It's been a rough month for immigrants married to U.S. citizens.
Last week, the Seventh Circuit affirmed the removal of a man who married a U.S. citizen, but later divorced her over disagreements about having children. Judge Posner wrote an impassioned dissent defending the good faith nature of the marriage, and accusing his fellow justices of seeing fraud where none exists. See my post on Bouras v. Holde:
http://www.sabrinadamast.com/journal/2015/3/8/seventh-circuit-denies-i-751-judge-posner-dissents-showing-sympathy-to-immigrant-but-contempt-for-immigration-attorneys
Earlier this week, the Eighth Circuit denied an immigrant's request for a continuance (admittedly, his 13th such request), to allow his daughter to file a petition on his behalf, on account of a prior finding by the Department of Homeland Security that the immigrant had engaged in marriage fraud. See my post on Mogeni v. Holder:
http://www.sabrinadamast.com/journal/2015/3/9/eighth-circuit-affirms-denial-of-request-for-13th-continuance
Today, we return to the Seventh Circuit, who in a decision issued on Wednesday, still showed little sympathy for the uphill battle our clients often face in proving that they married U.S. citizens for bona fide reasons, and not just to obtain permanent residence. Mr. Souley also married a U.S. citizen, who filed a petition on his behalf. The Government deemed the documents she supplied insufficient to demonstrate the bona fide nature of their relationship. complaining, in part, that there was no evidence of Mr. Souley on the lease for the couple's residence, and that he was not named in the eviction proceedings brought by the landlord. Mr. Souley, a less than punctual person, put together a packet for a second petition, this time showing his name of the lease (though not his wife's) and showing a lawsuit pending against him for unpaid rent. He did not file it, instead seeking a continuance from the Judge to do so, before investing the resources in the filing fees without knowing if the Judge would permit the adjudication process. This was excellent foresight on his part, as the Judge denied his request for a continuance, finding that Mr. Souley had not demonstrated sufficient likelihood that this second would be approved, and thus, concluding that there was no good cause for a continuance. He ordered Mr. Souley removed from the United States at a master calendar hearing. The Seventh Circuit affirmed, finding that the possibility that the second petition (still not filed by Mr. Souley) to be too speculative to warrant a continuance.
You can read the full text of Souley v. Holder here: http://media.ca7.uscourts.gov/cgi-bin/rssExec.pl?Submit=Display&Path=Y2015/D03-11/C:14-2536:J:PerCuriam:aut:T:fnOp:N:1515069:S:0