american child illegal mother

[acinom]

I really need help, I was married to an american for 7 years, we have 2 children together.
Over the years he kept promising next year, and next year and so on he was going to fix my immigration papers.
We are now divorced and I am now an illegal immigrant with no chance of getting my papers.
I want to go home with my children but my ex husband refuses to let the children go, knowing I will never go without them. The children lives with me.
I did pay a lawyer $1500 to help me he took my money and did nothing. Please help.

 

[NYClex]

This is a very difficult situation. The first step would be to get a court order granting legal and physical custody to you.

Even with such an order there still is a problem: the visitation rights. You would probably need another court order, or incorporate this matter into the above mentioned court order, setting clear visitation rights for the non-custodial parent. Here now it depends very much on the NCP and the courts to find a fair solution to this problem. Often the NCP argues that he cannot be asked to exercise his visitation rights only in a foreign country. He will demand that the child has to remain in the U.S.

Therefore I would strongly advise to consult an attorney to handle these matters. I am very sorry to hear that you actually have consulted and retained one and are unhappy with his services.

In many cities there are non-profit organizations who retain attorneys working pro bono (free of charge) to counsel immigrants. If you cannot afford to consult another attorney you should contact one of those organizations to get help in this matter.