Wednesday, January 27, 2010
FULLERLTON OFFICE UPDATE
The phone company is telling us that in spite of our opening date of Feb 1, 2010 at our new Fullerton office (as posted on Jan. 6, 2010), the new phone and fax system will not be operational until Feb. 3. Please continue to call us at our existing phone and fax numbers which will remain operational (and which we will continue to answer) until the new numbers are in effect. We will be winding down our affairs in Buena Park through the early part of February as we ramp up in Fullerton. Please don't panic if you cannot get through to the new numbers for a few days. You will be able to reach us.
Tuesday, January 19, 2010
HAMILTON PREVAILS IN DISMISSAL OF REMOVAL PROCEEDINGS AGAINST ALIEN CONVICTED OF BURGLARY
Attorney Hamilton was awarded a judgement of termination of "Removal Proceedings" today from a Los Angeles, California Immigration Judge (IJ), dismissing said proceedings which have been pending for the past almost two years, against a lawful permanent resident alien, who was alleged to have been convicted of burglary as a felony under California law and was facing deportation on the strength of this allegation. These Immigration Court proceedings involved numerous and sometimes lengthy and contentious court hearings against the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) over the past two years, and a complex series of briefs and oral arguments, in which Hamilton continuously and persistently attacked the charging document against the alien as being facially invalid. Ultimately the IJ found in favor of Hamilton and his client, stating that the Government, in its Notice to Appear, had indeed, not met its burden of sustaining removability against the alien, warranting a complete dismissal of the case, and sparing the alien from deportation and preserving said alien's lawful permanent residence. The Government reserved appeal.
Wednesday, January 6, 2010
CHOW & HAMILTON ANNOUNCES MOVE TO FULLERTON CALIFORNIA
Chow & Hamilton will be moving its practice as of February 1, 2010, from their present Buena Park location, to a new suite of offices located at 285 Imperial Highway, Ste. 207, Fullerton, CA 92835. The new office's phone number will be (714)441-3400 and the fax number will be (714)441-3407. The firm will be notifying its clients, agencies, courts, vendours and colleagues of this move throughout the month of January. This blog will officially list the new address in its "contact information section" on February 1, 2010.
Thursday, November 26, 2009
THE TRANSITION FROM USCIS TO IMMIGRATION COURT
The denial of many types of immigration applications carry the risk of a referral to Immigration Court (IC) Removal Proceedings if the alien is out of status at the time of the denial. For example, the denial of the asylum application of an out of status alien by the USCIS Asylum office, requires that the alien's matter be forwarded to to the IC. The denial of an adjustment of status (green-card application) based upon the out of status alien's marriage to a US Citizen will also often result in referral to IC.
This transition from USCIS to IC is critical, though aliens do not always understand the significance or importance of it. When an alien is referred to IC, the Government prepares a Notice to Appear (NTA), which makes certain allegations against the alien and charges the alien under one or more sections of the Immigration and Nationality Act, of being "removable" from the United States. The NTA also sets a date, time and place of a "Master Calendar Hearing" (which is like an arraignment in criminal court), or notifies the alien that he or she will be informed of the date time and place of the master hearing at a later time. The NTA can be served on the alien in person by an immigration employee, or forwarded to the alien's last known address of record from the alien's file. Should the alien fail to attend the master hearing, the Immigration Judge (IJ) will typically enter an order of deportation against the alien in the alien's absence. The failure to appear in IC and an in absentia deportation/removal order has certain negative consequences to the alien and will strip the alien of eligibility for certain forms of immigration benefits and render the alien inadmissible to the United States for 10 years, should the alien depart the United States.
Hence, an alien who is careless in monitoring his or her mail after the denial of their case by USCIS, or who ignores an NTA, may find him or herself in an extremely weakened position in terms of their ability to receive immigration benefits at a later time. Some aliens decide, after their application has been denied by USCIS, that they will not consult with their attorney again, and will not read their attorney's advisory letters. They will sometimes instead, discuss their circumstances with friends in their community, who advise them, not based upon law, but upon their own speculation. Such aliens will sometimes leave the United States without attending their court proceedings, imagining that the Government will be happy with their departure, and will allow their return to the US once the alien has reason to return. Aliens also sometimes do not appreciate or remember (in spite of the attorney's very careful discussion of the limitations of his services in his fee agreement) that immigration attorneys do not typically commit to representing an alien through all stages of their potential immigration journey, since that journey can often take years and in some cases over a decade to completion. Thus, an attorney who represents an alien in a marriage case, usually has not committed in his fee agreement with the alien, to represent the alien in the IC. Some such attorneys have never appeared in IC and would not be prepared to represent aliens in that forum. Other immigration attorneys with IC experience (such as myself) would require the alien to enter into a new agreement to cover that forum. Hence, if the alien has not re-hired his attorney, or retained some other attorney for court, and fails to appear for the master hearing, there will be no one in court on the alien's behalf at the time of the master hearing to speak for the alien. Where the alien shows up to the master hearing without an attorney, most, if not all IJs will allow the alien some amount of time to retain a lawyer for court. It is always better for the alien to attend court in the company of his or her attorney.
I have had the displeasure of having had to advise some aliens, years after their departures from the United States and after having not heard from them following a denial of their applications by USCIS, that their failure to attend court and request voluntary departure from the IJ would likely prevent them from, or pose serious obstacles to their reentry into the US for many years to come. Some of these aliens would have been eligible for relief in IC which they almost certainly would have been granted, had they simply stuck that process out with proper legal representation.
Aliens must not ignore an NTA and must appear in court. Aliens should also always discuss thoroughly the meaning of a denial of an immigration application and its potential to result in an NTA with an immigration attorney. Aliens must monitor their mail for follow up communications or NTAs from the Government after the denial of an application. Aliens should have an attorney review all such follow up communications or NTAs. Aliens referred to court should hire a qualified and experienced attorney to represent them in court prior to the first hearing in court. Again, regardless of whether the alien hires an attorney or not, he or she must appear in court at all scheduled court hearings, unless the court specifically exempts their appearance.
Duane M. Hamilton, Esq.
This transition from USCIS to IC is critical, though aliens do not always understand the significance or importance of it. When an alien is referred to IC, the Government prepares a Notice to Appear (NTA), which makes certain allegations against the alien and charges the alien under one or more sections of the Immigration and Nationality Act, of being "removable" from the United States. The NTA also sets a date, time and place of a "Master Calendar Hearing" (which is like an arraignment in criminal court), or notifies the alien that he or she will be informed of the date time and place of the master hearing at a later time. The NTA can be served on the alien in person by an immigration employee, or forwarded to the alien's last known address of record from the alien's file. Should the alien fail to attend the master hearing, the Immigration Judge (IJ) will typically enter an order of deportation against the alien in the alien's absence. The failure to appear in IC and an in absentia deportation/removal order has certain negative consequences to the alien and will strip the alien of eligibility for certain forms of immigration benefits and render the alien inadmissible to the United States for 10 years, should the alien depart the United States.
Hence, an alien who is careless in monitoring his or her mail after the denial of their case by USCIS, or who ignores an NTA, may find him or herself in an extremely weakened position in terms of their ability to receive immigration benefits at a later time. Some aliens decide, after their application has been denied by USCIS, that they will not consult with their attorney again, and will not read their attorney's advisory letters. They will sometimes instead, discuss their circumstances with friends in their community, who advise them, not based upon law, but upon their own speculation. Such aliens will sometimes leave the United States without attending their court proceedings, imagining that the Government will be happy with their departure, and will allow their return to the US once the alien has reason to return. Aliens also sometimes do not appreciate or remember (in spite of the attorney's very careful discussion of the limitations of his services in his fee agreement) that immigration attorneys do not typically commit to representing an alien through all stages of their potential immigration journey, since that journey can often take years and in some cases over a decade to completion. Thus, an attorney who represents an alien in a marriage case, usually has not committed in his fee agreement with the alien, to represent the alien in the IC. Some such attorneys have never appeared in IC and would not be prepared to represent aliens in that forum. Other immigration attorneys with IC experience (such as myself) would require the alien to enter into a new agreement to cover that forum. Hence, if the alien has not re-hired his attorney, or retained some other attorney for court, and fails to appear for the master hearing, there will be no one in court on the alien's behalf at the time of the master hearing to speak for the alien. Where the alien shows up to the master hearing without an attorney, most, if not all IJs will allow the alien some amount of time to retain a lawyer for court. It is always better for the alien to attend court in the company of his or her attorney.
I have had the displeasure of having had to advise some aliens, years after their departures from the United States and after having not heard from them following a denial of their applications by USCIS, that their failure to attend court and request voluntary departure from the IJ would likely prevent them from, or pose serious obstacles to their reentry into the US for many years to come. Some of these aliens would have been eligible for relief in IC which they almost certainly would have been granted, had they simply stuck that process out with proper legal representation.
Aliens must not ignore an NTA and must appear in court. Aliens should also always discuss thoroughly the meaning of a denial of an immigration application and its potential to result in an NTA with an immigration attorney. Aliens must monitor their mail for follow up communications or NTAs from the Government after the denial of an application. Aliens should have an attorney review all such follow up communications or NTAs. Aliens referred to court should hire a qualified and experienced attorney to represent them in court prior to the first hearing in court. Again, regardless of whether the alien hires an attorney or not, he or she must appear in court at all scheduled court hearings, unless the court specifically exempts their appearance.
Duane M. Hamilton, Esq.
Saturday, September 19, 2009
IMMIGRATION MARRIAGE FRAUD
In almost every community of foreigners in the United States there is some guy (a non-lawyer) who will do your taxes, give you financial advice, sell you some real estate, notarize some documents, fill out immigration forms, and even arrange a marriage or two between US citizens and aliens. Often, as has happened in Los Angeles, rings of hustlers and con-men join forces to form interstate criminal enterprises in which they recruit US Citizens who are down on their luck to marry aliens (in exchange for a fee paid by the alien) so as to apply for and acquire from the Government Lawful Permanent Resident (LPR) status. Sometimes aliens who are limited in their options for immigration due to their overstays and unlawful employment, become desperate and particularly vulnerable to these schemes. They are further emboldened in their resolve to commit marriage fraud by testimonials from community members who have successfully taken the marriage fraud route and been rewarded by the issuance of LPR status.
In such communities there is a great deal of discussion of the benefits of marriage fraud, but very little discussion of its downside. I will not engage here in a lengthy discussion regarding the legal prohibition and legalistic consequences of marriage fraud, since most aliens recognize that paying someone to arrange a marriage and misrepresenting the nature of that marriage to the Government in order to receive immigration status, is highly illegal and may result in serious consequences if discovered. Aliens should know however, that if a finding of marriage fraud is made against them, they may be barred from ever adjusting their status in this country in the future, deported from the United States, refused visas or entry into the US in the future, and might even be prosecuted under criminal statutes for fraud. What I wish to discuss in this article is how marriage fraud compromises the integrity of the alien and may cause the alien to be victimized in so many ways.
THE US CITIZEN SPOUSE IN A MARRIAGE FRAUD SCHEME: In a marriage fraud scheme, the US Citizen spouse is usually someone who is very much down on his or her luck. These people often have drug and alcohol habits, past due back taxes, broken down cars in need of repair, multiple children for whom back child support is owed, etc.. The alien should understand instinctively that a reputable, upstanding, and gainfully employed US Citizen does not need to marry and petition for an alien in exchange for a few thousand dollars. The very fact that the US Citizen is willing to do this should trigger great apprehension within the alien and speak volumes about the particular US Citizen's own integrity.
THE ALIEN AS WELFARE INSTITUTION: One should expect that if the US Citizen is willing to engage in fraud against the US Government, he or she may quite likely be more than willing to become and extortionist against, and an abuser of the alien once it is clear that the alien is dependent upon him or her for the successful completion of the case. Suddenly the alien spouse becomes a welfare institution for the benefit of the US Citizen spouse - a veritable treasury from which the US Citizen may extract all manner of bounty. The alien suddenly finds herself in the position of fixing the US Citizens car every time it is in need of repair, babysitting his brood of unruly children, sending the US Citizen on vacation, paying the US Citizen's back taxes and child support, etc. The US Citizen might go as far as to demand sexual favors in exchange for his cooperation. The alien need not complain, since such complaints are met with the ever-present threat that the US Citizen will merely abandon the case which would then necessarily fail for the Citizen's lack of participation.
INVESTIGATION: Many USCIS Field Offices investigate a small number of marriage cases randomly. This means that there need not be any red-flag found in the case for the case to be handed over to enforcement officers who will visit the address which the aliens have listed as their joint residence. They often visit in the pre-dawn hours of the morning and will be able to detect through the alien's reaction to the visit and what they find if allowed into the home, whether the marriage is fraudulent or not. They may also speak to the couple's neighbors and show photographs of each spouse to the neighbors to determine whether the neighbors are aware of each spouse's residence at the particular address. The fraud is generally easily discovered in such an investigation. Aliens filing fraudulent marriage cases should understand that there is no guarantee that they will not be the subject of such a visit. Investigators will generally not stop with the pre-dawn visit when they have sniffed out marriage fraud. They will delve into aspects of the alien's taxes, employment, insurance arrangements, relationships, etc., to build a solid marriage fraud case, before the alien is referred to Immigration Court for deportation, or to a criminal prosecutor.
LAWYERS: Aliens sometimes believe that it is the attorney's role to assist them in the furtherance of their marriage fraud adjustment of status cases. Where an attorney has good reason to believe that a marriage is fraudulent, the attorney cannot assist the alien in that particular adjustment of status. The attorney should advise the alien in no uncertain terms that marriage fraud is unlawful and may result in serious consequences to the alien. The attorney should additionally do nothing to assist the alien in the furtherance of such fraud. Aliens should know that the attorney is performing his or her duty both to them and to their own ethical obligations when this advice is given. An attorney can represent an alien accused of marriage fraud to explain why in spite of an appearance of marriage fraud to the Government, the conduct did not legally rise to the level of marriage fraud.
Lawyers will generally accept a client's word that they are in a bonafide marriage, if there is no reason to suspect marriage fraud. Most of us advise our clients not to commit marriage fraud for the reasons listed in this article, regardless of how valid the marriage appears to be. Where the lawyer discovers fraud in the marriage after the petition is filed, the lawyer will advise the client to withdraw or abandon the case, in spite of the fact that there is a high probability that the alien may be referred to immigration court. It is better to be referred to immigration court, where the alien may be able to seek other forms of relief and at a minimum, perhaps, voluntary departure, than encourage the alien to compromise him or herself by lying under oath.
THE ADJUSTMENT OF STATUS INTERVIEW: An adjustment of status interview is conducted by a trained USCIS Adjudications Officer. The US Citizen and the alien must be present at the interview and must be prepared to present documentation and answer questions related to the bonafides of the marriage. In a case in which the marriage is in good faith with the representation of an experienced lawyer who has prepared the case thoroughly, this interview can appear to be more of a formality than anything else, lasting mere minutes. Where the marriage is fraudulent, the couple's documentation or lack thereof often raises red-flags in the mind of the interviewer which can turn the interview into a nightmare for the alien. Some field offices, will detain aliens at the adjustment interview where they have sufficient reason to believe that marriage fraud has been perpetrated.
It is also very common in marriage cases for the fraudulent US Citizen spouse not to show up on the day of the interview. It is equally common for such US Citizen to completely turn on the alien at the interview and admit to the fraud in exchange for the Government's lenient treatment. This, after the US Citizen has extracted in some instances as much as $10,000 to $15,000 from the alien.
It is equally common for the couple in a marriage fraud scenario to give conflicting answers to the officer regarding their relationship and joint lives, resulting in denial of the case, and sometimes a finding of marriage fraud.
REFERRAL TO IMMIGRATION REMOVAL PROCEEDINGS: It is common these days, for USCIS to refer an out of status alien who has been denied adjustment of status based on a US Citizen marriage, to Immigration Court Removal Proceedings. Officers can opt to simply deny and close the case where the case is denied without any real incriminating factors being exposed. However, even in the most benign circumstances of denial, applicants are often referred to immigration court.
VICTIMS OF ABUSIVE US CITIZEN SPOUSES: Merely because a US Citizen spouse is disreputable or abusive does not mean that the alien entered into the marriage solely for the purpose of acquiring lawful residence by defrauding the Government. Aliens like anyone else, sometimes fall in love with and marry troubled and abusive US Citizens. Sometimes, the mere poor character of the US Citizen creates the erroneous determination in the mind of the adjudications officer that the marriage must have been fraudulent. Here the alien has married in good faith with the pure intent which is required in marriage cases; often she has been beaten and abused by her US Citizen spouse, who she has remained with out of love (as is typical in many abusive relationships); and now her case has been denied, not because she has committed fraud, but because of the flawed perception of the interviewing officer. Such aliens have not committed marriage fraud and can potentially be viewed as victims by the Government.
These aliens can sometimes find relief through the Violence Against Womens Act (VAWA), both with USCIS or in Immigration Court. The Court procedure differs from the procedure with USCIS in some notable ways, and aliens in such circumstances should be assisted by an experienced lawyer.
THE LESSON HERE: Do not commit marriage fraud. It is illegal and is not worth it. The compromises to integrity which may have to be made along the way, might affect the alien's very soul for a lifetime. Do not be angry with the lawyer when he sternly advises against this approach, and understand that it is sometimes better to do nothing and maintain your status quo than commit fraud. Further, simply because your marriage case has been denied does not mean you have committed marriage fraud. There can be any number of innocent reasons why a marriage case might be denied. Talk to a lawyer before you make any decisions with regard to filing a marriage case and you will most likely receive the proper advice.
Duane M. Hamilton
In such communities there is a great deal of discussion of the benefits of marriage fraud, but very little discussion of its downside. I will not engage here in a lengthy discussion regarding the legal prohibition and legalistic consequences of marriage fraud, since most aliens recognize that paying someone to arrange a marriage and misrepresenting the nature of that marriage to the Government in order to receive immigration status, is highly illegal and may result in serious consequences if discovered. Aliens should know however, that if a finding of marriage fraud is made against them, they may be barred from ever adjusting their status in this country in the future, deported from the United States, refused visas or entry into the US in the future, and might even be prosecuted under criminal statutes for fraud. What I wish to discuss in this article is how marriage fraud compromises the integrity of the alien and may cause the alien to be victimized in so many ways.
THE US CITIZEN SPOUSE IN A MARRIAGE FRAUD SCHEME: In a marriage fraud scheme, the US Citizen spouse is usually someone who is very much down on his or her luck. These people often have drug and alcohol habits, past due back taxes, broken down cars in need of repair, multiple children for whom back child support is owed, etc.. The alien should understand instinctively that a reputable, upstanding, and gainfully employed US Citizen does not need to marry and petition for an alien in exchange for a few thousand dollars. The very fact that the US Citizen is willing to do this should trigger great apprehension within the alien and speak volumes about the particular US Citizen's own integrity.
THE ALIEN AS WELFARE INSTITUTION: One should expect that if the US Citizen is willing to engage in fraud against the US Government, he or she may quite likely be more than willing to become and extortionist against, and an abuser of the alien once it is clear that the alien is dependent upon him or her for the successful completion of the case. Suddenly the alien spouse becomes a welfare institution for the benefit of the US Citizen spouse - a veritable treasury from which the US Citizen may extract all manner of bounty. The alien suddenly finds herself in the position of fixing the US Citizens car every time it is in need of repair, babysitting his brood of unruly children, sending the US Citizen on vacation, paying the US Citizen's back taxes and child support, etc. The US Citizen might go as far as to demand sexual favors in exchange for his cooperation. The alien need not complain, since such complaints are met with the ever-present threat that the US Citizen will merely abandon the case which would then necessarily fail for the Citizen's lack of participation.
INVESTIGATION: Many USCIS Field Offices investigate a small number of marriage cases randomly. This means that there need not be any red-flag found in the case for the case to be handed over to enforcement officers who will visit the address which the aliens have listed as their joint residence. They often visit in the pre-dawn hours of the morning and will be able to detect through the alien's reaction to the visit and what they find if allowed into the home, whether the marriage is fraudulent or not. They may also speak to the couple's neighbors and show photographs of each spouse to the neighbors to determine whether the neighbors are aware of each spouse's residence at the particular address. The fraud is generally easily discovered in such an investigation. Aliens filing fraudulent marriage cases should understand that there is no guarantee that they will not be the subject of such a visit. Investigators will generally not stop with the pre-dawn visit when they have sniffed out marriage fraud. They will delve into aspects of the alien's taxes, employment, insurance arrangements, relationships, etc., to build a solid marriage fraud case, before the alien is referred to Immigration Court for deportation, or to a criminal prosecutor.
LAWYERS: Aliens sometimes believe that it is the attorney's role to assist them in the furtherance of their marriage fraud adjustment of status cases. Where an attorney has good reason to believe that a marriage is fraudulent, the attorney cannot assist the alien in that particular adjustment of status. The attorney should advise the alien in no uncertain terms that marriage fraud is unlawful and may result in serious consequences to the alien. The attorney should additionally do nothing to assist the alien in the furtherance of such fraud. Aliens should know that the attorney is performing his or her duty both to them and to their own ethical obligations when this advice is given. An attorney can represent an alien accused of marriage fraud to explain why in spite of an appearance of marriage fraud to the Government, the conduct did not legally rise to the level of marriage fraud.
Lawyers will generally accept a client's word that they are in a bonafide marriage, if there is no reason to suspect marriage fraud. Most of us advise our clients not to commit marriage fraud for the reasons listed in this article, regardless of how valid the marriage appears to be. Where the lawyer discovers fraud in the marriage after the petition is filed, the lawyer will advise the client to withdraw or abandon the case, in spite of the fact that there is a high probability that the alien may be referred to immigration court. It is better to be referred to immigration court, where the alien may be able to seek other forms of relief and at a minimum, perhaps, voluntary departure, than encourage the alien to compromise him or herself by lying under oath.
THE ADJUSTMENT OF STATUS INTERVIEW: An adjustment of status interview is conducted by a trained USCIS Adjudications Officer. The US Citizen and the alien must be present at the interview and must be prepared to present documentation and answer questions related to the bonafides of the marriage. In a case in which the marriage is in good faith with the representation of an experienced lawyer who has prepared the case thoroughly, this interview can appear to be more of a formality than anything else, lasting mere minutes. Where the marriage is fraudulent, the couple's documentation or lack thereof often raises red-flags in the mind of the interviewer which can turn the interview into a nightmare for the alien. Some field offices, will detain aliens at the adjustment interview where they have sufficient reason to believe that marriage fraud has been perpetrated.
It is also very common in marriage cases for the fraudulent US Citizen spouse not to show up on the day of the interview. It is equally common for such US Citizen to completely turn on the alien at the interview and admit to the fraud in exchange for the Government's lenient treatment. This, after the US Citizen has extracted in some instances as much as $10,000 to $15,000 from the alien.
It is equally common for the couple in a marriage fraud scenario to give conflicting answers to the officer regarding their relationship and joint lives, resulting in denial of the case, and sometimes a finding of marriage fraud.
REFERRAL TO IMMIGRATION REMOVAL PROCEEDINGS: It is common these days, for USCIS to refer an out of status alien who has been denied adjustment of status based on a US Citizen marriage, to Immigration Court Removal Proceedings. Officers can opt to simply deny and close the case where the case is denied without any real incriminating factors being exposed. However, even in the most benign circumstances of denial, applicants are often referred to immigration court.
VICTIMS OF ABUSIVE US CITIZEN SPOUSES: Merely because a US Citizen spouse is disreputable or abusive does not mean that the alien entered into the marriage solely for the purpose of acquiring lawful residence by defrauding the Government. Aliens like anyone else, sometimes fall in love with and marry troubled and abusive US Citizens. Sometimes, the mere poor character of the US Citizen creates the erroneous determination in the mind of the adjudications officer that the marriage must have been fraudulent. Here the alien has married in good faith with the pure intent which is required in marriage cases; often she has been beaten and abused by her US Citizen spouse, who she has remained with out of love (as is typical in many abusive relationships); and now her case has been denied, not because she has committed fraud, but because of the flawed perception of the interviewing officer. Such aliens have not committed marriage fraud and can potentially be viewed as victims by the Government.
These aliens can sometimes find relief through the Violence Against Womens Act (VAWA), both with USCIS or in Immigration Court. The Court procedure differs from the procedure with USCIS in some notable ways, and aliens in such circumstances should be assisted by an experienced lawyer.
THE LESSON HERE: Do not commit marriage fraud. It is illegal and is not worth it. The compromises to integrity which may have to be made along the way, might affect the alien's very soul for a lifetime. Do not be angry with the lawyer when he sternly advises against this approach, and understand that it is sometimes better to do nothing and maintain your status quo than commit fraud. Further, simply because your marriage case has been denied does not mean you have committed marriage fraud. There can be any number of innocent reasons why a marriage case might be denied. Talk to a lawyer before you make any decisions with regard to filing a marriage case and you will most likely receive the proper advice.
Duane M. Hamilton
Friday, September 11, 2009
KENYAN ASYLUM AND OTHER FORMS IMMIGRATION RELIEF
Kenyans often present difficult immigration cases. A large segment of the community are good people who have overstayed their visas in the United States. They have no qualifying relatives or employers who might file immigration petitions on their behalf, and their overstays and unlawful employment in the United States often frustrates most forms of adjustment of status (the application for lawful permanent residency while the alien remains in the U.S.). Further compounding their troubles is the fact that they often become the victims of unscrupulous non-lawyers who mislead and take advantage of them.
However, beneath the surface of Kenyan society, boils a cauldron of political and social unrest, corruption and violence which drive a great number of Kenyans from their country. Many become the victims of domestic violence, both in Kenya and often at the hands of abusive U.S. Citizens or permanent resident spouses, who promise them the world, then hold them hostage, using their immigration vulnerability to enslave and coerce them. Some have lived in the United States for extremely long periods of time with immediate family members who are either US Citizens or Lawful Permanent Residents . Many Kenyans unfortunately, never come to an understanding that such circumstances, with very careful legal representation, could lead to a resolution of their lack of immigration status, without compromising their integrity. These aliens might qualify for asylum, withholding of removal, relief under the Torture Convention, Cancellation of Removal, protection under the Violence Against Women's Act (VAWA), adjustment of status, or other forms of immigration relief.
Chow & Hamilton's work with Kenyan asylum seekers and immigration court litigants is believed to be the gold standard in the United States. Hamilton's understanding of Kenya and techniques for winning Kenyan immigration cases has been crafted over the last 15 years. Hamilton is thought to be the longest standing attorney in the United States representing Kenyans in asylum claims on a consistent basis and over the last three years all of his Kenyan Immigration Court clients have been granted either asylum, withholding of removal, relief under the torture convention, adjustment of status, or cancellation of removal. This is quite remarkable since over 90% of the firm's immigration caseload are Kenyans.
Maria Rangel.
However, beneath the surface of Kenyan society, boils a cauldron of political and social unrest, corruption and violence which drive a great number of Kenyans from their country. Many become the victims of domestic violence, both in Kenya and often at the hands of abusive U.S. Citizens or permanent resident spouses, who promise them the world, then hold them hostage, using their immigration vulnerability to enslave and coerce them. Some have lived in the United States for extremely long periods of time with immediate family members who are either US Citizens or Lawful Permanent Residents . Many Kenyans unfortunately, never come to an understanding that such circumstances, with very careful legal representation, could lead to a resolution of their lack of immigration status, without compromising their integrity. These aliens might qualify for asylum, withholding of removal, relief under the Torture Convention, Cancellation of Removal, protection under the Violence Against Women's Act (VAWA), adjustment of status, or other forms of immigration relief.
Chow & Hamilton's work with Kenyan asylum seekers and immigration court litigants is believed to be the gold standard in the United States. Hamilton's understanding of Kenya and techniques for winning Kenyan immigration cases has been crafted over the last 15 years. Hamilton is thought to be the longest standing attorney in the United States representing Kenyans in asylum claims on a consistent basis and over the last three years all of his Kenyan Immigration Court clients have been granted either asylum, withholding of removal, relief under the torture convention, adjustment of status, or cancellation of removal. This is quite remarkable since over 90% of the firm's immigration caseload are Kenyans.
Maria Rangel.
Friday, August 21, 2009
MY PRO-BONO FAMILY LAW CASE
This week I won some major victories in my pro-bono (free) family law (child custody and support) case. My client is a dad who was the victim of two of the most malicious and litigious divorce lawyers in the bay area, and a completely wicked and delusional ex-wife. Though I am not a family law lawyer, I have managed to succeed where some of the most prominent family law attorneys on behalf of my client have failed. The judge has agreed to dismiss a supposedly "neutral" vocational expert, who was completely biased against my client, and apparently exclusively serving the interests of the ex-wife. I also succeeded in modifying my client's support obligations. But most importantly, after four years of unsubstantiated lies being told in court about my client, I feel based upon the words of the judge in this case, that she is finally beginning to understand the injustice and the complete alienation of my client's children that my client has suffered over the past four years.
If you are a man who has no career, financial resources or potential, you may ignore this article. Some such men often father multiple children with multiple women without ever supporting those children. Because the women understand that they will never work or earn in a meaningful way, they are not pursued aggressively for support. However, if you are wealthy, successful, or have the potential to amass wealth, you may be pursued relentlessly by an unreasonable spouse, her lawyers, the Court and government agencies, for support far above and beyond that which any reasonable right thinking person would expect. So has it been with my client. After raising and providing for the child of his wife from her first marriage, (with that child receiving no support from her biological father - a former drug addict and petty criminal), the wife, who never pursued the first husband, now relentlessly and ruthlessly fabricates all manner of misrepresentations of domestic and financial abuse, in order to isolate my client from his children so that she might maximize her child support and gain other advantages in the case.
This article is written from a man's perspective since my client is a man. Some of this would apply equally to women. However, men have become fodder in family court for much injustice. Many in the Court system are much too quick to accept that the woman is automatically the victim and the man a villain. If the woman is petite or frail in appearance, the stronger the presumption. If the man is black and the woman white, Asian, or light skinned Hispanic...well, you may use your imagination.
I promised myself that I would never practice family law. I despised the family law course in law school and the pretense of a "no fault" divorce system, which becomes extremely adversarial and conflict driven between the parties once the issues of child custody and child and spousal support are raised. Some law students, keen on establishing family law practices, are inspired by their own messy divorces, and thus would potentially be bringing a great deal of personal baggage to their practices. There are certain family law lawyers who (as I once heard a colleague eloquently state), have never met a woman who was not raped, or a child who was not molested. Their own personal issues poison their cases and their clients are driven to tell the most outrageous and unsubstantiated lies. If your spouse falls into the hands of such a lawyer during your divorce/custody and support proceedings, you will be in deep trouble, and will need an extremely dedicated lawyer to save you. Further, do not be so naive as to believe that the Court will see through the lies. If the lies are repeated loudly and frequently enough to the judge, regardless of whether or not those lies are even the subject of a particular hearing, or are supported by any evidence, and your lawyer is not aggressively rebutting those lies, there may develop a tacit acceptance of the lies by the Court, who may then come to despise you. This was done effectively to my client with the first judge in the case, prior to my entry into the matter. This judge was willing to believe anything he was fed about my client and acted in a manner towards my client that has baffled and confounded me.
Yet, in spite of all of these systemic ills and my own personal distaste, I could not ignore the complete and total injustice which was repeatedly being dealt to this particular man prior to my tenure on the case. For example, while he was not working, and while in the process of looking for a job, the Court "imputed" $300,000.00 per year to him in child and spousal support. He had just completed about a year of paying (out of community funds which he earned exclusively) $20,000.00 per month, until the community finances were spent. Thereafter, pursuant to the imputation, he was ordered to pay $10,000.00 per month in support to his former spouse and children. So whats the big deal? If he's not working, he can't pay right? Wrong! In California, he may pay dearly. Child and spousal support arrearages quickly accumulate to the point that the Department of Child Support Services (DCSS) gets involved as a collector. DCSS does not care about your financial difficulties or about injustices which you, the debtor have suffered. Their job is to GET THE MONEY, and if you do not have the money, to make your life a living hell. How do they make your life a living hell? Well, for one, they get the DMV to suspend your license; they get the US Department of State to suspend your passport; they garnish 50% of your wages. After taxes, payment of your spouse's attorneys and experts' fees and debt accumulated by your spouse's wanton use of community credit cards, you end up with a pittance. This is how very eminent and formerly wealthy men end up in studio apartments, while making six figure salaries. You can even be jailed for contempt, if opposing counsel succeeds in persuading the Court that your failure to find work is as a result of your own refusal to work (you need not have actually refused to work, the judge simply needs to be convinced that you have). You can literally be made a slave to another person in this State and in this free country, while that person sits around and refuses to work or retrain herself.
Surely, you say, the Court would not allow a person to collect spousal support indefinitely from her spouse while she refuses to retrain herself and/or find work. What you should understand however, is that the Court often does not listen to the parties themselves but rather, relies upon certain court appointed experts to make decisions about what should be done. Thus, as in my client's case, the spouse goes to psychologists and tells the psychologists that she was abused, and is having nightmares and flashbacks as a result of the abuse. The psychologists are paid by my client's spouse, and do not perform any independent investigation or evaluation as to whether what she is saying is the truth. They simply accept her incredible stories as true and in fact create a myth in their own minds of the other spouse as a monster based on the stories they have been told. If she claims she is having nightmares and flashbacks because of the alleged abuse, she is promptly diagnosed with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD). The Court appointed expert reads these partisan psychologists' reports and accepts this PTSD diagnosis as sound science, then confirms to the Court that the subject has PTSD and thus, cannot be expected to work. She takes the PTSD diagnosis to the government and receives SSI, since she is now "disabled." Once the court appointed expert declares her unfit to work, the Court will refrain from requiring her from showing the Court any work efforts. She has thus effectively created an entirely fictitious disability which is accepted as real by all. The question then becomes; if she does in fact have PTSD, who caused it? She will stress that the husband (someone like my client) must be a horribly abusive person who has terrorized his poor, frail wife into the same disorder soldiers suffer as a result of their participation in combat. However, it is the easiest thing in the world for a woman to game this PTSD strategy, if she is wilful and hateful enough to do it. There further, are an army of professionals with respectable credentials who would stand before the Court and assert (without any evidence but the word of their patient) that the wife was abused by her husband. These people pay no attention to the consequences of their pronouncements to the Court and do not really care to know the truth.
Further, if she can pump the children up enough, prior to a screening process called an emergency screening by a court appointed psychologist, to tell the screener that they are afraid of their father, or that their father beats them, the emergency screener may massively overreact and place the father under supervised visitation. Supervised visitation means that every time the father is to interact in any way with his children, it must be in the presence of a paid court appointed "visitation supervisor." Who pays this professional? You guessed it - the husband since the wife has no marketable skills and suffers from "PTSD." If the community still has money, it is paid from community funds, however, we all know who actually earned that money. Now bear in mind that the emergency screening process might take less than an hour, and in some cases could last minutes. After supervision is imposed against the father, the mother remains unsupervised and every day, tells the children what a horrible person their father is. Her family assists her in filling them full of hatred, while the father under supervision, can say nothing to the children related to the case, or to refute the brainwashing which is being done by the spouse and her family. Eventually the children become so filled with unreasonable hatred towards their father that supervised visitation becomes impossible since the supervisor herself declares it impossible to secure the cooperation of the children. At this point the father's parental rights are practically (though not legally) terminated with regard to his children. Remember, he is under a restraining order with regard to his wife and children, and so, cannot even contact the children's school to determine how they are progressing academically.
All of these things and more happened to my client before I was his lawyer. He paid his lawyers well over $200,000.00 for his legal representation (while simultaneously providing money to his spouse from his earnings, characterized as community funds, to pay a team of law firms and experts on his wife's side of the case). Yes, if you are wealthy, or were once wealthy, you can essentially be forced to pay for expensive lawyers to bash your own skull in on your wife's behalf. My client's former lawyers were a puzzling group. One was a very skilled and well meaning criminal attorney who effectively shot down a number of criminal allegations my client's spouse tried to make against my client in an effort to hang a criminal record around his neck. However, he did not fully appreciate the dysfunction or willfulness of my client's spouse, nor the greed and manipulativeness of her attorneys. The next lawyer was a family law lawyer, who is reasonably well known in the county where my client resides. This lawyer however, was grotesquely under prepared at certain critical hearings in the case, and was unprepared for the onslaught and willfulness of opposing counsel. The final lawyers before I took over were a prestigious and venerable family law firm, brought in because this man was being so badly mauled. This firm, pushed a fair amount of paper (for indeed I inherited over 20 boxes of litigation materials). However, for over $200,000.00, my client had not bought a deposition of the his former spouse, nor of the vocational evaluator who, while posing as a "neutral" evaluator, was apparently working exclusively on behalf of the ex spouse and her lawyers. I had to intervene in the case while these lawyers were still on the case to extract the necessary depositions. With these deposition transcripts, I have finally been able to expose the vocational evaluator's bias and the ridiculousness and falsity of all of the ex spouse's allegations against my client. By the way, when my client was out of money, these lawyers on both sides of the case bailed.
I have represented immigration clients from the administrative asylum office, to the trial court (where I have conducted the actual trial), all the way through the 9th Circuit Court of appeals, for under $30,000.00, sometimes over as much as a ten year period. Yet these lawyers, for fees in the six figures have been unable to achieve the results I am getting working for absolutely no compensation. Please understand, I am not complaining about not being compensated, since every dedicated lawyer has to go on a crusade for justice every now and then. I am simply complaining about lawyers who charge exorbitant fees, but do not conduct the critical depositions or cross examine vigorously when they have a wealth of impeachment evidence and when the chips are down.
I have learned the following, which I would like to pass on to you based on this, my one and only family law case:
1. If early in the relationship you detect that your fiance is unstable and/or dishonest, do not marry her. If you discover the dishonesty or instability in the course of the relationship, GET OUT IMMEDIATELY.
2. If your spouse constantly encourages your children to disregard your authority and is constantly negative towards you in the presence of the children GET OUT. Particularly if you are a hard working dad who spends less time with the children than your spouse. The children will hate you and will be used against you in divorce and custody proceedings.
3. If you are an educated and gainfully employed person, contemplating marriage to someone without marketable skills or education and without the motivation to ever acquire those skills DO NOT MARRY THIS PERSON. Alternatively, if you must marry such a person, make sure that you have an IRON-CLAD PRENUPTIAL AGREEMENT, drafted by a very good lawyer. Men should not romanticize this issue of "prenuptial agreements." In other words, do not be guilt-tripped into the notion that you are expressing a lack of love or trust by insisting on a prenup. You have a lot to lose in California if you err and marry the wrong person. Be pragmatic. There are countless men in California paying spousal support for indefinite periods of time, to women who hate and vilify them; who alienate their children against them and who view the man as a welfare institution for their own benefit.
4. Do not stay in a bad marriage for the sake of the children. You will simply prolong your suffering and your children's suffering, and with each passing year, will become more and more intertwined with that person, in a manner which may render your extrication from her affairs and support increasingly difficult or impossible.
There are very few places men who have suffered as my client has suffered can go for assistance or support. Society is simply reluctant to discuss these injustices to men. It is as if our culture has decided that men are only important to their families insofar as they can provide financial support. The man's desire to nurture his children and his very right to his own liberty and happiness, are overshadowed by that which would extinguish such nurture and happiness, and therefore his very motivation in life.
You will be happy to know that this client is a particularly optimistic individual, who in spite of all of this, has found ways to find happiness and fulfillment in life.
This article was written with the permission of the client.
Duane M Hamilton, Esq.
If you are a man who has no career, financial resources or potential, you may ignore this article. Some such men often father multiple children with multiple women without ever supporting those children. Because the women understand that they will never work or earn in a meaningful way, they are not pursued aggressively for support. However, if you are wealthy, successful, or have the potential to amass wealth, you may be pursued relentlessly by an unreasonable spouse, her lawyers, the Court and government agencies, for support far above and beyond that which any reasonable right thinking person would expect. So has it been with my client. After raising and providing for the child of his wife from her first marriage, (with that child receiving no support from her biological father - a former drug addict and petty criminal), the wife, who never pursued the first husband, now relentlessly and ruthlessly fabricates all manner of misrepresentations of domestic and financial abuse, in order to isolate my client from his children so that she might maximize her child support and gain other advantages in the case.
This article is written from a man's perspective since my client is a man. Some of this would apply equally to women. However, men have become fodder in family court for much injustice. Many in the Court system are much too quick to accept that the woman is automatically the victim and the man a villain. If the woman is petite or frail in appearance, the stronger the presumption. If the man is black and the woman white, Asian, or light skinned Hispanic...well, you may use your imagination.
I promised myself that I would never practice family law. I despised the family law course in law school and the pretense of a "no fault" divorce system, which becomes extremely adversarial and conflict driven between the parties once the issues of child custody and child and spousal support are raised. Some law students, keen on establishing family law practices, are inspired by their own messy divorces, and thus would potentially be bringing a great deal of personal baggage to their practices. There are certain family law lawyers who (as I once heard a colleague eloquently state), have never met a woman who was not raped, or a child who was not molested. Their own personal issues poison their cases and their clients are driven to tell the most outrageous and unsubstantiated lies. If your spouse falls into the hands of such a lawyer during your divorce/custody and support proceedings, you will be in deep trouble, and will need an extremely dedicated lawyer to save you. Further, do not be so naive as to believe that the Court will see through the lies. If the lies are repeated loudly and frequently enough to the judge, regardless of whether or not those lies are even the subject of a particular hearing, or are supported by any evidence, and your lawyer is not aggressively rebutting those lies, there may develop a tacit acceptance of the lies by the Court, who may then come to despise you. This was done effectively to my client with the first judge in the case, prior to my entry into the matter. This judge was willing to believe anything he was fed about my client and acted in a manner towards my client that has baffled and confounded me.
Yet, in spite of all of these systemic ills and my own personal distaste, I could not ignore the complete and total injustice which was repeatedly being dealt to this particular man prior to my tenure on the case. For example, while he was not working, and while in the process of looking for a job, the Court "imputed" $300,000.00 per year to him in child and spousal support. He had just completed about a year of paying (out of community funds which he earned exclusively) $20,000.00 per month, until the community finances were spent. Thereafter, pursuant to the imputation, he was ordered to pay $10,000.00 per month in support to his former spouse and children. So whats the big deal? If he's not working, he can't pay right? Wrong! In California, he may pay dearly. Child and spousal support arrearages quickly accumulate to the point that the Department of Child Support Services (DCSS) gets involved as a collector. DCSS does not care about your financial difficulties or about injustices which you, the debtor have suffered. Their job is to GET THE MONEY, and if you do not have the money, to make your life a living hell. How do they make your life a living hell? Well, for one, they get the DMV to suspend your license; they get the US Department of State to suspend your passport; they garnish 50% of your wages. After taxes, payment of your spouse's attorneys and experts' fees and debt accumulated by your spouse's wanton use of community credit cards, you end up with a pittance. This is how very eminent and formerly wealthy men end up in studio apartments, while making six figure salaries. You can even be jailed for contempt, if opposing counsel succeeds in persuading the Court that your failure to find work is as a result of your own refusal to work (you need not have actually refused to work, the judge simply needs to be convinced that you have). You can literally be made a slave to another person in this State and in this free country, while that person sits around and refuses to work or retrain herself.
Surely, you say, the Court would not allow a person to collect spousal support indefinitely from her spouse while she refuses to retrain herself and/or find work. What you should understand however, is that the Court often does not listen to the parties themselves but rather, relies upon certain court appointed experts to make decisions about what should be done. Thus, as in my client's case, the spouse goes to psychologists and tells the psychologists that she was abused, and is having nightmares and flashbacks as a result of the abuse. The psychologists are paid by my client's spouse, and do not perform any independent investigation or evaluation as to whether what she is saying is the truth. They simply accept her incredible stories as true and in fact create a myth in their own minds of the other spouse as a monster based on the stories they have been told. If she claims she is having nightmares and flashbacks because of the alleged abuse, she is promptly diagnosed with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD). The Court appointed expert reads these partisan psychologists' reports and accepts this PTSD diagnosis as sound science, then confirms to the Court that the subject has PTSD and thus, cannot be expected to work. She takes the PTSD diagnosis to the government and receives SSI, since she is now "disabled." Once the court appointed expert declares her unfit to work, the Court will refrain from requiring her from showing the Court any work efforts. She has thus effectively created an entirely fictitious disability which is accepted as real by all. The question then becomes; if she does in fact have PTSD, who caused it? She will stress that the husband (someone like my client) must be a horribly abusive person who has terrorized his poor, frail wife into the same disorder soldiers suffer as a result of their participation in combat. However, it is the easiest thing in the world for a woman to game this PTSD strategy, if she is wilful and hateful enough to do it. There further, are an army of professionals with respectable credentials who would stand before the Court and assert (without any evidence but the word of their patient) that the wife was abused by her husband. These people pay no attention to the consequences of their pronouncements to the Court and do not really care to know the truth.
Further, if she can pump the children up enough, prior to a screening process called an emergency screening by a court appointed psychologist, to tell the screener that they are afraid of their father, or that their father beats them, the emergency screener may massively overreact and place the father under supervised visitation. Supervised visitation means that every time the father is to interact in any way with his children, it must be in the presence of a paid court appointed "visitation supervisor." Who pays this professional? You guessed it - the husband since the wife has no marketable skills and suffers from "PTSD." If the community still has money, it is paid from community funds, however, we all know who actually earned that money. Now bear in mind that the emergency screening process might take less than an hour, and in some cases could last minutes. After supervision is imposed against the father, the mother remains unsupervised and every day, tells the children what a horrible person their father is. Her family assists her in filling them full of hatred, while the father under supervision, can say nothing to the children related to the case, or to refute the brainwashing which is being done by the spouse and her family. Eventually the children become so filled with unreasonable hatred towards their father that supervised visitation becomes impossible since the supervisor herself declares it impossible to secure the cooperation of the children. At this point the father's parental rights are practically (though not legally) terminated with regard to his children. Remember, he is under a restraining order with regard to his wife and children, and so, cannot even contact the children's school to determine how they are progressing academically.
All of these things and more happened to my client before I was his lawyer. He paid his lawyers well over $200,000.00 for his legal representation (while simultaneously providing money to his spouse from his earnings, characterized as community funds, to pay a team of law firms and experts on his wife's side of the case). Yes, if you are wealthy, or were once wealthy, you can essentially be forced to pay for expensive lawyers to bash your own skull in on your wife's behalf. My client's former lawyers were a puzzling group. One was a very skilled and well meaning criminal attorney who effectively shot down a number of criminal allegations my client's spouse tried to make against my client in an effort to hang a criminal record around his neck. However, he did not fully appreciate the dysfunction or willfulness of my client's spouse, nor the greed and manipulativeness of her attorneys. The next lawyer was a family law lawyer, who is reasonably well known in the county where my client resides. This lawyer however, was grotesquely under prepared at certain critical hearings in the case, and was unprepared for the onslaught and willfulness of opposing counsel. The final lawyers before I took over were a prestigious and venerable family law firm, brought in because this man was being so badly mauled. This firm, pushed a fair amount of paper (for indeed I inherited over 20 boxes of litigation materials). However, for over $200,000.00, my client had not bought a deposition of the his former spouse, nor of the vocational evaluator who, while posing as a "neutral" evaluator, was apparently working exclusively on behalf of the ex spouse and her lawyers. I had to intervene in the case while these lawyers were still on the case to extract the necessary depositions. With these deposition transcripts, I have finally been able to expose the vocational evaluator's bias and the ridiculousness and falsity of all of the ex spouse's allegations against my client. By the way, when my client was out of money, these lawyers on both sides of the case bailed.
I have represented immigration clients from the administrative asylum office, to the trial court (where I have conducted the actual trial), all the way through the 9th Circuit Court of appeals, for under $30,000.00, sometimes over as much as a ten year period. Yet these lawyers, for fees in the six figures have been unable to achieve the results I am getting working for absolutely no compensation. Please understand, I am not complaining about not being compensated, since every dedicated lawyer has to go on a crusade for justice every now and then. I am simply complaining about lawyers who charge exorbitant fees, but do not conduct the critical depositions or cross examine vigorously when they have a wealth of impeachment evidence and when the chips are down.
I have learned the following, which I would like to pass on to you based on this, my one and only family law case:
1. If early in the relationship you detect that your fiance is unstable and/or dishonest, do not marry her. If you discover the dishonesty or instability in the course of the relationship, GET OUT IMMEDIATELY.
2. If your spouse constantly encourages your children to disregard your authority and is constantly negative towards you in the presence of the children GET OUT. Particularly if you are a hard working dad who spends less time with the children than your spouse. The children will hate you and will be used against you in divorce and custody proceedings.
3. If you are an educated and gainfully employed person, contemplating marriage to someone without marketable skills or education and without the motivation to ever acquire those skills DO NOT MARRY THIS PERSON. Alternatively, if you must marry such a person, make sure that you have an IRON-CLAD PRENUPTIAL AGREEMENT, drafted by a very good lawyer. Men should not romanticize this issue of "prenuptial agreements." In other words, do not be guilt-tripped into the notion that you are expressing a lack of love or trust by insisting on a prenup. You have a lot to lose in California if you err and marry the wrong person. Be pragmatic. There are countless men in California paying spousal support for indefinite periods of time, to women who hate and vilify them; who alienate their children against them and who view the man as a welfare institution for their own benefit.
4. Do not stay in a bad marriage for the sake of the children. You will simply prolong your suffering and your children's suffering, and with each passing year, will become more and more intertwined with that person, in a manner which may render your extrication from her affairs and support increasingly difficult or impossible.
There are very few places men who have suffered as my client has suffered can go for assistance or support. Society is simply reluctant to discuss these injustices to men. It is as if our culture has decided that men are only important to their families insofar as they can provide financial support. The man's desire to nurture his children and his very right to his own liberty and happiness, are overshadowed by that which would extinguish such nurture and happiness, and therefore his very motivation in life.
You will be happy to know that this client is a particularly optimistic individual, who in spite of all of this, has found ways to find happiness and fulfillment in life.
This article was written with the permission of the client.
Duane M Hamilton, Esq.
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