<human>: Dear reddit,

you've helped me out before in times of good advice, so may be worth a shot with this question as well. I am 27/m ... in case that matters.

I have a friend who is here in the US illegally currently. He is applying for a permanent resident status by marrying an American girl (go him!). So legally, she is sponsoring his permanent resident application. However, apparently the US immigration svc requires that the sponsor (his girlfriend) make enough money to support him so he doesn't immediately go on welfare. The problem is that she doesn't make enough money. He makes enough to support his whole family (he works construction off the books). So, he reached out to me because i am a citizen and i make over the required minimum amount to sponsor someone, asking me if i could be a co-sponsor. A co-sponsor makes a legally binding assertion to the US government that they will support the person in question (the guy applying for permanent resident status). So if this guy ends up collecting any sort of welfare, i will be required to repay the government. It's pretty stupid, why don't they just deny him the welfare in the first place when he applies for it? but that aside...

Is there a document i could get him to sign to transfer that repayment responsibility onto him? I do want to help him but i don't want to be exposed in case something happens and he does go on welfare. He is expecting an answer fast but i am hesitating right now...

WWRD?

Can you summarize the given text in a few sentences?
<bot>: friend asking to co-sponsor him on his permanent resident application. but that has legal/financial implications for me that i dont feel comfortable with. how to protect myself?