Well...here I am blogging as another summer approaches. It is also the day after the Rapture, and as far as I can tell, the only thing that has been Raptured is my checking account balance--oh yeah, and my patience with the immigration system. Ho-hum...
Even though it has been many months since I last blogged, not much has occurred in my husband's case. About the only thing we have learned is that his adjustment of status has been denied along with the waivers. Interestingly enough we never received a denial in the mail for the waivers-- although Khalid's Deportation Officer conveniently had the denial in her hands when we visited Homeland Security in March. Of course, as is customary in this labyrinth of immigration bureaucracy, there was no reason given for the denial. Even the Deportation Officer found it curious that no reason was given since legally a reason has to be given.
To get specific information about the reason for denial the Deportation Officer advised us to make an inquiry at the local immigration services center in Albany--which we did. We made an appointment and the people there told us we would need to make a formal written inquiry to the main processing center (in Nebraska if I remember correctly.) We did what they told us.
After a few weeks we received a written reply from the Nebraska processing center stating that they did not have the information and that we would need to go back to the Albany office to get the reason! Ugh! So, basically we are just getting the run around. Now we have to make another appointment with the office in Albany and it looks like I am going to have to get assertive with these people. We can't consult a lawyer without having a reason for denial in writing!
I am so sick of these hoops that this damn immigration system makes people go through. This is all beyond mere bureaucracy and borders on complete ineptitude. Anyone who denies that the American immigration system is broken and dysfunctional please tell them to contact me and I will put them straight!
What I really wish was Raptured yesterday was the whole damned immigration/ immigration judicial system in the United States!
5 comments:
I really don't understand why this process is so difficult for your husband. I know many people who immigrated here from Mexico and Italy with no problems. There is a large immigrated Muslim community in SD so many are getting legal status. I don't think that race or religion should be an issue. It's frustrating that you can't get a reason WHY. All I can think is that there must be someone on the gov. watch list with the same last name so the gov. is assuming some possible family connection. My best to you and your husband. Fight the good fight.
I am so sorry that this is so difficult for your husband. I know many people who immigrated here from other countries and they didn't have it so hard.
Hi Tricia,
I have no answers for you, only educated guesses. Your question is the same one that gets asked whenever my husband and I discuss his immigration situation. We have not found a sufficient explanation to explain away all the difficulties and strange turns his case has taken these past ten years.
Certainly, the conviction for reckless endangerment in 1994(when he was trying to defend himself from being attacked) must enter into the explanation. But it is not a deportable "crime" according to immigration law and therefore does not completely explain away his difficulties.
Basically, one lawyer from the ACLU told us he was just another victim caught up in the frenzy of America's fears after 9/11. He was Muslim, an immigrant who overstayed his VISA and a convenient scapegoat because he lived in New York. I'm beginning to believe that it was much more difficult and precarious for Muslim immigrants who lived in New York and the northeast in general. Perhaps the Islamophobia that gripped the northeast was not so frenzied in other parts of the county. This may be an appropriate subject of a future research paper for my college classes! Thank you for your support and well wishes. It means the world to Khalid and I.
@Anonymous
Thank you for your concern. It is the compassion of other people that helps us to get through these difficult times. I am still hopeful that this will eventually work itself out!
Beth, I am so sorry to hear that you haven't gotten any better news. I know how frustrating it is - just reading your post frustrates me for you! I'm keeping you in my thoughts in prayers.
@The Planner
Thanks for the kind words. This whole process has been frustrating, it's true. However, I can't shake off the belief that Khalid is meant to stay here and get his green card and eventually become a US citizen. I can't believe, after everything Khalid has gone through--and the fact that he is miraculously still here in the States-- that fate would be cruel enough to separate us in the future. I'm not a religious person but I am a spiritual person and I have confidence that the creator will sort this all out. We just need patience...and an occasional bottle of Irish cream. LOL!!
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