the police. You conveniently have ACS reports, which you quote word for word, from this time period....but NO evidence of commingling of resources from 9 years ago. Are you not aware of the possibility of calling creditors, utilities, housing, anything with which you interacted to get old records? Perhaps the real story is there ARE no evidences.
Same with the marriage certificate. You need an official, certified copy. Period. Not a photocopy. Not a story about a ripped up copy. These are the rules that everyone plays by. Why are you exempt? I just read so much arrogance in your posts, and I think its really sad. I pray justice will prevail in your case.
Finally, on a side note, I'm a Court Appointed Special Advocate in cases of child abuse and neglect. I work nearly exclusively with Latino families, and I can attest to many cases where an undocumented parent is deported, their rights terminated, and the children are put in foster care or adopted. I remember you went on and on about this...saying "how many of the deported 46,000 parents of USC children were single parents? Good parents? Lived in NYC?" It was inane. MANY are single parents and good parents. If you utilize your intelligence and do a simple Google search, you can find evidence of this. Some cases recently have even been in national news.

I have worked with men of different sexual orientations who have filed VAWA and U visa in a variety of circumstances. I've worked in DV/SA/human trafficking since 1998, so please don't belittle me with the assumption that I believe that intimate partner violence only occurs in heterosexual relationships and victims are exclusively female and perpetrators exclusively male. My issue is that by his own admission in his first post, his goal has been to renew his driver's license. He is in a serious situation being the undocumented sole caregiver for 2 children with special needs.
He says he's a good parent, and I don't know if he is. I hope he is. Yet, it's totally irresponsible for him to refuse to get his kids Canadian passports and just feel they entitle him to remain here. He can't "see the forest for the trees", as they say. He could get detained and deported. His kids could get put in foster care. This isn't an optimal situation especially given he has the wonderful option to be together as a family in Canada.
Check out today's Huffington Post. Kids sent Christmas cards to the White House asking to stop deporting their parents. This is real.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/12/13/deportation-family-kids-stop-letters-congress_n_2292559.html#slide=1878300

Let's see your first post on this site:
"Fully 11 years in US, my state now refuses (Real ID Act) to renew my Driver License – as I never had SSN or any INS paper issued to me. So I must apply for lawful residency – but how to do it safely?"
You acknowledge you "must" now become a LPR to be able to renew your license. Not protect you or your kids from violence. You were fishing for any possible way to do this- hardship to USC kids, potential VAWA case, anything. I have to say, I've never once heard an undocumented immigrant say they want immigration relief so they can renew their drivers license, let alone a VAWA case. Do you see how this self-serving manipulation of VAWA can enrage actual advocates for immigrants?
I agree! As a non-white US citizen married to a non-white immigrant, imagine the slap in the face I felt reading about how you have no fear of illegally driving in the US due to your race and Canadian passport that's apparently only convenient when it serves you. Otherwise, Canada isn't an option!

Its not that there's no room for you- its that its quite incredible that you appropriate the "coming out of the shadows" rhetoric that doesn't really apply to you. When were you in the shadows? Were you smuggled here? Immigration help is intricately connected to one's own life experiences. You crossed the border as a tourist, just like I've done to go into Canada. No visa required. However, I went to Canada for vacation. I didn't come with a partner who intended to file asylum. I didn't come and get a drivers licence. I didn't get a place to live. I didn't have children. Its incredible you don't acknowledge your own privilege. There are 12 million undocumented immigrants in the US, and a very slim amount have your lived experience. They can't just mosey across the border for a day trip and take up residence. One of my family members wants to come to the US for asylum. He is gay. His partner was killed. His friend was killed- all for being gay. He has been attacked and is targeted. He is eligible for asylum, but he has NO WAY to get here SAFELY. It is dangerous crossing Mexico and illegal w/o a Mexican tourist visa, which he is ineligible for. You don't have that worry. You just drove across the border and took up residence. Your personal background directly affects your immigration experience, and you refuse that and say I'm attacking you. The only reason your kids are now faced with the trauma of relocation is because you decided to have them born and raised here. You made that decision, no one forced you to. Most other undocumented immigrant parents come here for economic opportunity, a chance for their kids to get an education, or to escape violence. You're not in the same boat- yet again, your life experience influences your immigration case. I am merely acknowledging your privilege. Good luck with your case. I have nothing more to say to someone who won't listen.

I'm a woman. I never faulted you for driving legally. Let me be clear. I'm faulting you for admitting on a public website that as a Canadian passport holder, you won't get stopped for "driving while brown", something that affects the daily life of most undocumented immigrants. I'm faulting you for admitting on a public website that you tried to trick the DMV with chocolates, lies, and internet printouts just so you could illegally renew your license. I'm faulting you most of all for being irresponsible by playing Russian Roulette with your children's lives and refusing to apply for the Canadian citizenship they're entitled to, just as a backup to prevent familiar separation should you ever be detained and deported.
Also, while I'm explaining why I "jumped" on you and "faulted" you, I'm also faulting you for admitting on a public website that your family qualifies for and receives public assistance in various forms and yet you do business internationally while working from home. Seems like you have an income stream coming in. You obviously are well educated and physically capable of working. If you're capable of driving kids to FL, you can work to support your family, but you prefer to divert your income out of the US so you can continue to receive aid here. I know there people with real needs- people who are illiterate, who can't speak English, who are disabled, who've gotten hurt on the job, who's job was sent overseas. These are people that I gladly pay taxes for to have a safety net available for them.

Its not that there's no room for you- its that its quite incredible that you appropriate the "coming out of the shadows" rhetoric that doesn't really apply to you. When were you in the shadows? Were you smuggled here? Immigration help is intricately connected to one's own life experiences. You crossed the border as a tourist, just like I've done to go into Canada. No visa required. However, I went to Canada for vacation. I didn't come with a partner who intended to file asylum. I didn't come and get a drivers licence. I didn't get a place to live. I didn't have children. Its incredible you don't acknowledge your own privilege. There are 12 million undocumented immigrants in the US, and a very slim amount have your lived experience. They can't just mosey across the border for a day trip and take up residence. One of my family members wants to come to the US for asylum. He is gay. His partner was killed. His friend was killed- all for being gay. He has been attacked and is targeted. He is eligible for asylum, but he has NO WAY to get here SAFELY. It is dangerous crossing Mexico and illegal w/o a Mexican tourist visa, which he is ineligible for. You don't have that worry. You just drove across the border and took up residence. Your personal background directly affects your immigration experience, and you refuse that and say I'm attacking you. The only reason your kids are now faced with the trauma of relocation is because you decided to have them born and raised here. You made that decision, no one forced you to. Most other undocumented immigrant parents come here for economic opportunity, a chance for their kids to get an education, or to escape violence. You're not in the same boat- yet again, your life experience influences your immigration case. I am merely acknowledging your privilege. Good luck with your case. I have nothing more to say to someone who won't listen.