Mother Loses Custody Due To Her Bizarre Behavior
Recent Cases
A California appeals court affirmed the appointment of a guardian ad litem for a girl whose mother led police on a 12-minute high-speed chase with her 7-month-old daughter in tow, kept feces and urine in jars near the kitchen sink, and told relatives to address her daughter, Esmeralda, as "Andrew," writing the new name on the girl's stomach in felt marker.
Justice McKinster concluded that the San Bernardino County Court violated Marlene G.'s due-process rights by appointing the guardian ad litem, but said the violation was harmless, because Marlene would probably have lost her parental rights, anyway.
After the high-speech police chase, Marlene was arrested, declared competent to stand trial and jailed for child endangerment. She later refused to take antibiotics for a fever that could have spread to her infant daughter.
She told the county Department of Children's Services that "she was hearing voices telling her that others are trying to break into her home and kill her."
She also mentioned Esmeralda likes to eat peanut butter and chocolate, though relatives said she was feeding her daughter peanut butter mixed with feces.
A psychological evaluation revealed that Marlene "feels sad, thinks of death, has racing thoughts, has difficulty understanding what people say to her, has problems understand what she reads, and cannot find her way home from familiar places," the ruling states.
The court ruled that Esmeralda should be kept in state custody, because her mother continued to show signs of mental illness and refused to take psychotropic medications.
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USCIS Adjusting Premium Processing Fee
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) announced today it is adjusting the premium processing fee for Form I-129, Petition for a Nonimmigrant Worker and Form I-140, Immigrant Petition for Alien Workers beginning on Oct. 1, 2018 to more effectively adjudicate petitions and maintain effective service to petitioners.
The premium processing fee will increase to $1,410, a 14.92 percent increase (after rounding) from the current fee of $1,225. This increase, which is done in accordance with the Immigration and Nationality Act, represents the percentage change in inflation since the fee was last increased in 2010 based on the Consumer Price Index for all Urban Consumers.
“Because premium processing fees have not been adjusted since 2010, our ability to improve the adjudications and service processes for all petitioners has been hindered as we’ve experienced significantly higher demand for immigration benefits. Ultimately, adjusting the premium processing fee will allow us to continue making necessary investments in staff and technology to administer various immigration benefit requests more effectively and efficiently,” said Chief Financial Officer Joseph Moore. “USCIS will continue adjudicating all petitions on a case-by-case basis to determine if they meet all standards required under applicable law, policies, and regulations.”
Premium processing is an optional service that is currently authorized for certain petitioners filing Forms I-129 or I-140. The system allows petitioners to request 15-day processing of certain employment-based immigration benefit requests if they pay an extra fee. The premium processing fee is paid in addition to the base filing fee and any other applicable fees, which cannot be waived.