An American couple who entered Belize in a small boat as visitors and wanted to call the Bomba, a village in the Belize District, their new home, were reduced to tears when they were deemed to be prohibited immigrants and a court order for their removal was issued today.

Jacob Joseph Kleczka, 34, and his common-law wife, Rachael Marie Carriveau, 28, both of the U.S. state of Wisconsin, appeared before Magistrate Hettie Mae Stewart to answer to an immigration offense of being in Belize with expired visas.

The couple was able to get an attorney, Dickie Bradley, to explain to them, in the presence of the Magistrate and the Immigration Department prosecutor, the reasons why they were being deemed as prohibited immigrants.

Bradley explained to them that the U.S. government wants them to return home, and has already made travel arrangements to fly them out of the country. Carriveau’s mother is inquiring about the safety of her grandchildren, and wants the two children back in the States, he informed the couple.

Kleczka explored the idea of spending the mandatory six months in prison after the court fine is imposed, on the condition that he would be allowed to file for residency at the end of the prison term and if Carriveau would be allowed to return to Belize to visit him while he was in prison.

A very emotional Kleczka, who appeared in court barefooted, said he would do anything to stay in Belize, because he doesn’t want to raise his two young children in America. Their biggest problem is that they had failed to get an extension to their visitor’s permit.

When the prospect of staying in Belize appeared unlikely, they asked the court for a brief adjournment so that they could discuss their predicament in private.

Upon returning back into the courtroom, they were prepared to enter guilty pleas.

The Immigration Department’s allegations against them are that on July 9, 2014, both persons failed to comply with the conditions of their visitor’s permit to remain in Belize legally.

In mitigation, Kleczka was brief, telling the court: “I don’t want to leave this country because I fear for my safety back in America.”

Carriveau said, “I wish we could stay in Belize. We made a mistake and our only asset, our boat, was sold, but we were not paid anything by the man we sold it to, and that made us unable to come into the city to renew our visa. I am really saddened to have to go because we really feel at home here.”

On February 5, 2014, the couple arrived in Belize. Both were granted two different visa extensions to remain. The first extension was granted on February 5, 2014, and it expired one month later, on March 5, 2014.

In March, they obtained another extension to remain in Belize until April 6, 2014. Since then, they had failed to apply to the Immigration Department for another extension.

The Immigration Department got a tip today from a reliable source and visited Bomba, through the old Maskall Road, where they located the couple.

The police were called in and the couple was taken to the Ladyville Police Station and then handed over to immigration officers, who made checks into their status and discovered that they were living illegally in Belize since April.

As they were being escorted out of court to a waiting Immigration Department vehicle, Kleczka told Amandala that he had visited Belize prior to this trip and fell in love with the country.

He said his boat is valued at Belize $25,000, but he has not collected from a man in San Pedro, to whom he had sold it.

The Immigration Department prosecutor assured Carriveau that she would be able to see her two children, because they will travel as a family, he reassured the couple.