Bryan Smith for New York Daily News
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Q: After Immigration and Customs Enforcement arrested my husband, I put up his appearance bond. Now he has left me. What happens to my money if he doesn’t show up in court? Will I get in trouble for having guaranteed his appearance? My husband is an undocumented immigrant. After he agreed to marriage counseling, I bonded him out. He never went to counseling. Then, one day while I was at work, he cleared out our bank account and stole all of my personal property. My neighbors called me to tell me he was loading everything up and leaving. However, by the time I got there he had taken everything and disappeared! I have tried to reach him without success. I would like him to be deported and get an annulment. His next immigration court hearing is in December, but I doubt he will appear.
Amanda, Sacramento, Calif.
A: You won’t get in trouble if your husband doesn’t appear in court, but you will lose your bond money. You posted the money as a guarantee that he would appear in court when requested by the judge to do so. If he doesn’t appear — you lose your money. If he fails to appear, the judge will order him deported “in absentia.” Then, if ICE ever catches up to him, he can be deported without a hearing.
Q: My son is unemployed. Can he sponsor my husband and me for green cards? My son is a U.S. citizen, age 22. He recently graduated from college, but he has yet to find a job in his field of studies so he is working at Home Depot. His monthly gross income is $ 1,800.00.
May Yee Ng, Brooklyn
A: Your son can petition for you and your husband, but he will need proof other than his personal income that you are not likely to become what the law calls a “public charge.” A public charge is a person who receives need-based cash public assistance. Your son may need another relative or a friend to submit an affidavit as a “joint sponsor.”
When U.S. citizens or permanent residents petition for a relative, the law requires the petitioning relative (here your son) to submit USCIS form I-864, Affidavit of Support, for the beneficiary of the petition, here you and your husband. The law requires the affidavit to insure that the beneficiaries will not become public charges.
The petitioner must prove that he or she has sufficient income and assets to the beneficiary at 125% of the federal poverty guidelines for number of people in the family unit. The family unit includes the petitioner, the beneficiaries, the petitioner’s dependents and other individuals for whom the petitioner has filed affidavits. In your case, the unit includes at least your son and you and your husband. For 2013, the amount a petitioner must show for a family of three is a yearly income of $ 24,413. That’s more than your son’s current earnings. Where the petitioning relative doesn’t have sufficient income or assets to support the beneficiary at 125% of the federal poverty guidelines for the family unit, the beneficiary may submit affidavits from friends and relatives or other evidence of financial resources.
You can find good information on the public charge issue at the website of National Immigration Law Center at www.nilc.org. Click on “Get informed,” then “Community Education Materials,” then “Affidavits of Support.”
Allan Wernick is an attorney and director of the City University of New York’s Citizenship Now! project. Send questions and comments to Allan Wernick, New York Daily News, 4 New York Plaza, N.Y., 10004 or email to questions@allanwernick.com. Follow him on Twitter @awernick.
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