My father went to a prison in ____. He was the main supporter of our family which consists of my mother, me ( 16) , and my sister ( 14). I was told that I should write a letter to my local congressman asking for a six month halfway house. His term is for 1 year and end 2003 of september. Here is the letter so far and I need some more ideas on it.
Dear Congressman (name),
My name is Poly and I am 16 years old. Currently, I am a junior in ____ High School. I am the son of ______(Reg# _______) who has received 15 month servicing at Federal Correctional Institution. My father informed me that I have to go back to Pakistan where as I am a citizen of USA. I don’t want to go back to Pakistan because USA is my country and my new home now. After my father’s sentence, my father arranged some money and called my mother to live with me and my younger sister _______. She is also a US citizen. My father sent back my other sisters to Pakistan but they want to come back to USA because they are also US citizens and they like their new home. My mother never worked in her whole life because she has no education and she takes care of the family and house. The money my father left has depleted and we have no resources to get more money to support my family. My father and mother have no other relatives in this country that can help in this difficult time.
Please kindly look into my father’s case and suggest to BOP (Bureau of Prison) for six month halfway house. I also have some other problems and issues I want to discuss with you concerning this issue. If you would be kindly enough to make an appointment with me we can sit down and discuss this.
Sincerely,
This is all true. My mother doesnt speak english and cant work and I am only 16 and my sis 14. My father was the only supporter. What else can I write to convince him and what other options do I have? Any help would be apperciated. Thanks
I don’t know what the deal is with the halfway house you speak of but I’d be surprised if your congressman has anything to do with getting your father there. At most he/she could write a letter on your fatehr’s behalf that would be taken into consideration when your father’s case is reviewed.
I’m not saying don’t write the letter…can’t hurt but I wouldn’t expect miracles from it.
As a US citizen you have access to all sorts of governmental aid. Check with your local welfare office first and go from there. As to bringing your family back from Pakistan the US won’t help. As US citizens they are free to re-enter the country anytime they like but the US government is very unlikely to foot the bill for their travel expenses.
Finally, at 16, there are some jobs you can do. Not great jobs and not high paying jobs but you can supplement your family’s income. I worked at T.G.I Friday’s as a bus boy at age 16-17 and pulled down $50-75 per night in cash and that was in 1984. Not enough to make you wealthy but it certainly helps.
Whatever you do though try and stay in school. It’s a difficult road you’ll have to walk here…best of luck.
Yeah…a check for $1,000 to the congressperson’s re-election campaign.
Sorry to be joking around about this but unfortunately it is not entirely a joke. Your congressperson probably gets a few thousand pieces of mail a day. He/she has no special reason to help you out and frankly they will send their help to those they care most about…the people who get them re-elected.
Besides which I seriously doubt that your congressperson is the right person to ask for help. That is, I doubt there is much he/she could do even were they inclined to do so.
So, in short, write whatever you like. What you have so far seems fine. You spelled out your dilemma and the remedy you hope for. What else is there?
Whack-a-Mole is correct. With 9 months remaining you are talking about a fairly short remaining sentence and unless you can make a compelling case for your congressman to get involved, other than the fact that you don’t want to go back to Pakistan, I don’t see him sticking his neck out.
All things considered it might be wise to go back to Pakistan during your father’s sentence and stay with relatives than trying to exist with no money in the US. Have you applied for welfare assistance and various other social benefits? If not, your letter writing skills and time might be put to much better use arranging for these available and concrete thingsfor your family than the (realworld) unlikely intervention of a congressman into a prisoner’s case with 9 months remaining.
I must disagree strongly with what Whack-a-mole said.
Congresspeople LOVE getting letters asking for help from their constituents in regard to interaction with the U.S. government. It’s called case work, and it’s how people like Strom Thurmond get reelected. Honestly, Poly, if this congressperson helps you out on a significant level, are you ever NOT going to vote for them? You’ll be able to vote in two years, your sister in another four, and your mother probably in another relatively short period. Three voters for life. Send this letter to your Representative and both your Senators.
Unless of course your Senator’s a total ass, like Tom Tancredo.
Unfortunately, I doubt that a congress person can have any direct influence upon the outcome of your father’s situation, but they will certainly want to help you find out what benefits your family can recieve to help you out in this difficult period.
Another avenue which I think you should pursue is local legal defense funds/organizations. Since your father has a relatively small sentence (13 months), an appeals court or whoever may be willing to work with a prisoner who has a number of dependents on the outside, especially through work release programs.
Since I don’t know where you’re located, I would advise you to either look on the internet, ask around locally, or post some more here to get some more information that can help you.
I think you’ll be suprised by the number of people/organizations who will be willing to help you out on this one. A number of Doper’s are lawyers who I’m sure would be willing to give you some generalized guidlines as to what you should pursue in legal terms.
They may like helping out constituents but getting people out of prison generally doesn’t endear them to the rest of their voters. Sure, Poly’s congressperson may count on three or four votes if he/she helps them but how many does he/she stand to lose when it becoems an issue in the next election? “Congressperson X let convicted criminals out of prison EARLY. Vote for ME…I’m TOUGH on crime!!!”
All Poly will be likely to get is some literature on the welfare system and a nice note suggesting he avail himself of it.
There are thousands of people clamoring for their elected official’s special help. In true capitalist fashion the limited resource of who can and can’t be helped must be allocated…everyone can’t have enerything they want. I’ll bet the congressperson in question will help not at all in Poly’s case. Maybe I’m wrong and sending the letter certainly can’t hurt…may as well take your shot.
it certainly can’t hurt to write to the congressman. be sure and write your state congressman as well as your federal congressman since it is a federal prison. as well as your state/federal senators. you’d be surprised at how much politicians and the justice system are able to help out. ask the congressman for either a six month halfway house or even to get your father out on work release or something similar. I took the liberty of trying to tighten your letter up a bit and take out some of the rough edges. you might want to add something into your letter expressing that your father was a good father but he did the wrong thing and learned from the mistake and it will not happen again. best wishes.
Dear Congressman (name),
My name is Poly and I am 16 years old. Currently, I am a junior in ____ High School. I am the son of ______(Reg# _______) who has received a 15 month sentence at ________Federal Correctional Institution. I live with my mother and my younger sister _______, who is a United States citizen. My father wanted me to go back to Pakistan, but I also am a citizen of the United States and I don’t want to leave my country and my new home. My other sisters are in Pakistan but they want to come back to the United States because they are also citizens and they want to live in their new home. My mother was never able to work or get an education because she was too busy taking care of the house and the children, so she is now unable to support us. The money that we had when my father went to prison is depleted and we have no resources left to support my family. My father and mother have no other relatives in this country that can help us in this difficult time.
Please kindly look into my father’s case and see if the BOP (Bureau of Prisons) can arrange that he be transferred to a six month halfway house or perhaps some sort of work-release program in order that he may again support his family. I also have some other matters that I would like to discuss with you concerning his case, so I shall also be calling your office to see if you will be able to spare some time for me.
Sincerely,
sorry i can’t edit it any better, but i am at work and people keep making me earn my money! (philistines!)it may look better if you separate the paragraphs like this:
My name is Poly and I am 16 years old. Currently, I am a junior in ____ High School. I am the son of ______(Reg# _______) who has received a 15 month sentence at ________Federal Correctional Institution. I live with my mother and my younger sister _______, who is a United States citizen. My father wanted me to go back to Pakistan, but I am a citizen of the United States and I don’t want to leave my country and my new home. My other sisters are planning to come back to the United States because they are also citizens and want to live in their new home.
My mother was never able to work or get an education because she was too busy taking care of the house and the children, so she is now unable to support us. The money that we had when my father went to prison is depleted and we have no resources left to support my family. My father and mother have no other relatives in this country that can help us in this difficult time.
Please kindly look into my father’s case and see if the BOP (Bureau of Prisons) can arrange that he be transferred to a six month halfway house or perhaps some sort of work-release program in order that he may again support his family. I also have some other matters that I would like to discuss with you concerning his case, so I shall also be calling your office to see if you will be able to spare some time for me.
Sincerely,
I think the letter as written is a little short on facts. Remember, any fact you omit is a fact that the congressman (or at least his office) has to go and look up. This will be annoying.
I would include details of the offence which your father has committed together with any mitigating factors ie:
since he only got a year or so, I assume the offence wasn’t that bad
why did he commit it? Short of money and therefore desperate?
Does he have any previous convictions? If this was a first offence then I would definitely mention it.
Is there anything you could say that would show that he is extremely unlikely to re-offend when released?
Make it clear that you are in the process of looking for work yourself (so far as your schooling allows)
Basically try to think of things that may make your case more “worthy” than the other 2000 cases the congressman currently has sitting on his desk.
I wouldn’t mention this kind of stuff at the beginning of the letter, put it in the middle. The beginning of your letter is fine - you’ve established that you are a helpless 16 year old in a problematic situation.
Also your last paragraph is a bit presumptuous. I think you should say something like:
I would be most grateful if you could look into my father’s case on my behalf. I understand that the Bureau of Prisons are able to arrange for the transfer of some prisoners to a six month halfway house or perhaps some sort of work-release program. I would be very grateful if you could write to them on my behalf suggesting this so that my father may again be able to support his family.
I also have some other matters that I would like to discuss with you concerning his case, so I shall also be calling your office to see if you will be able to spare some time for me.
I would like to thank you for your kind consideration of this matter and I hope you will be able to be of assistance to me.
First of all, I am very sorry to hear about your situation. My father went to prison when I was a little bit younger than you, and it forced us to split up our family amongst relatives. I was in a somewhat similiar situation, as my (step)mother did not have a job, or any job skills, and I was too young to work. My (natural)mom could afford to take me and my brother in, but my step siblings weren’t so fortunate, and had to live with distant relatives for a time. I understand how scary the situation must be, and applaud your effort to help your family remain together.
When this happened to me, there weren’t alot of charities or organizations in my area that were set up to help people in this situation. There are more now, and there are many places/people that would be willing to help you. If you could tell us your location, I’ll do my best to help you find some of these.
As to your letter, it never hurts to ask for help from someone in a position to help you. Like threemae said, there are alot of people out there who would be willing to help you. It’s just a matter of finding these people.
This is really weird. I remember an almost identical OP (same situation, minor, father in prison, wishing to stay in the US rather than return to Pakistan) being posted a few months ago. I’ll see if I can locate it and find out what advice was offered in that case.
I would call the warden of the prison & ask him what the best approach would be. I might only get to talk to his secretary but it’s worth a shot. Im sure they would prefer people don’t come back to their prison, soa post prison program would be a nice idea. Also call any half way places for ideas.