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Comment by instagib | Hacker News Reader

He overstayed the 90 day fiancé visa. Got married eventually. That should have triggered a 5-10 year bar from re-entering the US.

He could have applied for legal status immediately and it is usually waived if you pass the interview process.

Instead, 20 years later he applied for a green card to get a temporary work permit which is usually granted eligible while applying for permanent residency. So he had no work permit or valid status for 20 years.

5 months in detention seems like a long time. They offered to deport him but he refused and supposedly DHS forged his signatures.

It’s a messy case but he could have avoided the detention if he willingly asked to be deported immediately then fight for immigration status from where he has citizenship.

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> He overstayed the 90 day fiancé visa. Got married eventually. That should have triggered a 5-10 year bar from re-entering the US. > He could have applied for legal status immediately and it is usually waived if you pass the interview process.

"Why do people come here illegally? Do it properly!"

I immigrated here from Australia. It would have been cheaper, and faster, to come here on the VWP, get married, and apply for forgiveness, than to do it legally.

Look at our current first lady. Comes here as a working model on a tourist visa. That should also have triggered a ban from re-entering the US.

It's all just such a mess. Revisiting this point:

> He could have applied for legal status immediately and it is usually waived if you pass the interview process.

I got divorced (we had a sincere intent, but we acknowledged we got married sooner than we would if it wasn't for logistics), and missed one of the dates for AOS. To be clear, at that point it's not just that they say "Oh, whatever", it's that the onus is on USCIS to show fraudulent intent. We'd already had some fairly detailed interviews, separately. "What day does the garbage go out? Who usually takes it out? Who is your auto insurance through? What cars do you own between you? What was the last major update done to your home?" and so on, to demonstrate that you'd been living together in a genuine relationship.

i fully agree with deporting the first "lady" on the same grounds. We either respect the rule of law or we don't

I don’t think these ends justify the means. It sounds like the government failed early on in what seemed like a benign infraction, and now it is deciding to punish him for it. That’s like getting away with not returning a library book, and then being arrested and taken to prison for thousands in overdue fees when I try to return it later. That’s arbitrary and excessive, hopefully found to be a violation of due process, and should not be defended.

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