Immigration Nightmare: Family of 7 split apart due to ‘immigration paperwork foul-up’
Here is some none-too-glamorous news out of Hollywood.
Sergey Nikitin lives with his wife and five children in West Hollywood. The Los Angeles realtor, however, is being kept apart from his family from what he says is a clerical error that’s turned into an immigration nightmare. Nikitin’s wife, Anya Bondareva, is currently being detained by federal authorities while trying to cross the U.S./Mexico border near San Diego. “She was crying and she was in shock. She couldn’t believe what was even happening,” Nikitin said.
Nitikin became a U.S. citizen 15 years ago and married his wife, a Russian native, in 2008. Following their marriage, Nikitin hired an immigration consultant in L.A. to handle her paperwork. Bondareva received a conditional green card, but Nikitin says the consultant failed to secure a permanent green card.
It turns out that, after Bondareva’s green card expired, a deportation order was issued. Nikitin says that because of a change of address in L.A., they were not notified of a hearing, leading to her being taken in. Nikitin spoke to his wife over the telephone and says that she broke down in tears when she learned that she could be behind bars for weeks, perhaps months.
KJ