QUESTION
Nicaraguan parolee requesting financial assistance for medical bills
Asked on Oct 07th, 2023 on Immigration - Virginia
More details to this question:
My Nicaraguan born brother-in-law entered the country legally this year as a parolee with me and my other brother-in-law as his financial supporters. Last month he needed an emergency appendectomy before we could get him health insurance and now has several thousand dollars in medical bills. Since he lost his job and has no source of income he qualifies for financial assistance provided by the hospital. However, we are concerned that this could affect us since we committed to providing financially for him so that he didn’t become a burden to the community. But more than that, we are concerned that this could affect his chances of obtaining asylum when he applies next year. We don’t have a lot of money but we also don’t want to get in trouble with the government or have his chances of obtaining asylum affected by taking advantage of the hospital’s financial assistance program. Are we being paranoid or is there merit for our concern?
1 ANSWER
Immigration and Nationality Law Attorney serving New York, NY
Partner at
Alan Lee & Arthur Lee, Attorneys at Law
3 Awards
Your brother-in-law taking financial assistance from the government for an emergency appendectomy will have no effect upon an application for political asylum. While an individual or individuals giving an I-134 affidavit of support have agreed to cover expenses by the parolee, there is currently very little enforcement to recoup monies back from an I-134 sponsor given the time and money required to pursue the affiants along with the political unpopularity of doing so. Due to the limitations of the Lawyers.com Forums, Alan Lee & Arthur Lee, Esqs.’ (the "Firm") participation in responding to questions posted herein does not constitute legal advice, nor legal representation of the person or entity posting a question. No Attorney/Client relationship is or shall be construed to be created hereby. The information provided herein by the Firm is general, and requires that the poster obtain specific legal advice from an attorney. The poster shall not rely upon the information provided herein as legal advice nor as the basis for making any decisions of legal consequence.
Answered on Nov 05th, 2023 at 2:08 PM