In case you haven't heard the news already our attorney called yesterday and we have FINALLY gotten our court date. 4/30/19 at 9:00am, we will be going to Cesar's bond hearing. We are hoping for the best. I am pretty confident we will get a bond, just from hearing stories about other people in the facility with him. In-case you are wondering about the time frame to get the bond and see the judge, Cesar was picked up on 3/7/2019.
That means:
It has been 6 weeks since he was taken, they just issued him a bond.
It has been 5 weeks since our attorney filed our bond application. (3/22/2019)
It has been 4 weeks since we got married. (3/29/2019)
It will be another week and a half before he sees the judge. (4/18/2019 to 4/30/2019)
I was told, and he was told, by an ICE agent that it would take 2 weeks to issue a bond hearing date. If that was true he would have had a date issued on 3/21/19. That was the day before our attorney filled our application and a week before we got married. The average bond hearing date is being scheduled roughly a week to two weeks out. So that means, if the bond date was scheduled in accordance with the amount of time that this one was, we should have gone before a judge on the 4/2/2019. We were told last week we would have the date by Wednesday and to call back to confirm. That would have been on the 10th, just to receive the date. The reason why I am listing all of these dates out is to draw attention that there is NO REASON FOR ICE TO GET YOU IN FRONT OF A JUDGE. THEY ARE NOT PENALIZED FOR ADHERING TO A REASONABLE AMOUNT OF TIME. This is a problem. This is a HUGE problem.
If I am taken to jail for a misdemeanor I can be booked and bonded out the same day. I pay 10% of the bond at a bondsman and I am given a court date to appear and time to hire an attorney if necessary. I am also given the option to have a public defender if I can not afford one on my own.
Immigration detention: min 2 weeks for a bond hearing, FULL BOND AMOUNT DUE (at unreasonable amounts), no option for a public defender.
No wonder so many people find themselves stuck in these facilities. I have PUSHED AND PUSHED as HARD as humanly possible. I am almost 100% sure my attorney is getting sick of me. I honestly don't think many people have someone like me that is not only willing but subconsciously driven to understand and to overwork the situation to a point that borders on obsession.
Both of us have worked so hard to make this go as quickly as possible. Cesar even started bothering the court from the facility too. It got to the point where it was us and the attorney going after the court to get this done. What would have happened if we just relied on the attorney? He has other cases. They are probably paying more and past just the bond hearing. I understand we are not his only clients. I know from years of dealing with attorneys in MANY different facets that even though you are paying them they are not solely responsible for you. Doing part of the leg work on your own is the only way you will move forward at a reasonable pace.
That being said, as frustrated as I am with the situation and with our immigration system I am just thankful that I finally have a date to cling to. There an end date in sight for the detention process. I am so close to having him back with me. That counts for something. Part of my nightmare is almost over. It feels like it has been forever.
