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Over the course of her career, Ms. Alice Yardum-Hunter has given many speeches and has published numerous articles to the lay and professional attorney reader alike. The writings and speeches published here and elsewhere are a sampling of her works.
These publications are made available for your personal edification, but are copyrighted and may be used or reprinted only with permission.
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"Green Card?"
2/1/2004
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by Alice M. Yardum-Hunter
This was a letter to the editor of California Lawyer Magazine in response to their In Pro Per article, "Green Card" of January 2004 |
Dear Editor:
Your January 2004 issue of California Lawyer, anonymously written article called “Green Card” was from the perspective of an In Pro Per party with a case before the Citizenship and Immigration Services (formerly INS) and thereby, unknowingly engages in risky legal behavior. The writer was relieved in believing she learned that her foreign born in-name-only husband would get U.S. citizenship because he entered the U.S. by a “specified year”.
Her relief is based in fantasy for two reasons: First, simply because her husband may have other legal immigration options does not erase the marriage fraud they both attempted to perpetrate against the government. Once a crime is committed, it is not overcome by later, legal conduct. While rarely prosecuted to the extent possible, punishment for this conduct is up to five years imprisonment plus a $10,000 fine for both spouses. The fact that the INS hadn’t been in touch to follow up during the six months since the fraud was first suspected doesn’t mean the investigation is over. These cases can take years, particularly because the government will use the fact of a divorce between suspect couples as evidence of fraud. Second, there is no “amnesty” or other law that confers legal status to foreign born individuals who enter the U.S. by a date certain.
It is a source of perpetual frustration that the public at large has misconceptions about the immigration laws of the U.S., often to the great detriment of individuals. The immigration law of the U.S. so seemingly simple to the untrained eye is a morass of constantly changing statutes, regulations, administrative, federal and state case law, and informal policy that it boggles the minds of experts.
Buyer beware of the freebie apparent in self-representation. Immigration fixes that seem so simple as to not require a lawyer are probably too good to be true.
Sincerely,
Alice Yardum-Hunter
Attorney at Law
Former State Bar of California Commissioner, Board of Legal Specialization
Immigration and Nationality Law
Encino, California
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