My husband came to America from the Caribbean in 2000 when he was 19 years old, he had not returned to his home country since 2002, since his status wouldn't allow him to return to America. He had worked his way up in the company he had worked at for 6 years, and worked as a cable foremen, in charge of a crew, responsible for installing and repairing aerial cable lines. We were married in 2004, and just celebrated our 14 anniversary in May. I am a Jersey girl currently working on my Master's degree in public health, and my husband was the primary breadwinner in our household. We have two children. A 16 year old, going into his junior year of high school, and a 6 years old, who will be going into the first grade. My husband has always been an extremely hard worker, a dependable provider, a caring husband, and an amazing father.
My husband is a 37 year old man, a positive member of society, and anyone who knows him would say "he is a good man." I would say he is one of the best!
Over the years we have made several attempts to adjust my husband's immigration status. But each time we were faced with opposition. The first lawyer took our money at the first meeting and was out like a thief in the night, never to be heard from again. The next lawyer accidentally put all my personal information, such as my birthday, instead of my husband's on his immigration application paperwork, and then never showed up at our appointments with immigration on multiple occasions, leaving my husband to represent himself. After the third attempt, and finally getting through processing, his application was denied in 2008 and he was found inadmissible due to his prior conviction.
We didn't know what to do moving forward, and nothing happened for several years. Untill the fall of 2011 when I was 6 months pregnant with our son Ian, and ICE showed up at our front door and detained my husband. They held him for 126 days in a jail cell. He missed the birth of our child, and was ordered deported in October of 2011. Because travel arrangements would take some time, and after I sent in a 4 inch thick stack of records and references from family, friends, employers, his old probation officer, and others all that attested to his good character, he was released and put onto a monitoring program. After some time the check-ins went from twice a week, to once every six months.
Things were okay for awhile. Because of his new status he was able to get a social security number and driver's license. He has been working for the same company since the day he received his paperwork in 2012, and has proven to be an asset to his company. We went about with our lives for awhile, and my husband worked so that I could focus on our children and my education.
Over the last year and a half we have witnessed the changes in his immigration appointments, and each appointment has brought with it more fear and anxiety then the one before. And finally it happen, the thing I feared the most, on his last appointment on June 6th, they told him to return in a month on with a plane ticket to leave the United States by July 28th.
Since then our lives have been total chaos as we tried to prepare. I still feel like I just don't know what to do... I don't know where to turn...
Last Saturday my husband kissed us goodbye at the airport. There was no camera man documenting our ordeal, there were no public officials speaking up for us. We were just a wife and sons crying alone in a TSA security line watching the man we love and depend on be forced to leave the home he has worked so hard to build.
Things are harder now then they have ever been before. Both my husband and I are trying to figure out these new lives, all while moving towards the goal of reuniting our family. It is honestly hard to put into words how horrific this entire ordeal has been.
So I am speaking my truth, and reaching into the darkness for some spark of light. I don't know if this will end up being a hand reaching into the darkness to help me, or me shedding some light into someone else's darkness. Because we must know - we are not alone.
