Arrested immigrant's visa expires while in jail (News14-NC)

Arrested immigrant's visa expires while in jail
By: Aaron Mesmer
8:26 AM 7/29/2010

CHARLOTTE — An immigrant who admits to committing credit card fraud is worried the crime will land him in more trouble than he imagined.

Ronald Bekema, a Netherlands native, said his visa expired while he was in jail and now he is concerned he will face more charges because he is in the country illegally and can't fix the problem.

Bekema was in the United States simply to play soccer and try out for the Charlotte Eagles. While in the Queen City, he lived with a player on the team and committed credit card fraud by using his teammate's card to book his plane ticket home.

“The ticket that I booked to go back to Europe was booked with a stolen credit card,” said Bekema.

While in jail, waiting for his bond hearing, his already extended visa expired.

He has a hearing scheduled for Thursday for credit card fraud. After that, he plans on turning himself in to Immigration and Customs Enforcement. But ICE officials said that if a crime is committed, it does not matter if the visa is expired.

“Clearly the agreement is that you're going to comply by the terms of your visa and that you're not going to break our laws,” said Barbara Gonzalez, of ICE.

Bekema will likely be deported after the fraud case wraps up.