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Jailed Columbian Au Pair Gets Bond Hearing, Ordered To Leave Country
POSTED: 3:07 pm EDT May 5,
2008
UPDATED: 3:51 pm EDT May 5,
2008
YORK, Pa. -- A young Colombia woman who went to the Pittsburgh International Airport on April 11 expecting to get on a plane bound for New Jersey to see family was instead met by immigration officials and taken into custody, charged with overstaying a visa.Maria Patricia Diaz Corrales, 20, who has been working legally as an au pair for an Upper St. Clair family for the past two years, was then transferred from one jail to another before getting a bond hearing in York, Pa., on Monday afternoon.There, friends and family members from Pittsburgh and New Jersey gathered only to be told that the hearing was canceled due to scheduling problems. Luckily, that wasn’t the case and Corrales was granted bond at a hearing set for 1 p.m.
But her troubles didn’t end there. Her bond was set at $3,500, but it must be paid in Baltimore. So, Corrales will have to spend another night in jail until family members can make to Baltimore to post bond on Tuesday.She has been charged with overstaying a visa and must leave the country within 30 days. However, she is not barred from returning to the U.S. In order to do so, she must reapply for a new visa.Corrales had a non-immigrant visa, which is similar to what foreign students have. She applied for an extension but was never told there was a problem with it until she was detained.First, Corrales spent two weeks in the Allegheny County Jail before being transferred to the Cambria County Jail."She's a very smart girl, and I know she can handle herself," said Diana Welch, who Corrales is an au pair for. "But I can tell by the tone in her voice that she's scared."Robert Chatlak, a friend of Corrales', made hundreds of phone calls on her behalf since hearing of the news."At night, I can't get out of my head what she's going through," he said.But Welch and Chatlak said they can't understand why Corrales was unable to get a bond hearing sooner."They know that she clearly came to this country legally," said Welch. "So, I think it should have been treated a little bit differently than the other people that they have that are completely illegal."An immigration attorney told WTAE Channel 4 Action News that the case is civil, not criminal, so Corrales has fewer rights to a free attorney.
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Previous Stories:
- April 28, 2008: Colombian Au Pair Detained; Pittsburgh Family Wants Answers
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