Legal Question in Immigration Law in Nevada
My friend received a substantial loan from a now ex-boyfriend. She fell on hard times for two or three months and missed payments to him and he hired an attorney to force her to sign a contract or sue her for the balance remaining. My question is: He is an illegal from Mexico who used to have a greencard but was caught in an Arizona airport attempting to smuggle a child into the US with false papers and was subsequently deported and instructed not to re-enter the US. He came back illegally and is here illegally which is why she broke off the relationship. He wanted her to marry him after the loan and now she knows why he so readily offered the loan perhaps to "buy" his citizenship through a marriage to her. Can he still use our justice system against her? Does she have to sign this contract drawn up by a local attorney? If the case goes to court, can he enter and be represented in our courts? She has resumed payments and is not disputing repayment of the loan. She's just shocked that the courtsystems that her tax dollars support can be so readily available to a non-citizen with a potential warrant against him for even being in our country against a US court order.
1 Answer from Attorneys
Just because he is an illegal alien, he still has the same rights to civil courts and civil matters like contracts as any citizen. Now, whether your friend has to "sign" the contract his attorney is drawing up and putting in front of her is another matter. She needs to immediately retain an attorney to take a look at this contract, or evaluate whether the "loan" was really a gift. A loan agreement could still have been validly formed even though it was verbal -- it depends on the parties' testimonies. So, if it was a loan, her attorney could advise her whether this proposed contract fairly sets the terms for her on payments, interest rate, etc. You didn't say clearly whether she already married him already and got the green card through him, or the intention was for him to marry her for a green card but no marriage yet, but if either was true, that would be an illegal contract and she should not sign it under any circumstances as it would ratify an illegal act (marriage for green card).
Bottom line, she should consult with a local contract or civil litigation lawyer.
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