Debra Donatello: Walk on the Wild Side - Part Two

Continued from 3/30/12 post

Harry’s parents had returned to England when Harry was a young man; his father had died and now his mother, in Bristol, was ill and needed help. Harry and Debra went to Bristol together during Debra’s vacation from the office, and helped make arrangements for her move to a nursing home. When their plane landed in New York on their return, Harry presented his British passport, and was told by the immigration agent to step aside into a small windowless room. Debra tried to go in with him, but the agent wouldn’t let her. After a few hours, while Debra mostly stood where she could see the door, Harry was led out in handcuffs. She tried to run up to him, but the agents wouldn’t permit it. Harry shouted to her that he was being deported back to England, and he’d call her. Go home, he said.

Debra flew back to San Diego. Harry called to say she would have to go to London, where he’d make the arrangements for them to marry. Then she’d have to go back home, find an immigration lawyer, and start the process to bring him back to the US. Debra told her daughters what she was doing; they advised her not to go. But Harry has changed, Debra said. Her daughters said they didn’t believe it.

After the wedding in London, Debra paid a retainer for a San Diego lawyer to investigate Harry’s case. After reviewing Harry’s immigration records, the lawyer said that Harry’s case was impossible. He was barred from the US with no relief possible for twenty years, even if he was married to a US citizen. Harry had never become a permanent resident of the US; when the rest of his family got their residence cards, Harry had been in jail serving time for a string of thefts. When he got out, he had never bothered to see if he might be eligible for residence. He’d racked up a drug conviction record too, including one in the late 1990s for possession of cocaine, and two other theft convictions right before he met Debra. There was no hope of getting a waiver of Harry’s unlawful presence in the US, his crimes, and his deportation at the airport. The two 1997 theft convictions made him an “aggravated felon” in immigration law; he could not apply for any kind of visa to the US for twenty years. I don’t believe it’s impossible, Debra told the lawyer, politely. The lawyer just as politely suggested that she consult other attorneys, for a second opinion.

And so Debra did. She consulted with four more attorneys before she found one who agreed to take Harry’s case for a waiver of the deportation, the crimes, and the unlawful presence. The lawyer asked for $7000 for the case; Debra paid it. The lawyer developed a case for the waiver based on hardship to Debra if he could not return to the US, and filed it with the US Embassy in London. It would take about seven months to decide the waiver; Debra took leave from her job and spent the seven months in Bristol with Harry at his mother’s old house. When they got the denial, Harry and Debra were stunned. They hadn’t thought of the possibility of a denial. The lawyer said it was denied because Harry was ineligible for any relief because of his crimes; he was an aggravated felon. They could appeal the denial; it would cost them $5000 more and take two years.

But Debra couldn’t take any more time off work if she wanted to keep her job. She asked Harry if he would consider staying in England, and petitioning for her residence there. Are you kidding, he said. We have no money here, the house goes to my sister, I’m too old for a job, and our friends and our house are in the States. Besides, I don’t like it here; it’s too closed in and fussy. You are going to have to smuggle me in, over the Mexican border. But, Debra said, I know that is a felony; if I’m caught, you will be deported again and I will go to federal prison for five years. Debra knew this because she had already asked the attorney about this possibility. Do it, Harry said.

So that is what Debra did. She flew to San Diego, rented a car, and went to Tijuana. Harry flew to Tijuana and met Debra. He got into the trunk of the car, and she drove over the border. She wasn’t stopped, although she had a rough half hour waiting in line when she saw the cameras, sniffing dogs, and guards opening trunks. But somehow she wasn’t questioned or stopped. She didn’t stop the car until she got to San Diego, when it was dark, and she let Harry out of the trunk on a quiet side street. They went home, and that is where they are today, two years after Harry came back.

Harry mostly stays home while Debra works, and they stay close to home on the weekends too. Lately, Harry has been asking Debra to do all she can so that he can get his legal residence, get a driver’s license, and get social security payments for him. Debra once again is consulting attorneys. She is hopeful, even though several attorneys have already told her that it’s impossible.