Monday, May 02, 2005
Family values, I think not.
Stupid immigration rules can tear families apart.
Jax
John Parsons' dream to settle his family in the hometown he loved has died, the victim of a tough U.S. border enforcement policy he believes makes no sense. Homeland Security officials say they're just doing their job.
On a Saturday morning, April 23, Reem Parsons, 37, was waiting in the Toronto airport for a flight home after a three-day visit with her parents. She had traveled to Canada to make baptismal arrangements for her and John's 6-month-old daughter, Isabelle, who had accompanied her on the trip. Immigration agents pulled the mother and child from the line. They took them into a room and began to question Reem.
Where do you live? How long have you been in the United States? Where are your possessions? Where are you living in America? Advertisement
She told them she had an American husband in Missouri, that they'd recently moved back from France, that her daughter was an American citizen. They were headed home to Cape Girardeau, she told them. No they weren't, she said an agent told her. He told her she was a prospective immigrant and didn't have the appropriate visa.
He photographed her, fingerprinted her and told her if she tried to enter the United States she would be arrested. She could, if she liked, send the baby on. Isabelle, after all, was an American citizen. Reem said she declined. The agents escorted her and the child back into the terminal. She called her husband.
Last year, the U.S. refused entry to 600,000 of the 500 million people processed at U.S. borders. In this case, it's tearing a family apart. . . (Link)
Jax
John Parsons' dream to settle his family in the hometown he loved has died, the victim of a tough U.S. border enforcement policy he believes makes no sense. Homeland Security officials say they're just doing their job.
On a Saturday morning, April 23, Reem Parsons, 37, was waiting in the Toronto airport for a flight home after a three-day visit with her parents. She had traveled to Canada to make baptismal arrangements for her and John's 6-month-old daughter, Isabelle, who had accompanied her on the trip. Immigration agents pulled the mother and child from the line. They took them into a room and began to question Reem.
Where do you live? How long have you been in the United States? Where are your possessions? Where are you living in America? Advertisement
She told them she had an American husband in Missouri, that they'd recently moved back from France, that her daughter was an American citizen. They were headed home to Cape Girardeau, she told them. No they weren't, she said an agent told her. He told her she was a prospective immigrant and didn't have the appropriate visa.
He photographed her, fingerprinted her and told her if she tried to enter the United States she would be arrested. She could, if she liked, send the baby on. Isabelle, after all, was an American citizen. Reem said she declined. The agents escorted her and the child back into the terminal. She called her husband.
Last year, the U.S. refused entry to 600,000 of the 500 million people processed at U.S. borders. In this case, it's tearing a family apart. . . (Link)
