http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,453011,00.html

Link is Foxnews, but it's an AP story

Quote :

"Homeowner's Illegal Status Exposed After Aborted Sale Monday, November 17, 2008 AP Nov. 12, 2008: Lorenzo Jimenez in front of a home he owns in Roswell, Ga. ROSWELL, Ga. — Like all illegal immigrants, Lorenzo Jimenez knew the knock on the door from immigration agents could come at any time. Still, he had enough faith in the American dream to buy a house in this Atlanta suburb, even though signing the papers meant raising the risk: He put his 2-year-old, American-born daughter's name and Social Security number on the title. And it worked, for a while. Jimenez and his family lived happily enough for several years alongside "regular" citizens. Nicole Griffin's mom lived a few doors away, and when Griffin visited, she said, her kids played with the Jimenez children. When Jimenez put his four-bedroom, two-bathroom home up for sale last spring, wanting more space, Griffin was immediately interested. A contract was negotiated but when the sale appeared to go sour, Griffin raised a new issue: that she was a citizen and Jimenez wasn't. She told local media, immigration officials, his boss and others that he was here illegally. She even put signs in the yard of the house exposing his residency status. As a result, agents came knocking last month, and now Jimenez is fighting to keep from being deported. He also lost his job. "I'm very sad and very worried," said Jimenez, 32. "I can't sleep because I'm thinking about my family. What's going to happen? I don't know." Griffin insists her intent was to buy the house, nothing else. The 28-year-old single mother of two maintains she was wronged first, so she acted to protect her interests. She has no regrets. "At the end, do I feel bad the family got in trouble? No, not at all," she said. Those who enter the U.S. illegally often say they're just striving for the same things that most American citizens want out of life — a good job, home ownership, maybe a chance to get a little bit ahead. But the ambitions of citizens and non-citizens can collide and, as the painful entanglement between Jimenez and Griffin shows, both sides can wind up feeling like victims. Jimenez, who is Mexican, has been in the U.S. for about a decade. When he bought the house four years ago, the real estate agent handling the sale told him he could get a better interest rate using his daughter's information on the closing documents than he could using the federal tax identification number he uses to pay income tax here. Jimenez later filed papers to have his own name added to the title, and that's how it stayed until Griffin spotted the "for sale" sign and $164,500 list price this spring. With both sides enthusiastic about the sale, a deal was reached and the closing was set for May 15. Griffin, a payroll clerk and first-time homebuyer, asked to postpone the closing until June 1 because she had problems locking in her interest rate. Jimenez agreed but asked that she move into the house as planned and pay rent until the closing. Shortly after Griffin moved in, her attorney said there was a problem with the title on the house, namely that Jimenez's young daughter's name was on the title but her signature wasn't on the sale documents. Attorneys said some extra paperwork — establishing a conservatorship to watch out for the child's interest, the first step in getting the title transferred solely to her father — would clear the title, and everyone agreed to postpone again. Griffin didn't pay the rent, however, claiming she was promised three months free since the delay was Jimenez's fault. She has an e-mail from his real estate agent, Alina Carbonell, saying he'd made the offer. Jimenez's lawyer, Erik Meder, told her that offer was never firm and insisted she pay rent or vacate the house. Locked in a letter war with Meder, Griffin escalated her actions. She contacted the FBI, the Roswell Police Department, local media, the state attorney general's office and the governor's office, among others. She asked her congressman, U.S. Rep. Tom Price, for help, saying she felt Jimenez and Meder had deceived her. Price's office, in turn, contacted U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, said Brendan Buck, a Price spokesman. "I am a law-abiding American merely trying to purchase a home," Griffin wrote in mid-July in a letter to American Homebuyers, a nonprofit that helps low- to moderate-income families buy homes. "An illegal family fraudulently obtained a mortgage using a 1 yr old SSN, and appear to have all the rights in this situation — How can this be when they shouldn't even be in America?" She said she contacted anyone she could think of who might be able to help the sale go through. Jimenez said she started making his life a nightmare. He claims she caused cosmetic damage to the house and intentionally clogged the plumbing, both of which she denies. Griffin also went after Carbonell, the real estate agent. She contacted the Georgia State Real Estate Commission to try to get her license revoked. Carbonell said the threat to her reputation and to her career caused her so much stress she had to take a leave of absence. Griffin said she reported Carbonell because the agent knew Jimenez's daughter's name was on the title from the beginning but didn't tell her right away. (Carbonell was not the real estate agent who originally advised Jimenez to use his daughter's name.) In September, Meder got a judge to order Griffin to pay retroactive rent and get out of the house within a week. Griffin then went to the upscale Atlanta restaurant where Jimenez worked as a cook and told his boss he was undocumented, which Jimenez said resulted in his firing. "It was my last resort," Griffin said, "but once I realized my family had seven days to get out of a house that a family's not even legally supposed to own, I did go to his employer and I did let his employer know." She also put bright red signs in the yard reading, "This house is owned by an illegal alien." When Jimenez tore them down, she put up new ones. Griffin said she wanted the neighbors to share her outrage over what was happening. "I don't feel bad for anything that happens to the Jimenez family at this point," Griffin said recently, "because no one feels bad that all I tried to do was buy a house, and I ended up living back with my mother." In early October, plainclothes ICE agents showed up at Jimenez's apartment. They asked him about his residency status and his purchase of the house, then handcuffed him and took him away. He was released a few hours later and is due before a judge in January and could face eventual deportation. His lawyers plan to apply to keep Jimenez in the country permanently, a process that could last several years. While it's pending, he will be eligible for a work permit. But even if he gets one, Jimenez will be living in limbo. His application to stay could be rejected, which means he still could be ordered to leave the country. Jimenez has taken the house off the market but doesn't want to move his family back in amid the uncertainty, so they're still in the apartment that was supposed to be a transitional stop until they bought a bigger place. Griffin hasn't tried to buy another home, in part because she can't afford to, so she and her kids are still staying with her mother. Down the street, the Jimenez house sits empty."

11/17/2008 3:30:48 PM

werds

[Edited on November 17, 2008 at 3:33 PM. Reason : good for her by the way. I don't feel bad for criminals being called out]

11/17/2008 3:31:19 PM

soapbox

[typical]if they wanted the rights associated with a citizen, they should have become actual citizens[/typical]

[Edited on November 17, 2008 at 3:34 PM. Reason : grammar]

11/17/2008 3:34:19 PM

haha thats what you get fucking illegal mother fucker

11/17/2008 3:36:55 PM

he shouldn't have a mortgage, but she shouldn't be exposing him just because she's a brat

she's gonna get what's coming to her

11/17/2008 3:37:03 PM

shes a bitch but homeboy took the risk hopping the fence- that's what they do, hop over here and knock their wifey up so that they get kids and get the sympathy card in place of the green card

11/17/2008 3:37:35 PM

snitches get stiches

11/17/2008 3:38:49 PM

What a bitch.

For all the idiots in this thread, find me the part of the law that says it's illegal for a non-citizen to own a home in the US.

11/17/2008 3:38:50 PM

find me where it's legal for an illegal immigrant to be in this country

11/17/2008 3:39:14 PM

Fucking bitch. Got mad because she didn't get her way. Went overdrive on the attention whore.

[Edited on November 17, 2008 at 3:40 PM. Reason : is it illegal for 2yo american to own (have name on title) a house?]

11/17/2008 3:39:15 PM

Quote :

"he shouldn't have a mortgage, but she shouldn't be exposing him just because she's a brat she's gonna get what's coming to her"

pretty much

11/17/2008 3:39:24 PM

He shouldn't have used his daughter for the title of the home, that is all sorts of sketch. Then he promised free rent, in a mail between real estate agents, then reneged. Yeah... he should have seen this coming. Still a bitch move, but sounds like he was just as much of a bitch trying to circumvent laws (not talking about his illegal status).

11/17/2008 3:39:38 PM

i saytake that house away from them and let a needy family have it for free

11/17/2008 3:39:40 PM

Quote :

"he shouldn't have a mortgage"

Why's that? He only fucked up in putting his daughter's name on the mortgage. There is nothing illegal about a foreigner buying a home in the US. He only broke the law when he came over the border and thru working here without a green card.

11/17/2008 3:40:09 PM

fuck'em

find me where it's legal for an illegal immigrant to be in this country

11/17/2008 3:40:57 PM

^awaiting trial

11/17/2008 3:41:55 PM

lolz. ass.

11/17/2008 3:42:13 PM

Quote :

"ROSWELL, Ga. — Like all illegal immigrants, Lorenzo Jimenez knew the knock on the door from immigration agents could come at any time."

11/17/2008 3:42:23 PM

Quote :

"find me where it's legal for an illegal immigrant to be in this country"

Find me a law that says it isn't.

It's illegal to cross in undocumented, to overstay your visa or green card, or to work in this country without documentation. Just living here is not a crime.

[Edited on November 17, 2008 at 3:42 PM. Reason : 2]

11/17/2008 3:42:29 PM

soapbox
takes many years to become citizens and is not as easy as most americans believe. This will be very interesting to see the outcome. I think the lady was a real bitch and obviously didn't have the money to begin with-and hated that other people worked hard to have what they wanted. Still the father was illegal. so we'll see.

11/17/2008 3:43:08 PM

being on U.S. soil as an illegal immigrant, is illegal (other than legal trials, and the such, dur)

11/17/2008 3:43:27 PM

That's just not true.

The crime is committed when someone comes in illegally, or overstays their visa. Just being here is not the illegal part. They are always prosecuted for illegal entry or visa violations.

[Edited on November 17, 2008 at 3:50 PM. Reason : 2]

11/17/2008 3:49:26 PM

If his employer didn't know he was an illegal, it makes me wonder if he was using a false ssn.

11/17/2008 3:50:25 PM

A lot of people use false SSN's. It's getting a lot tougher with instant SSN checks by the Fed now, though.

11/17/2008 3:51:13 PM

i dont want criminals in my neighborhood. gtfo

11/17/2008 3:51:25 PM

ok, let's get away from your legal definition bs. it means jack.

if said person is an illegal immigrant, said person can be arrested and deported for being here. thus it is essentially illegal for an illegal immigrant to be in the U.S.

11/17/2008 3:51:55 PM

how are people going to feel when this illegal immigrant wrecks his daughters credit by foreclosing on the house?


OH THE HUMANITY!


send him home

11/17/2008 3:53:15 PM

Fuck those words that create the law. They don't mean jack shit.

11/17/2008 3:54:10 PM

Quote :

"Fuck those words that create the law. They don't mean jack shit."

LOL

Good luck sending 12 million people home.


It would make a lot more sense to integrate them into society and provide a pathway to naturalization.

[Edited on November 17, 2008 at 3:55 PM. Reason : 2]

11/17/2008 3:54:45 PM

Quote :

"He claims she caused cosmetic damage to the house and intentionally clogged the plumbing, both of which she denies."

What a cunt. You're ordered by a judge to get out and so you want to damage the place on your way out?? I don't see anything illegal in exposing someone, but when you around damaging property, I hope she gets what's coming to her.

11/17/2008 4:02:37 PM

I can see why she would be angry at both the seller and the agent.
- She probably put deposit money into escrow.
- She was ordered to pay several months rent when she could have been living at home for free or applying that money towards the mortgage.i
- She may have been forced to pass on legitimate opportunities because her resources were tied up in this house.

Maybe she went overboard, maybe she didn't. Either way, you don't fuck with somebody's money and that's exactly what this guy's actions did. Maybe he'll get his shit together and quit trying to bypass the system. He probably could be a legal citizen by now if he had actually tried.

11/17/2008 4:03:13 PM

Quote :

"He probably could be a legal citizen by now if he had actually tried."

Oh yeah? How was he supposed to do that?

US Immigration laws are shit.

11/17/2008 4:07:15 PM

I can see why she's single

[Edited on November 17, 2008 at 4:13 PM. Reason : lkj]

11/17/2008 4:13:16 PM

Wow, she desperately needs a job or something to do.

11/17/2008 4:14:06 PM

the 'rent' he was charging her was probably just for utilities

11/17/2008 4:19:19 PM

Quote :

"Oh yeah? How was he supposed to do that?"

http://tinyurl.com/33o333

11/17/2008 4:51:20 PM

Quote :

"Oh yeah? How was he supposed to do that?"

Get off his ass and go do it.

11/17/2008 4:52:23 PM

As someone who came to this country when I was very young, and whose parent's came here with absolutely nothing...it took me 15 years to become an actual citizen, but we did it the right way. I don't wanna hear bullshit about how you need money....because we came here with NOTHING. We went through all the steps in order to become legal. If you knowingly shortcut the system then you're gonna get what's coming to you.

11/17/2008 5:03:08 PM

^right on

11/17/2008 5:03:45 PM

Quote :

"find me the part of the law that says it's illegal for a non-citizen to own a home in the US."

That's what I was wondering.

It seems like a kick in lady liberty's cooch to not accept a hard working human's good money to buy a house.

Even if the family is deported (which is unlikely because of their "anchor baby"), the house and money they put in to the house is still theirs.

And it's nothing but blind, bitter, ignorant hatred to be glad this family is facing this peril. They are doing nothing but working hard and paying taxes.

11/17/2008 5:03:51 PM

karma

11/17/2008 5:07:32 PM

Quote :

"....They are doing nothing but working hard and paying taxes."

Um......I think not....since you need a social security card to that...and in order to get a social security card you need to be an American citizen or a valid work visa.....so.......

11/17/2008 5:09:03 PM

Quote :

"if said person is an illegal immigrant, said person can be arrested and deported for being here. thus it is essentially illegal for an illegal immigrant to be in the U.S."

Wow you have no idea what you're talking about.

Being caught here illegally is a civil offense which is specifically defined as NOT being a crime.

So not only are you blatantly ignorant of the laws, you are also hateful too. That is practically the definition of Xenophobia.

Quote :

"Um......I think not....since you need a social security card to that...and in order to get a social security card you need to be an American citizen or a valid work visa.....so......."

You are ignorant too (not surprising) you merely need a Tax ID which the article specifically references them as having, to pay taxes. The IRS actually encourages illegals to file their taxes normally, and guarantees no reprisal for doing so.

[Edited on November 17, 2008 at 5:10 PM. Reason : ]

11/17/2008 5:09:46 PM

Karma would be if Jiminez or someone else dug up some dirt on that bitch and got her fired and in trouble with the law for tax evasion or some other bullshit.

11/17/2008 5:10:23 PM

so you mean illegal immigrants aren't illegal and we don't deport them?

stfu and get off of your semantics horse.

11/17/2008 5:11:14 PM

Quote :

"Um......I think not....since you need a social security card to that...and in order to get a social security card you need to be an American citizen or a valid work visa.....so......."

He was working for a restaurant, so he was clearly paying income tax. He was also paying property tax, sales tax, and whatever other taxes they have in Roswell, GA.


Try again.

11/17/2008 5:11:34 PM

Quote :

"so you mean illegal immigrants aren't illegal and we don't deport them? stfu and get off of your semantics horse."

We absolutely shouldn't deport ALL illegal immigrants, the vast majority of which are very hard workers and upstanding family people. We should provide a path to naturalization for long-term residents and revise our ridiculous immigration policies to reflect the realities of the 21st century.

[Edited on November 17, 2008 at 5:14 PM. Reason : 2]

11/17/2008 5:13:48 PM

Well then he was using a false SSN which is just another crime. And the fact that he used his daughters name is yet another attempt to fraud.

11/17/2008 5:14:18 PM

I'm not stating what the policy should be for that.

I'm simply stating that illegal immigrants are illegal, and thus can be/are deported. Some people here seem to think that illegal immigrants aren't in violation of any laws and thus aren't subject to punitive action

11/17/2008 5:15:22 PM

Quote :

"so you mean illegal immigrants aren't illegal and we don't deport them? stfu and get off of your semantics horse."

No dumbshit.

They are not "criminals" as defined by the law (nor in a moral sense). The term "illegal immigrant" is something anti-immigrant people use to describe what the law refers to as "undocumented immigrants."

You can deport someone for being in violation of their VISA, but they are not technically "criminals" since this is a civil offense.

[Edited on November 17, 2008 at 5:16 PM. Reason : ]

11/17/2008 5:15:27 PM