Lamh Foistenach Abu!
Posted on 07/13/2010 2:56:02 PM PDT by American Dream 246
Got that in my email today:
Good morning, all -
Please sign the petition linked below, for Dean and Laura Franks to remain in the country?
They're LEGAL aliens, here on a business visa, and ran a successful restaurant in Wells for a decade. They employed Maine residents, paid all Maine and Federal taxes, purchased a home in Arundel and the business property in Wells, and in compliance with the US immigration program, showed a consistent profit, every single year.
One year ago, they were summarily told to pack up, sell up, and move out of the country within 30 days. The reason? Some Federal bureaucrat - in CALIFORNIA - decided they weren't making ENOUGH of a profit.
I'm sorry, but I think that's unfair, and I support their efforts to stay in the country. They've been practically bankrupted as a result of the deportation order, and all their former employees were laid off.
As my Uncle Mervin would say "Is this a system?"
Here's a Journal Tribune article and link:
Visas denied: Franks must leave Wells
By ROBYN BURNHAM Staff Writer
Friday, July 9, 2010 11:18 AM EDT WELLS — After a year of struggling to remain in the U.S. after the expiration of their visas, Dean and Laura Franks are packing up their house and restaurant and preparing to leave Maine – a place they have called home for a decade.
The trouble started in June 2009 when the British couple received notification....letting them know they had 30 days to close their restaurant, Laura’s Kitchen on Route 109 in Wells, and leave the country.
www.journaltribune.com/articles/2010/07/09/news/doc4c372fbbc7b11378809492.txt
Also, please sign the petition, below, and send an email to your friends with the petition link, asking them to sign?
http://www.petitiononline.com/E2Franks/petition.html
If you have a Facebook page, you can share the Support the Franks' FB page link with your friends, by clicking on the SHARE button at the bottom left of the page.
http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=1628932330#!/group.php?gid=131052223601588
Please invite everyone you know, to sign up, join, and invite THEIR friends to do the same!
Thank you!
- Naran
what they need to do is cross into the U.S. from Mexico... illegally. then change their names to Jose and Maria and problem fixed.
... Some Federal bureaucrat - in CALIFORNIA ...
I’m willing to bet that this is a of case of a non-white kicking out a white immigrant couple. I could be wrong, of course, but what is the motivation of “Some Federal bureaucrat - in CALIFORNIA”???
Just speculating.
Or convert to Islam, then they’ll get their own mansion.
Well in Florida thansk to cowardly RINOs like Crist, Rubio and MCCollum we have endless illegals from Brazil, Haiti, Mexico, Jamacia, Central America and you name it. Lots of drug dealing too.
Lamh Foistenach Abu!
“Oh I forgot: somalians”
My absolute tip-top favorite among the ‘legal’ immigrants.
The next step will be to deport US citizens if they don’t vote democrat.
“I love America,” Mr. Franks said, but he has become embittered because their hard work and frugal ways seem to count for nothing.
“You can go from ‘illegal’ to ‘green card holder,’ but we’re going from ‘legal’ to ‘no way you can get a green card,’ ” he said. “We did it wrong. If we came here illegally, we’d have a chance of becoming citizens.”
Come on FReepers! The direct link to the petition is here if you don't want to dive into Facebook.
Has anyone checked this out to see if it is true? I really am leery of these kind of emails anymore. So easy to circulate something like this that might be just a myth.
The investment may not be marginal. It must generate significantly more income than just to provide a living to the investor and family, or it must have a significant economic impact in the U.S.
Their does their business that makes $40k before paying both the business and individual sides of employment taxes qualify as marginal? Arguably it does, though I would expect the fact that it provides employment for others to be a factor. I don't know what the guidelines they use for determining if a business is marginal, but since their appeal was denied, I suspect they were appropriately applied. They are considerably above the poverty level, but I don't know if they are actually paying out as much in taxes as they receive in benefits. Are they actually making a positive contribution at that point?
They actually didn't technically immigrate to the US. The E-2 Visa is a non-immigrant visa. They are not meant for people intending to reside permanently in the US. They grant that ability to come to the US to manage an investment, but are not considered a path to permanent residency. E-2 holders are considered temporary visitors to the US.
The E-2 visas must be renewed every two years. Immigration officials didn't just call them out of the blue and arbitrarily decide to toss them out of the country.
I feel sympathy for them. From what I know, I would think that it would be beneficial to consider their business to be better than marginal but I don't have numbers to back that up.
I do think it is wrong that our government isn't enforcing immigration laws regarding people who contribute far, far less to our society. But I'm not sure that this couple is being treated unfairly. They were never promised a path to residency. They only had temporary visas.
From the link you provided:
The Franks were surprised and confused to learn last year that they were deemed marginal. Their tax returns show that their gross annual income in 2008 was $64,000, in addition to rental income of $16,800. Their gross profit for the year was $38,800, which was down from their gross profit in 2007 of $50,700 because of the recession...
Gross Profit is basically meaningless without knowing how much they are paying out in wages, taxes, and other overhead. But if they are really paying wages and employment taxes for 3 or 4 people as well as utilities and their own taxes out of that, then their net profit can't be much. Gross profit is their gross sales minus the cost of the goods sold, in this case the food.
Why through out basically meaningless numbers unless the relevant numbers hurt your case?
If they are receiving no government aid then I have no particular reason to want them to leave, but I don't like being misled by all these dishonest journalists trying to make martyrs out of anyone who doesn't qualify to remain in the US.
An E-2 visa is a temporary visa. Their business doesn't meet the requirements for them to remain in the US. They may make enough to scrape by as long as they remain healthy, but they have absolutely no buffer with which to handle the emergencies life will throw at you sooner or later.
I don't see how they can afford much in the way of health insurance, and one big health emergency and they are in bankruptcy. They aren't going to be able to save much for retirement, they don't make enough to keep the business running if they aren't both working.
They may very well be living a modest but satisfying life, but it seems like it's a matter of when, not if, they will be unable to be net contributors to our society.
It would be nice if we could magically provide at least a moderately comfortable lifestyle to any who would want to come here. I also don't question this couple's willingness to work hard. But E-2 Visas are not a method through which we are supposed to provide aid to the less fortunate from other nations.
An opportunity for an American to open a restaurant just opened up.
“A british (white)couple immigrated properly and is losing the battle. They are a hard working....”
Sorry, Crackers, you’ve got to make way for the Ghanians, Burkino Fasonians, and other West Africans coming here by the plane load. They immediately end up in subsidized housing, on food stamps, and TennCare.
Just keep repeating to yourselves that our overlords tell us that diversity makes us stronger.
This foolishness will end, and be reversed.
This is correct. Using a business visa in order to become a permanent resident is outside the intention of the law.
I expect that we will see many more cases like this in an attempt to appeal to people's emotions regarding those who are abusing U.S. immigration laws.
One should not expect that the millions of illegal aliens here in the U.S. aren't going to have their share of sad stories. Lax government policies created this mess and it's going to take a lot of pain to straighten it out.
Those of us who wish to see the illegal Mexicans deported must simply recognize that not all who are here pretending to be permanent residents are deserving of that status.
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