(American) Mom can't leave Canada with children, or stay either

[alp227]

An American mother with five Canadian children who lives in B.C. is shedding light on an immigration dilemma she says leaves her family at risk and dependent on charity.

“It’s a heartbreaking scenario — to watch your children when they are going to school and they are hungry,” said Heidi Roggero.

Roggero is the ex-spouse of a Canadian — with no legal status in Canada — who can’t go back to the U.S. unless she abandons or kidnaps her children.

“I have a restraining order that prevents me from taking my children across the U.S. border,” said Roggero, who relies on friends and neighbours, as well as the food bank and the school, to help feed and clothe her kids.

Read more: http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-columbia/story/2012/05/22/bc-americanmom.html

[treestar]

1. That's horrible

The husband should have made sure she was legal while they were married. What kind of husband keeps you illegal in his country? Probably a control freak.

[abelenkpe]

4. Very similar situation with a friend of mine

She married her husband here in CA. When the economy started getting bad they moved to his country Italy. She got pregnant and he didn't want a child because he didn't think they could afford it. After much back and forth they went ahead and had a beautiful baby boy. Difficulties with finding work brought out the worst in her husband and he began taking out his frustration on his wife and son. My friend went to the Italian authorities and they told her to leave as she and her child were in danger. She left with her son and returned to the US. Since then they have been having a horrible custody battle with CA courts ruling in favor of the mother and international courts ruling in favor of the father. She is being forced to return to Italy with her son in a week. During the time she has been in the US her son has flourished getting needed counseling and is doing well in school. His father hasn't sent presents or letters to his son, just the occasional email talking about how he wants to hurt the mother. They are very frightened. I don't understand the law. And yes, in both situations, husband definitely seems like a control freak.

[MattBaggins]

13. How is she being forced?

Just don't go to Italy.

[abelenkpe]

15. That's what I said

But apparently that is not possible without breaking some sort of international law. They are leaving next week. Italian officials will take her son and give him to her abusive husband (who has a criminal past) at the airport. It's heartbreaking. Her story was on OutFront with Erin Burnett on CNN yesterday. There is a petition at change.org to help try to keep her son in the US. It can be found here:

http://www.change.org/petitions/save-leo-from-being-returned-to-the-father-us-courts-deemed-abusive#

[Honeycombe8]

2. While I feel for her, what is it with women who marry foreigners, move to a foreign

country, have children, and then find themselves in this sort of predicament? Did it never occur to them BEFORE this happened, that she needed to apply for citizenship? Or find out these things BEFORE having children in a foreign country?

At least the husband's wages are now being garnished, so that will hopefully help with providing for the kids.

[trixie]

3. Who would have thought Canada though?

[Honeycombe8]

5. I would have. Canada is intent on not letting Americans move there to mooch off their...

healthcare system and other social benefits. You can't retire there, for example, unless you have a certain amount of money (a lot of $) to prove you won't be a burden to the Canadian government.

Now she's there, an American, wanting to receive benefits from their govt, for herself (not just her children).

Wasn't it a clue when years ago her husband wouldn't sponsor her for citizenship? Something was up with that. But she stayed married to him, while he cont'd to refuse to sponsor her, and she had more children, seems like.

Talk about stiff immigration laws. Here in America, if you marry a citizen you have a right to apply for citizenship, I believe. You don't need a sponsor.

[rocktivity]

8. Well, aren't her children entitled to some benefits?

Where are they living? Shouldn't they be in the father's custody?


rocktivity

[Honeycombe8]

10. I guess so. That's why they are receiving food stamps & whatever.

It says the husband has joint custody, and that's why she can't take the kids out of Canada, but doesn't mention wwhether the kids stay with him some of the time.

[Mariana]

12. That's not true about US immigration law.

Lots of Americans who are married to foreign citizens find it difficult or impossible to get their spouses into the US legally. An application for legal residency must be submitted, fees must be paid, sponsors are required, and the foreign spouse can't enter the US until they have a green card in hand. After that, they can apply for citizenship after five years of residency, just like any other legal resident alien.

[Honeycombe8]

18. Then what was that movie Green Card about? They made such a big deal...

out of a visa immigrant marrying an American for citizenship reasons. The immigration agents interviewed them separately and together, to see if they married intentionally to give him citizenship rights of some sort.

[uppityperson]

20. A 1990 Hollywood movie may not accurately depict 2012 reality.

[Mariana]

21. Legal residency and citizenship are not the same thing,

They didn't name the movie "Certificate of Citizenship".

Foreigners married to American citizens may apply for a green card (and pay the fees, and arrange the sponsorships, etc, etc). If they're thought to have married for the purpose of obtaining a green card, the application will be denied.

[hughee99]

16. So in Canada, they don't want people coming into their country and

Last edited Fri May 25, 2012, 06:55 PM - Edit history (1)

mooching off their healthcare system and other social benefits? In the US, people who believe that same thing are often called racists.

[Honeycombe8]

19. I don't call them that. Who calls them that?

Immigration laws are not racist specific.

I know about the Canadian laws a bit because I researched a bit on the possibility of retiring there. America doesn't have a universal healthcare system...unless you count Medicare, which applies to seniors only. Even then, it's not really a universal system...only some care providers accept it, and it doesn't pay for a lot of things.

Canada updated its immigration laws in recent years to deal with all the Americans trying to move there for healthcare reasons, is what i read.

[cynatnite]

17. No mother should be put in this position no matter who is at fault...

"Sure, honey, I'll sponser you...later though. We've got blah, blah, blah, going on right now. Yeah, baby, I love you."

She believed him because she loved him. It happens to a lot of people. Someone they love tells them a lie and they believe them.

It's not a crime.

I agree that she could have done a better job of protecting her rights, but she's not totally in the wrong either.

[Honeycombe8]

23. I think that she put herself in that position.

I didn't say that was a crime. But she did decide to put herself in that position. It is no one's fault but her own. Her hubby didn't say once or twice that he wouldn't sponsor her. For years he wouldn't sponsor her. Now she wants someone else to pay for her room and board so she can stay with her children, because of choices she made.

We all know that if we are living in one state, sharing custody of children with an ex, you may not be free to move to another state with the children without the ex's consent.

It's complicated when you move to another country, of which you are not a citizen, and choose to marry and have children in that other country.

I agree she's in a predicament, though. But to blame others for that is wrong, IMO. Part of growing up is acknowledging stupid decisions and choices we've all made in our lives, and accepting responsibility and the consequences for them.

This wouldn't be as big a predicament for her, though, if she had chosen to have children with a man who is a good father. Another of her bad choices. She didn't just have one child...she had multiple children by a man who apparently doesn't want to take care of his children. That's not a crime. But that WAS her choice.

[Edweird]

7. LOL. *EVERY* country regulates immigration and the nicer (more 'progressive') the harder it is to

get in.

[provis99]

6. you can blame Harper's idiotic immigration legislation for her situation.

As a result of Harper's new law giving the canadian spouse control over an immigrant spouse's fate, there are thousands of mail-order brides kept in Canada, abused by their husbands, and who won't sign immigration papers for them, so as to keep them quiet and subservient.

Another fine example of the stupidity of conservative policies, this time on immigration.

[BlueIris]

9. Holy crap. That is awful. nt

[Pertyqwerty]

11. She isnt receiving welfare or food stamps.

Shes speaking out because so many other women leave their abusive husbands in canada then have to abandon their children as the husbands use the immigration system to override the other parents rights. Thats the point of the story

[tsuki]

14. It is known as the Canadian squeeze. I have heard it

used on Eastern European brides and Asians, but the first time I have heard about an American caught. Canada has known all along that she had no status, and did not act. If she would sign a "voluntary" agreement to seek no custodial support or Canadian support, the husband and the social services would sign off on her leaving with the children.

What they are doing is in violation of a lot of human rights and family rights treaties that they have signed.

[Sen. Walter Sobchak]

22. Canada's immigration policies are either unfathomably lenient or seemingly Vogon inspired

For instance we just hired a woman out of Arizona to work in Canada, it literally took less than an hour to get all the paperwork in order to have her admitted on the Canadian equivalent of a TN visa. She was in and out of immigration in at the airport in less than half an hour and started work on Tuesday.

Meanwhile you have these situations where somebody with extraordinary ties to Canada in the form of five Canadian born children, is more than likely fully capable of attaining employment and supporting herself gets bogged down in nonsense.

Canada has a real track record for asinine application of immigration and citizenship issues.

[DFW]

24. The last time I visited Canada

This was well over ten years ago. I was driving up with my wife and children. My wife has only German residence, and at the time, I had only Texas residence. At the border, the Canadian immigration officials questioned us about that, and they asked our children if they "were OK with that." Luckily we had raised them bilingually, so they immediately said "of course." Otherwise, we might have a much less pleasant entry into Canada.