Imagine being told that you have a certain amount of time left with your children before you will be forced out of the country. Tragically, this is an extremely common situation and one that happens to families in Lancaster quite frequently. When a parent is not a citizen and the children are, there is always the risk that the parent could be deported before he or she has a chance to naturalize and become a citizen, too.
One mother had already given up hope that she would be able to stay in the country when she was received the heart-warming news that she would not only no longer be deported, but that she was also granted legal permanent residency. Now, the 38-year-old mother of three can remain in the country and eventually become a citizen, securing her place in the country. It was because of her daughter’s medical condition that caused an immigration judge to grant her petition for cancellation of removal.
In order for a judge to cancel removal proceedings and grant someone legal permanent residency, the immigrant must show that he or she has no criminal record and has good moral character. In addition, the individual in removal proceedings must have lived in the U.S. for at least 10 years continuously. Finally, the most important criterion is that the deportation would cause exceptional and extreme hardship on a spouse, parent or child who is an American citizen.
In this woman’s case, she likely worked with an immigration attorney to show that her daughter’s medical condition would have made her deportation extremely difficult on her daughter. If the three children remained in the U.S. it would be unclear as to who would care for the sick 11 year old. The nature of the daughter’s medical condition would also make it nearly impossible for her to be properly cared for in Mexico.
Anyone in Lancaster who has been scheduled for deportation should work closely with an immigration attorney to see whether cancellation of removal proceedings is a possibility.
Source: The Chicago Reporter, “Undocumented Life: One year later, an immigrant gets a Christmas wish,” Maria Zamudio, Dec. 18, 2012
Our law firm handles many types of immigration cases, including helping legal permanent residents naturalize as citizens and defend against deportation. Find out more by visiting our website.