I am not even sure if this is the place to complain about the issues that two people that are very close to me are having with the immigration process. Because they are hellbent on dragging their feet and making our immigrants wait and wait and wait. For a nation that was founded by immigrants it seems that we have forgotten our sense of hospitality.
I understand that since 9/11 we have gotten much more strict with our immigration policies. However, there are people from other countries who want to come to this country. They want to earn decent livings, make friends, buy a house, give their children opportunities closed to them in their native countries, build their lives here. Just to receive (permanent) residency, it now seems to take years to process.
My best friend Stian and I first started chatting on IRC about six years ago. He was living in Austria at the time. He would tell me about how he loves the U.S. He felt more at home here than in his native Norway. He would tell me about driving trucks in Texas during the summers to earn extra money while he was attending UTexas-Austin. I fell off the face of the internet for a couple years. When I resurfaced, Stian had moved to Boynton Beach, FL. We finally met in person in 2007. Our friendship grew stronger over time and it is difficult for me to fathom not having him in my life. He is the only person that is really willing to help me raise my son. For a single mother, that means more than anything in the world to me. When the rest of my world is crumbling, he is my rock. He is always there for me when I need guidance, strength, perspective, a friend (who is on my side). He bought a house in Boynton Beach that he can't even get homestead exemption on because of his immigration status. The CEO of the company he was working for mistreated him so badly he finally gave up and quit, even though he knew the consequences of his actions. He doesn't even blame the government for the situation he is in. He blames Osama Bin Laden. He is more of a model citizen than some of the people who already live in this country.
Then there is Stephan. He moved here when he was 14 with his parents from Germany. He lived here for 10 years and had gotten his residency. He moved back to Germany when he was 24. He moved back to Germany. After a short while, he wanted to move back to the U.S. His greencard had already been revoked so he had to find another way of returning. He eventually secured a transfer work visa through the company he is working for. He finally returned in January of 2008. He had sent me a message on this dating website we were both subscribed to earlier this year. I got to meet him on my birthday in June, we went to a movie. I didn't even think it was possible for someone to fall in love with someone else in three days, but he did. After being skeptical for a week, I gave in and decided to let myself love again. Things with our relationship were settling down when immigration came crashing down on us. He was told by his immigration attorney originally that he would have his greencard by September of this year. He was later informed that it would take at least another 16 months before the background check would go through because the FBI is backlogged on those. Waiting isn't as much the problem as the company he is currently working for does not seem to be doing all that well financially. If it goes out of business, he will no longer be able to stay in this country and will have to go back to Germany. He has another company that is willing to sponsor him, but because his work visa is tied to his current company, he worries every payday that it will be his last days here. We've broken up twice because all of the stress becomes too much. My heart drowns thinking of the possibility that he will no longer be a 15 min drive away.
Stian and Stephan could do what other immigrants do and get married for a greencard but they believe marriage is something more sacred than a piece of paper that will allow them to stay here. It just is not fair that they would have to entertain the thought of giving up their personal beliefs and values because the government has forgotten them.
I'm not a political person. I am registered to vote and I do. I listen to some of the news that goes around. I try to stay out of it because it just is not my arena. I wrote letters to Senator Bill Nelson and sent out an email to Senator Martinez to ask for their assistance. As optimistic as I usually am, I feel the light fading. I know that I am just one person and in the bigger scheme of things, I am not much of a consolation prize to the government. There are much bigger fish to fry: the economy, health care, terrorism, our amazing troops overseas. It's all overwhelming, I know why this would get lost in the shuffle. I want to have faith that our officials are working for us to the best of their ability. Someone was giving me a hard time because I am lobbying so hard for them. I believe it is better to go down fighting for something I believe in/someone I love than it is to stand around doing nothing. My voice is not loud but if I remain quiet, no one will hear me at all.
I don't know what else to do except perhaps just wait until Stian and Stephan have to leave me. I have been preparing myself for the time that I will have to say good-bye to two people I love. Now we are just waiting for time to run out.