OUR FAMILIES: PATTY AND JARRET

I Never Imagined We Would Be In This Situation. - Patty

I was 18-years-old when my aunt used my cousin's papers to try to bring me to this country so that I could live with my mother. I had never met my mother because she lived in the U.S., and she was very sick. When I arrived at the U.S. airport, immigration agents detained me and gave me an airplane ticket to return to my country (Ecuador) that same day. Two years later, I entered this country through the Mexican border without inspection. When I arrived in the U.S., I started to work and help my mother and my brother (born in the U.S. when I was four-years-old), as well as my two siblings in Ecuador.

Later, I met a very special person named Jarret. We dated for close to two years and then he asked me to marry him. It was a very special day for me. We talked a lot about having a family and how important family is to us. We got married and we tried to fix my immigration status in this country, because Jarret is a US citizen. We consulted with some lawyers and told them about my problem at the airport. They told me that it was OK to apply and that it would take at least two or three years to get an appointment with Immigration.

After I applied, I was granted legal permission to work. I applied for my Social Security number and obtained a drivers' license. When the day of my immigration appointment arrived, I reported to Federal Plaza in Manhattan.

Without asking a single question, they told me that I had been re-issued a deportation order. They handcuffed me and transported me to the ninth floor to see a deportation officer. The lawyer who was with us requested to speak with the director of the deportation unit. They checked my record and since I didn't have any criminal record they finally agreed that I could go but that I had to return in two weeks with an airplane ticket to return to Ecuador. The lawyer submitted documentation to take my case to court and we reported back two weeks later with the airplane ticket and a copy of the court papers. They put me on probation, requiring me to report once a month to the ninth floor at Federal Plaza.

In March, when I reported for my monthly check-in at Federal Plaza, although I have never violated my probation, they put me on an intensive supervision appearance program (ISAP) in which I have to wear an electronically-monitored ankle bracelet and report three times a week with a 12-hour curfew. It is like being in jail but in your house. They visit me in my home, two times a month. My most recent petition to stop my deportation has been denied. My case is now pending in the courts, and I'm waiting to see if they accept my appeal.

This situation is very stressful for me and my husband and our families. I never imagined we would be in this situation. We are very afraid to start our own family because if they end up deporting me, what would happen to us? I worry that my own childhood story would be repeated: the story of not having the privilege of being raised by my parents. Jarret and I are fighting my deportation because we want to be together and have a family. The love we have gives us the strength to keep pressing forward.


The Government Is Forcing Us To Put Our Marriage and Future On Hold. - Jarret

I am a U.S. citizen and waited until the age of 32 to get married because I had finally met the right person. At the point in time where we should be starting a family, we are being ordered to separate for at least 10 years because we applied to adjust my wife's status to that of a legal permanent resident. When we appeared for what we thought was an interview to accomplish that goal, detention officers were waiting with their handcuffs because my wife was an undocumented immigrant. This is all based upon information we provided and the action we undertook, the same information which had already allowed my spouse to obtain a work permit, a social security card and a driver's license. The government is forcing us to put our marriage and future on hold for at least another 10 years because they want to deport my wife. She cannot request permission to reapply from outside the country for 10 years, and then if that permission is finally granted, she would have to start the application process again.

*Patty and Jarret have become parents, with the birth of little Alina in January 2009!