Admission and green card
One Easter weekend a few years ago, a news story appeared that may be relevant to those interested in immigration law as well as those interested in evidence law. The story came out of New York state and may provide lessons for federal immigration officials and immigrants seeking to obtain their green cards. The story involves an immigration officer who is recorded demanding sex from a young foreign woman in exchange for him giving her a green card.
Those who know a little about immigration law understand that one of the fastest ways for a foreigner to obtain legal permanent resident status in the United States, that is, to obtain a “green card,” is to marry an American citizen. Under this procedure, the alien becomes what is known as an “immediate relative” and does not have to wait for an immigrant visa to become available, a process that can sometimes take several years. Those who know a little about the law of evidence understand that in criminal or civil proceedings a statement is not hearsay if it is a statement offered against another party and is that party’s own statement. This is known as “acceptance”. Since it is not hearsay, such a “confession” would be admissible at the trial of the person who made it.
Got it? Of course you do. Now think about it.
On a Good Friday in March of last year, a US immigration enforcement officer in New York State was arrested on corruption charges. He threatened to hold up an unnamed woman’s green card application and even threatened to deport her relatives if she didn’t have sex with him.
The woman, who was married to an American citizen, admitted that she gave in to the officer’s initial request for sex because she was afraid of his threats. But she was smart! She used her cell phone, hidden in her purse, to film the intercourse and the conversation that preceded it. She was even smarter then. Days after the encounter, she went to the New York Times with the cell phone recording to tell her story. She then notified the New York District Attorney about the matter. The officer was arrested and suspended. More than likely the case has been turned over to the feds for prosecution. A lawsuit in this type of case is unlikely. The case would have been ripe for a quick plea deal and a quicker guilty plea in light of the recorded sexual encounter and his threats, which could be used against him at trial as a confession.
We really don’t know the outcome of this particular case, but experience with the criminal justice system gives an idea of the usual course of action for this type of case. The employee likely would have been allowed to plead guilty to attempted extortion and abuse of position and, at sentencing, receive a 14-month sentence in a minimum-security federal correctional institution. Plus, of course, he would lose his job as an immigration officer. The woman married to an American would more than likely get her green card and become a legal permanent resident of the United States.
In real life, this type of case happens only occasionally. In this case, the immigration officer was not very smart. As they say on the street — he literally “stumbled” into his own masculinity! During his likely sentence of 14 months traveling to a minimum-security federal correctional institution, the officer will not be confined to a single cell, but instead will be in a dormitory or “pod,” which will have a large gathering space for inmates known as ” living room”. Each day that he would be incarcerated, he could perhaps “travel” to the prison lounge and repent for the “journey” that sent him there. Many would before him.
#Admission #green #card