My Family Came to This Country Legally, but Were Almost Deported
medium.com
medium.com
The INS/DHS is hopeless.
I moved a couple times and forgot to submit the change of address form. I did it retroactively, but nothing came of it.
The story clearly states that the green cards were legally obtained through the father's work (see fourth paragraph).
"Everyone in here is innocent, you know that?" - Red, The Shawshank Redemption
EDIT: Can't reply to the child comment. But we only have one side of the story here. At best it seems his father was a fool and it's hard to trust the word of a fool.
Just because a scheme seems to a knowledgeable observer to be too good to be true doesn’t make it okay to blame the victims of such frauds.
For example H1B and F1 visas require that you have clear intention of going back. How many people actually want to go back given a shot at PR ?
I do not think his father bribed a government official is a correct. His father hired someone who under a legal contract agreed to help his father in exchange of money. For example I might hire a doctor for kidney transplant. If the doctor kills someone to get the kidney that is not really my problem.
IANAL, but I think immigration generally operates under strict liability, not mens rea. So regardless of whether his father knew he fucked up, his father was at fault. Same way a chemical plant has to pay damages if it poisons the community, whether or not they intended to hurt anyone.
Did you even read the article mate?
> To get our green cards expedited, we paid $45,000 for legal services, fees, and documentation for the three of us to an immigration brokerage service. It was a herculean sum of money for poor immigrants like us, but the American immigration system was hopelessly complicated and confusing. This was my first experience with how expensive lawyers could be.
His broker may have bribed the official, but his father most certainly did not.
> 45k for an "expedited" green card, in 1995?
3 expedited green cards.
> Come on, you know something shady is happening at that point.
Based on what, his extensive experience of the US immigration system that he obtained in South Korea?
Do you take everything at face value?
> His broker may have bribed the official, but his father most certainly did not.
Immigration is strict liability, so from the perspective of liability, his father did.
> 45k for an "expedited" green card, in 1995?
Good catch. I missed that. Makes me somewhat believe his father was just a fuck-up and not outright bribing.
> Based on what, his extensive experience of the US immigration system that he obtained in South Korea?
I don't know, based on maybe getting a second opinion before spending $45,000. Maybe based on the fact he'd spent years in Hong Kong and on H1-B. You don't need to know much about stereos to know you shouldn't buy them out of the back of a van. The author is quick to label his father an imbecile rather than a in-cahoots. The apple doesn't fall far from the tree.
After the disappearance of our lawyer (over a decade ago), we had no way of getting our hands on any case files, I wouldn't know how to fight it in court if we were required to leave the US.
After my father's real-estate developer business went bankrupt in the early 2000s we were in a financial downward slope, pretty much to the point where we had to beg our family friends for money. Nothing was left after my father's passing, well by that time my brother and I had jobs, which was fortunate, although the school loans do hurt, I may have to save up some for the lawyer costs if it ever comes to that.
> ... [T]he stench of stale coffee and rancid soda cans that I collected from office trash cans to help make ends meet.
was the worst he had to deal with in a cleaning job, he had a very nice office to clean. I've cleaned up much worse in my office, and I do IT for a living.
Very common mistake Asians (and non Americans) make to mistake government officials/agencies for the good guy. From little experience I have with USA, law enforcement and tax people are just another scums on the contrary they might be worse than someone who tries to bribe you in a dark alley.