An Iowa City woman from Honduras is facing a charge that may revoke her protected status in the United States and send her back to her home country.
40 year old Alida Rivera came to the United States in 1994 away from bad conditions in Central America. She is now married and has two young daughters with her husband, 35 year old Israel Martinez.
Because of the conditions in Honduras at the time of her immigration, Rivera is under a protected status. Under the conditions of the status, though, she can be sent back home if she is convicted of crimes or fails to renew her status every year.
Two theft convictions three years ago that will affect her protected status in a very negative way, even though Rivera herself was unaware of this, according to thegazette.com. She believed she would only have to pay a fine for the crimes to which she pleaded guilty.
Rivera's attorney, Rockne Cole, filed two applications for the judge to reopen the cases because the judges failed to inform Rivera that her convictions affected her immigration status, which violated due process and will affect the outcome of the plea that she was entering, allowing her to change her mind or seek more help for her immigration status.
In 2010, the Supreme Court made a decision regarding people that are in immigration limbo after pleading guilty to crimes without knowing how it could affect their immigration status. The decision will have to be retroactive to apply to the crimes committed in 2001 and 2002.
Rivera has to have the convictions resolved by January 8 in time for her immigration hearing. Cole does not know if there is enough time to resolve the issues, so Rivera could be sent back to Honduras due to the misinformation.
Both Rivera and her husband are afraid of what will happen to Rivera and the family if Rivera is shipped back to Honduras. The girls are too young to process what could happen to them.
40 year old Alida Rivera came to the United States in 1994 away from bad conditions in Central America. She is now married and has two young daughters with her husband, 35 year old Israel Martinez.
Because of the conditions in Honduras at the time of her immigration, Rivera is under a protected status. Under the conditions of the status, though, she can be sent back home if she is convicted of crimes or fails to renew her status every year.
Two theft convictions three years ago that will affect her protected status in a very negative way, even though Rivera herself was unaware of this, according to thegazette.com. She believed she would only have to pay a fine for the crimes to which she pleaded guilty.
Rivera's attorney, Rockne Cole, filed two applications for the judge to reopen the cases because the judges failed to inform Rivera that her convictions affected her immigration status, which violated due process and will affect the outcome of the plea that she was entering, allowing her to change her mind or seek more help for her immigration status.
In 2010, the Supreme Court made a decision regarding people that are in immigration limbo after pleading guilty to crimes without knowing how it could affect their immigration status. The decision will have to be retroactive to apply to the crimes committed in 2001 and 2002.
Rivera has to have the convictions resolved by January 8 in time for her immigration hearing. Cole does not know if there is enough time to resolve the issues, so Rivera could be sent back to Honduras due to the misinformation.
Both Rivera and her husband are afraid of what will happen to Rivera and the family if Rivera is shipped back to Honduras. The girls are too young to process what could happen to them.
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