Posted on 06/27/2012 2:30:43 PM PDT by iowamark
A lawyer who gave bad advice that caused illegal immigrants from Ecuador to be separated from their children and grandchildren in Iowa for at least a decade can be sued for the family's pain and suffering, a court ruled Wednesday.
A jury has already ordered Des Moines attorney Michael Said to refund the family's legal fees of $12,500, but a new trial should determine whether he should be required to pay damages for emotional distress and punitive damages for his legal malpractice, the Iowa Court of Appeals ruled.
At issue is the faulty advice that Said gave a husband and wife from Ecuador, Klever Miranda and Nancy Campoverde, that has caused the couple to be separated for years from their young son, a U.S. citizen who is now a teenager; two adult children; and several grandchildren. Their relatives live in the Des Moines area.
Klever Miranda had come to the U.S. illegally in 1989, and was facing a court order requiring his deportation. His son, Cesar Miranda, got married and was in the process of becoming a U.S. citizen in 2005, when the family hired Said to see whether his parents had any new options to stay.
Said advised the couple they should return to Ecuador and ask immigration officials for waivers allowing them to re-enter the U.S. by listing Cesar Miranda as a "qualifying relative." He told them they had a 99 percent chance of succeeding, and they followed his advice, according to the appeals court ruling.
But after returning to Ecuador in 2007, they learned during an interview with immigration officials at the consulate that their son was not a qualifying relative and they could not return. And because they had been in the U.S. illegally, they were subjected to a 10-year ban from re-entering the country...
(Excerpt) Read more at 2.wsav.com ...
having lived in Iowa, returning them would be a sentence, not a priveledge.
“Klever Miranda had come to the U.S. illegally in 1989, and was facing a court order requiring his deportation”
End of story. Case closed.
Thanks for your input. To each his own.
Some folks actually enjoy and appreciate life in Iowa. It's a great place to raise a family, even in some of the blue counties.
I actually like Iowa and it’s people; I tend over exagerate.
Illegal Aliens ARE NOT IMMIGRANTS
(Forgive the shouting, not at you or any Freeper....gosh I am tired of Illegal Aliens being called “immigrants”)
Bet if this was an American citizen family...the judge would not let the lawyer be sued
Is there any reason, for why the son could not go back and see the parents on his own ? He had all the documents allowing such travel. The parents should be suing the son, for the couple to be separated from not seeing their young son, a U.S. citizen who is now a teenager; two adult children; and several grandchildren, they all could of went to see the parents. Unless the only legal one is the son. maybe I can sue that lawyer who gave me bad advise, a few years ago, it is still causing me pain and suffering, I have emotional distress and I want to be awarded punitive damages for alleged legal malpractice. I ask for $ 5 million be awarded as punitive damages to help me cope and feel better.
That was the standard advice, I remember a friend of my mom’s having to go back to Italy in order to request to come here again.
Poor lawyer. Pretty soon no one will give any legal advice at all. It is hard enough being a lawyer without this kind of crap
I participated in a fascinating immigration study. Mexican illegal immigrant has baby, she’s separated by immigration enforcement and to be deported while social services put the “citizen” baby is foster care. Was I for or against allowing the mother to stay in the country with her citizen baby?
I had to argue and finally get a message to the survey designers. “Neither. The citizen baby should go with the mother back to HER home country.”
The same should happen in this case - their minor kids go HOME with them.
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