The Florida attorney, Willy Allen, an expert in immigration issues, has clarified in his live program on CiberCuba that penalties for violating traffic laws in the United States do not jeopardize residency and cannot be used as an argument to prevent entry into the United States, but they can pose a barrier when it comes to obtaining citizenship.
But this is not an absolute opinion. "It depends, with Lincoln-Reilly traffic fines can especially affect non-residents. If you are a resident, it depends on the fine and how many the person has. Driving under the influence of alcohol can be very problematic. It can also affect citizenship if someone has a collection of fines," he commented.
Traffic fines do not revoke your residency nor can they deny you entry into the country because of them. We know what is happening with Cubans returning from the island and how they are being threatened with being taken to court to have their residency revoked. The reality is that they are being threatened and intimidated to prevent them from going to Cuba. If they are going to take away your residency and send you in front of an Immigration judge, they must physically take your residency card; they have to give you a 551 evidence, which indicates residency, and they must schedule an appointment for you to go to something called Deferred Inspection, which is an office outside the airport.
"In that place," Allen added, "they can detain you, and that's where they can send you to court. 'But if they don't take away your residency at the airport, physically, they will never send you to court. It's meant to intimidate you, instill fear, and humiliate you. So, be wary of that," he said.
The lawyer emphasized that “if you applied for asylum in the United States but became legal as a Cuban, CU6, then you won’t have any problems traveling to and from Cuba. When will you have a problem, if you do? When you go for the citizenship interview? And the officer, if they do their job well—and I trust that officers do their job well—might ask you, ‘Why did you go to Cuba? Weren’t you afraid? Why did you go?’ Do you have a good answer? Look, I went twice, three times because my mother was sick; I was a resident, I claimed my son but I had to go see him. Do you have a real and strong answer? You will never have problems. So far, I haven’t seen anyone who has lost their residency for going to Cuba.”
However, Allen acknowledges that in the citizenship interviews, he has had to defend very strong cases, although he insists he does not remember anyone having their residency revoked for going to Cuba.
In any case, it does not rule out that this could happen in the future. "Yes, it could happen especially with the way they are intimidating and instilling fear, and with how they are speaking publicly in Miami. Obama eliminated 'Wet Feet, Dry Feet,' but I would say that for the entire time that 'Wet Feet, Dry Feet' existed, the Cuban Republican leadership in Miami and some Democrats were constantly calling for its elimination and were constantly asking for travel to Cuba to be restricted. That has been the case, at least, since 1979, when Cuba allowed exiled Cubans to return to see their family members. So since that time, we are talking about almost 45 years now, there have been such moments in the community of Cuban exiles, and I am an exile," he concluded.
Regarding how traffic fines can influence citizenship, Allen explained that in the event of accumulating them, the officer conducting the citizenship interview may interpret this as a way of demonstrating a lack of respect for U.S. laws and could consider it as "social misconduct."
In this regard, it was pointed out that when evaluating the good moral character of candidates for U.S. citizenship, the judgment of the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services officer conducting the interview plays a significant role. However, it is certain that anyone will consider traffic fines and debts, both tax-related and for child support, when approving the "good moral character" of the applicant.
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