Hey--That's my story, too!

I recently read an article in the Salt Lake Tribune about a man who is a natural citizen of the U.S. and his wife was an undocumented citizen. They have a daughter (who was born in the U.S.) and they applied to get his wife a spouse visa....she was denied and given a ban (like Enrique). The man is living in Salt Lake City and his wife and daughter have been stuck in Mexico for the past year.....oddly familiar.
Here is what I wrote (and emailed) to the author of that article:


Hello,
I recently read your article titled:
Immigration: Where love and law collide
and couldn't help but pause many times and say, "Hey! That's my story, too!" I am a female, born in the U.S. who has been living and working in Mexico City for the past two years because my husband was denied a visa and given a ten-year ban from reapplying for a visa. He was denied in 2007 before we were married. We have since married (in Mexico) and we now have a daughter (who was born in the United States). The only way for us to live as a family is to be in Mexico. The best job opportunities are in Mexico City (I am a teacher with a Masters of Education and an ESL certificate). My husband has no formal schooling and it is very difficult for him to find work in Mexico City. If he worked full0-time, he would make about 4,000 pesos per month (less than 400 USD). So, I am the bread-winner.

Before we were married, my then boyfriend was an undocumented citizen from Mexico who had been in the United States for about 9 years. We sought legal advice once we were engaged, bought a house, and were told to file for a finacee visa (they were being processed more quickly than spousal visas). My fianceee left Utah in December 2005 for Puebla, Mexico (since we had to file from his home country for our visa). His interviewed was granted and scheduled for Jan. 2007. He was denied his visa and given a 10-year ban for illegal presence in the U.S.

I was able to stay working in Utah as a teacher at a year-round school and was able to travel about every 3 months to visit my husband in Mexico. I became pregnant and stayed in Utah to have our baby girl (my husband was not allowed even a tourist visa to witness the birth of his daughter). He held her for the first time when she was 2 months old and we were able to travel down to visit him. When she was 6 months old, we moved our lives to Mexico City so we could actually live together (for the first time in our married lives). We have been in Mexico City for just over 2 years now. My daughter and I travel back to SLC every July to visit.

Thanks for doing stories that show how the issues surrounding immigration are layered and really affect many other people (than just undocumented citizens).
Thanks for reading this.
Sincerely,
Stephanie

Maybe one day somebody who has a say will read something like this and have a heart and push some legislation to help families like us out!