Moonie

This thread is a hit!

I am wondering about that too Kath, I thought there was just one doctor and was in Melbourne. Hmmm.Kevin's appointment got pushed back to May 1st.

I started a new job on Friday the 13th. It is a bit further than I had to drive before, it is working downtown..I have lived in Houston 10 years and I can make my way there or out to save my life. I am just happy to have something..I can't wait to see Kevin again on 5/7 it will be a whole year since I have seen him!

Congrats on your interview hampster I didn't know you had to pay for the interview either After the NOA2 I don't know anything.

So what are you going to do?

No chocolate for Hampster.

I know that they both are excited!

I can't wait to hear how it goes!

Glad you feeling better.

Wow it just seemed like yesterday you guys had 22 days to go before your interviews!

Good luck!!!

Us waiting on the sideline want all the details

My poor Aussie hubby to be got stung in the head by a bee! What a strange thing!

Thanks for explaination as to why our chocolate is so

When I was in Melbourne I went to Haigh's I believe had me some brownies and champagne truffles It was good!

I had an interview today for a job that I want, close to home...way more money and happy looking people!

I hope I get it..not working sucks XXX!!!!

I love kitties..here is my Simba cakes.. http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v344/Moonchild75/Simba.jpg

I take a Nappy in the afternoons sometimes...

But nappy-headed is something completely different..

Ok I had to laugh at this. Because yes it is completely different.

Hello All,

Hope everyone enjoyed their Easter. I did not realize how unacceptable our chocolate is! Anyhoo Go USA

Glad she made it safely!

By ALICIA A. CALDWELL, Associated Press Writer

1 hour, 59 minutes ago

EL PASO, Texas - For all the tough talk out of Washington on immigration, illegal immigrants caught along the Mexican border have almost no reason to fear they will be prosecuted.

Ninety-eight percent of those arrested between Oct. 1, 2000, and Sept. 30, 2005, were never prosecuted for illegally entering the country, according to an Associated Press analysis of federal data. Nearly 5.3 million immigrants were simply escorted back across the Rio Grande and turned loose. Many presumably tried to slip into the U.S. again.

The number of immigrants prosecuted annually tripled during that five-year period, to 30,848 in fiscal year 2005, the most recent figures available. But that still represented less than 3 percent of the 1.17 million people arrested that year. The prosecution rate was just under 1 percent in 2001.

The likelihood of an illegal immigrant being prosecuted is "to me, practically zero," said Kathleen Walker, president-elect of the American Immigration Lawyers Association.

Federal prosecutors along the nation's southern border have come under pressure from politicians and from top officials in the Justice Department to pursue more cases against illegal immigrants.

But few politicians are seriously suggesting the government prosecute everyone caught slipping across the border. With about 1 million immigrants stopped each year, that would overwhelm the nation's prisons, break the Justice Department's budget and paralyze the courts, immigration experts say.

The Justice Department itself says it has higher priorities and too few resources to go after every ordinary illegal immigrant. Instead, the department says it pursues more selective strategies, such as going after immigrant smugglers and immigrants with criminal records.

T.J. Bonner, the union chief for Border Patrol agents, said the most effective solution would be to dry up job opportunities in the U.S. by cracking down on employers who hire illegal immigrants.

"The employers are the ones breaking the law," he said, suggesting the creation of an "idiot-proof" system to check the immigration status of workers and the prosecution of any employers who knowingly hire those in this country illegally.

"It's much like our tax laws: People don't pay their taxes out of an overriding sense of citizenship; it's a healthy dose of fear," Bonner said.

Under federal law, illegally entering the country is a misdemeanor punishable by a fine and up to six months in prison for a first time. A second offense carries up to two years. If an immigrant has been prosecuted and deported and then sneaks back into the country, he can be charged with a felony punishable by up to two years behind bars. Those with criminal records can get 10 to 20 years.

The federal figures on arrests and prosecutions were collected and provided to the AP by the Transactional Records Access Clearinghouse at Syracuse University in New York.

The number of illegal immigrants arrested at the border is dwarfed by the number who make it through. "For every person we catch, two or three get by us," Bonner said.

Justice Department spokesman Dean Boyd said in a statement that 30 federal prosecutors have been added to the Southwestern border to handle the rising number of immigration and border drug cases and noted that securing more prosecutions would require hiring more judges and public defenders and building more courtrooms and jails.

Authorities also note that illegal immigrants who make it past the border are not necessarily home free. In the past year, immigration officials have conducted numerous raids on workplaces.

Boyd noted that the Border Patrol can charge illegal immigrants with civil violations punishable by fines of $50 to $250. But Border Patrol officials said most Mexican immigrants are not sent before a judge to be fined.

"The majority are offered and granted ... voluntary removal back to Mexico," said Xavier Rios, an assistant chief Border Patrol agent in Washington. "We don't seek to prosecute everyone."

Boyd said the Justice Department pursues charges if a case involves human smugglers, if an immigrant has a felony record in the U.S., or if he has been deported before.

"When you consider the other high-priority laws that the department is charged with enforcing, such as drug trafficking, firearms offenses, violent crime, national security, child pornography, and corporate fraud, the department is achieving a balance of immigration enforcement with other important areas," Boyd said.

Last month an undated internal Justice Department memo released as part of the congressional investigation of the firings of eight U.S. attorneys revealed that in Texas, most illegal crossers have to be caught at least six times before their case will be forwarded to prosecutors.

Still, some border regions have decided to crack down.

Along the Border Patrol's 210-mile Del Rio sector in West Texas, any illegal immigrant arrested since 2006 is jailed and prosecuted, under a federal project called Operation Streamline. It was briefly repeated along a narrow stretch of border in New Mexico. And Maricopa County, Ariz., officials are using a state anti-smuggling law to prosecute both suspected smugglers and the immigrants who pay them.

Rep. Ted Poe (news, bio, voting record), R-Texas, a former state judge, said that the prosecution rates amount to "dereliction of duty" and that the government should spend whatever it takes to lock up and deport every illegal immigrant.

"Prosecutors should not have the discretion to prosecute some people for violations of the law and not others, that's discriminatory," he said.

But Iliana Holguin, executive director of the El Paso Catholic Church's Diocesan Migrant and Refugee Services, said that would mean the government would have to "massively increase the size of the court system, or it is going to collapse on itself under its own weight."

Holguin suggested changing the immigration laws instead to make it easier for workers to enter the United States legally.

"It's not a light decision to come to the U.S. illegally," she said. "If there was a legal way to fill these labor shortages or reunite families, they would do it."

(Corrects number of immigrants not prosecuted to nearly 5.3 million instead of 5.2 million)

WOW O'Rilley looked like his head was about to explode. He did not argue his point effectively. He just looked like a xenophobe who is scared that the brown people are taking over. I agree with Geraldo they should not take a drunk driving case and turn it into an immirgration issue. I know this white guy who has like 3 DWI's in less than a year..still has his license and everything ummm can we send him somewhere??

Immigration is a FEDERAL issue local police have no choice but to let them go it is the law. In order for them to be deport them laws and guidelines have to be in place and it takes for though and some sense of reason. Screaming like your pannies is on fire is not gonna get it done.

Plenty of local forces are now working with ICE, and have been trained in these areas.

Plenty of other crimes are Federal, does not mean that State ignores. Drugs anybody?

You would have some that say the war on drugs was lost a long time ago.

Hmm notice how man drug commercials there are on TV. I think they want us to be our drugs no imports..... I mean dang nobody likes you..you are fat..here take Getalife ....may cause ####### bleeding and constipation. See your doctor for a prescription

And people wonder why I get pissed when they think my accent is Australian.

I'm sure.

WOW O'Rilley looked like his head was about to explode. He did not argue his point effectively. He just looked like a xenophobe who is scared that the brown people are taking over. I agree with Geraldo they should not take a drunk driving case and turn it into an immirgration issue. I know this white guy who has like 3 DWI's in less than a year..still has his license and everything ummm can we send him somewhere??

Immigration is a FEDERAL issue local police have no choice but to let them go it is the law. In order for them to be deport them laws and guidelines have to be in place and it takes for though and some sense of reason. Screaming like your pannies is on fire is not gonna get it done.

Plenty of local forces are now working with ICE, and have been trained in these areas.

Plenty of other crimes are Federal, does not mean that State ignores. Drugs anybody?

You would have some that say the war on drugs was lost a long time ago.

Hmm notice how man drug commercials there are on TV. I think they want us to be our drugs no imports..... I mean dang nobody likes you..you are fat..here take Getalife ....may cause ####### bleeding and constipation. See your doctor for a prescription

WOW O'Rilley looked like his head was about to explode. He did not argue his point effectively. He just looked like a xenophobe who is scared that the brown people are taking over. I agree with Geraldo they should not take a drunk driving case and turn it into an immirgration issue. I know this white guy who has like 3 DWI's in less than a year..still has his license and everything ummm can we send him somewhere??

Immigration is a FEDERAL issue local police have no choice but to let them go it is the law. In order for them to be deport them laws and guidelines have to be in place and it takes for though and some sense of reason. Screaming like your pannies is on fire is not gonna get it done.

That statement in bold is baloney. There are many cities such as Nashville that do not tolerate illegal alien criminals that pass through their jails and courts. The real fact is that they do not have to just let them go like they have some sort of right to be here illegally. Don't believe me? See for yourself what is legally possible.

http://www.nashvillecitypaper.com/index.cf...p;news_id=55346

With active policies like Nashville's you don't have repeat offender illegal alien criminals cut loose on the street to repeatedly endanger the public such as this recent incident that happened in my city.

http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/front/4667218.html

Nobody in their right mind suggests that we should tolerate repeated crimes, DWI or other varieties, from US citizens. But US citizen criminals will eventually be released after serving their sentences and we are stuck with those a$$holes for better or worse. Illegal aliens are the responsibility and burden of the country they are citizens of. Why should we keep these creeps around to commit future crimes here when they should and can be deported to somewhere else away from America?

Give me one reason why we shouldn't deport illegal alien criminals and why some misguided cities actively forbid their local police and local courts from cooperating with Federal authorities to deport them? It doesn't make sense not to deport eligible illegal alien criminals.

First of all who said that we shouldn't deport illegal aliens I commented on how O'Reilly lost his cool and sounded like a maniac and did not argue his case effectively.

And that is fabulous that Nashville does that but you have to admit, it is not being done across this country or we would not have this discussion. In some areas local police do not have the manpower or money to do a "status check" and illegals are released into the street to repeat offend or go on with their life. And the only reason why HPD started verifying status was due to the police officer being killed on duty. And prior to that he was deported and he returned. So in that case the right thing was done and yet he still managed to get back into this country. There are many loop holes in the system. From federal to state.

This is a very complicated issue and just screaming and yelling about he shouldn't have been here and screaming they need to deport them is not going to get it done.

WOW O'Rilley looked like his head was about to explode. He did not argue his point effectively. He just looked like a xenophobe who is scared that the brown people are taking over. I agree with Geraldo they should not take a drunk driving case and turn it into an immirgration issue. I know this white guy who has like 3 DWI's in less than a year..still has his license and everything ummm can we send him somewhere??

Immigration is a FEDERAL issue local police have no choice but to let them go it is the law. In order for them to be deport them laws and guidelines have to be in place and it takes for though and some sense of reason. Screaming like your pannies is on fire is not gonna get it done.

Wow what a mess...

I know you are excited!! Good luck and a safe trip!

I found a copy of it on VJ. I already sent him a message to wait until he gets his police report and blood test before sending off for the interview. I think that would be the safe bet.

what date did he send it off..fingers crossed that the interview is planned for after the medical mate..if its before dont stress over it too much ..you can contact the consulate and reschedule another date but must be done asap..but you as the US citz must write a letter stating why you want it rescheduled not your fiance...

He only sent off the D230 I hope that isn't to get an interview because he sent that off like the day after he got his packet 3

I think we are just going to wait to make his appointment he is waiting to get his police report.

Thank you kath and Girl

He did his police report last week and he has not received it yet. He recieved the i-324 that I sent to him yesterday so he has that. He told me that he already sent off his D-230 that he stated it needed to be sent off right away. I guess

He told me that he had his mail routed to his parents where he is staying. I am not sure if he changed it on his paperwork. His medical appointment will be 4/26/07. I wonder if his mom has his shot records

I think I will tell him to wait till he at least gets his police report. I would just hate for to get the interview and not have everything. I think what makes me even more stressed about this process is that I lost my job. I have not worked in a week and it feels like forever.

I would have to agree this part is the most stressful.

For some reason tonight I feel very unsure about the rest of the process I think because a majority of it is in his hands. I am not sure I did the i-324 right. He has just moved so not sure he will even get the documents he needs. Unsure about this medical process and when the interview would be set and I look around and I see people going about it a 100 different ways.

Oh this sucks.

I did ask them no one has replied. This part is way more nerve racking than the waiting I believe. Don't want any mess ups now.

I put what my home was worth. And I went off of my taxes. I attached a copy of my school tax where it says in big letters OWN and what it was valued at and I put how much my mortgage was. I think if they wanted the equity in your home they would ask for it. :shrugs: I also sent in my tax returns for 2 years a copy of a check stub and a letter from my employer. I hope that would satisfy what they need being that I make over the 125% poverty. I added my house just to make it better I suppose.