We win some. We lose many more.

As part of the weekly DREAM Act series on Change.org, I just read quite a moving story about a couple that now has to leave their home, simply because one spouse had been brought here at the age of 13, accrued illegal presence and had no chance of legalizing their status, not even through marriage to a U.S. citizen. The U.S. citizen has to abandon their home along with her.

Some of us don’t need to go to Jamaica or Bahrain to see the nasty consequences of U.S. immigration laws–we see them in the stories of people like Brian and Anya, whose only crime was to fall in love. And now they may also have to deliver their (future U.S. citizen) baby in unsafe conditions:

I cry because there are people with the power to destroy other people’s lives in our government that have become obsessed with their power and have no compassion. Sirce Elliott, the Assistant Chief Counsel in this case, had the legal power to postpone the deportation until after the birth of the baby. This would have hurt no one and would have helped insure the safe delivery of the baby. When asked if she would show mercy and allow this, she replied that there was no way that she was going to allow that to happen. She had initially agreed to allow 60 days from the final court date for voluntary departure, but when she saw that the judge had set the court date in July, she changed it to 30 days to make sure Anya didn’t have the opportunity to have a safe delivery in the U.S. This makes no difference on the citizenship of the child. My son can go to the U.S. Embassy and fill out a form wherever the child is born, and she will be a U.S. citizen. So I can’t understand why this lady is being so hateful. Anya has done nothing wrong and has always done everything the courts have instructed her to do. All this will do is perhaps put a poor innocent baby’s life in jeopardy if she needs health care that is unavailable.

This twitter message spells my sentiment as well:

BTW, fuck you Sirce Elliott! Whatever discretion u have, use it to be kind. Re: I’m a U.S. Citizen & my Wife Was Deported http://ow.ly/h1pI

Anya would have been a DREAM Act beneficiary.

We win some, we lose a lot. And we just curse ourselves and continue to work harder.

I have really come to the conclusion that I don’t want anything to do with this goddamn country. I don’t want to give anyone power over my life, especially not USCIS. There is nothing to be gained from loyalty and ties to this place. It’s best to keep only working relationships with people and keep the academic/job recommenders happy while making multiple plans to get out of this situation. We can’t put our lives on hold forever.

I wish Brian and Anya the best in health, safety and prosperity.