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4 <title>What Will Happen?</title>
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9 <meta name="author" content="Andrew DeFaria">
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14 I just thought that I should write you to describe to you what I think will
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15 happen. I don't know for certain that things will go this way but I think
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16 that it is likely.<br>
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18 I have been talking to Macys, trying to get them to drop or lower the charges.
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19 They are not budging. They say they cannot talk to me, only you or your lawyer
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20 (Allen). Allen didn't think it would be a good idea for him to talk to Macys
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21 before. I will ask him again.<br>
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23 I have been thinking of writing the DA a letter explaining your problems
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24 to see if they may lower the charges further. I will ask Allen if that would
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27 I got a letter from the probation department. I called the officer and left
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28 voice mail. I told her that I'd like to make a statement and send it to them.
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29 I did not want to fill out the form they gave me because it was for people
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30 who wanted to further press charges and I do not want to do that.<br>
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32 Your sentence will be for 4 months, 3 with good behavior. So probably around
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33 January 20<sup>th</sup> you will be released from Elmwood. But the INS will
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34 pick you up and transfer you to INS detention which is on Monterey Road. I
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35 tried to read up about INS detention and what the facilities are like. Unfortunately
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36 the San Jose INS facility did not have its own web site. But reading about
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37 other city's INS detention facilities game me the impression that they might
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38 be pretty nice and may include contact visits.<br>
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40 When you get to INS detention immediately file a form requesting a bond
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41 hearing. You will go before an immigration judge who will look at your situation
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42 and set the bond amount. I will also contact Jim Lopez so he can be with
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43 you and represent you for this. You might also want to ask them where this
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44 court is and if I can come to the hearing. Jim should also know this and
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45 I will ask him about it.<br>
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47 Once bond is set I can bond you out. You will be able to come home and we
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48 can be together. You can also start your therapy.<br>
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50 Eventually we will need to appear before the immigration judge again and
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51 he will determine whether or not you are to be removed from the US. They call
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52 it <i>removal proceedings</i> not <i>deportation</i> but it really means
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53 the same thing. If the judge determines that you are removable he will probably
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54 grant you voluntary departure, which means he allows you to leave the US
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55 voluntarily by a certain date.<br>
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57 I was very saddened to learn that the grand theft charge still makes you
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58 removable. I had gotten my hopes up high that we were in the clear regarding
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59 the INS. I also got your hopes up and I am sorry for that. I read the INS
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60 law wrong. It says that if you commit a crime of moral turpitude within 5
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61 years of being admitted to the US and the punishment that <u>could</u> be
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62 given is <u>one year or more</u> then you are deportable. The problem is
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63 that grand theft is punishable by jail <u>not exceeding one year</u> which
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64 means that it <u>could</u> be a full year therefore qualifies for the <u>one
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65 year or more</u> phrase in the INS law.<br>
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67 I do not know how strict an immigration court will be. They may say "Grand
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68 theft could be a one year sentence, therefore she's deportable" or they could
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69 take into account your medical history and show mercy. I fear they won't show
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70 mercy. One thing the INS officier did tell me was that immigration court
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71 is like regular courts and they do take everything into account and can show
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72 mercy. Maybe I'm just worrying too much but the thought of losing you is
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73 unbearable to me.<br>
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75 At this point we can file a waiver asking for permission to have you stay.
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76 They base this waiver on whether or not your leaving would be an <u>extreme
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77 hardship</u> to me or Danni. I have been thinking for almost two years what
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78 extreme hardship I would have. I do have some things that I think are extreme
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79 hardship but I don't know if they would qualify. The judge looks at everything
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80 and bases his decision on the total of everything combined.<br>
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82 If the waiver is turned down then we could appeal to the Board of Immigration
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83 Affairs (BIA). But we can only appeal based on matters of law. We cannot simply
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84 appeal to get another try or a different opinion. We need to show that the
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85 immigration judge made an error when applying the law.<br>
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87 Another thing in our favor is that the immigration judges here in San Francisco
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88 are pretty easy going. We may not have to go as far as filing a waiver. They
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89 may also set the bond pretty low, which would be good.<br>
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91 But in the meantime when we are able to spend time together we must work
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92 hard on solving your problems and our problems. We need to be able to go into
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93 court and show them how much progress you've made and that our marriage will
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94 be a success. That will help our case a lot. You cannot, at all, make any
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95 mistakes by breaking the law or getting into trouble with the law. It will
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96 kill our case, our marriage and our relationship for good.<br>
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98 Sorry, another serious letter. I will write you a love letter next. But
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99 I hope it helps to prepare you for what's to come. Do not fear it. All we
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100 can do is the best that we can and to hope for the best. We cannot predict
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101 the future nor can we make it happen. All we can do is do our best, our parts,
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102 and try to get a favorable outcome.<br>
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104 We cannot let this hang over our head with worry either. That will not help
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105 us. Instead we should enjoy our time together and do what we can to help things
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108 I love you very much.<br>
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