AND YOU THINK YOU'VE GOT PROBLEMS!

Yesterday morning's elevator ride to the office has me thinking about what's important vs. what's trivial. I rode up to my floor with a pregnant co-worker who has been put thru a living hell for the past five days.

"Belated Happy Thanksgiving," was my opening salutation, followed by "How was your four-day weekend?" The response... a deeply saddened "Not so good." My reply, "Oh, I'm sorry; do you feel like talking about it?" What followed was completely unexpected and dumbfounding. Her husband, a naturalized citizen from Senegal in the US for over 3 or 4 years on extended visa that was apparently secured by a shady NY lawyer, was detained by the INS the day before Thanksgiving because of questions with his citizenship-related paperwork. A pillar of his community, this guy is known around town as a relentless and caring volunteer who is always available with a helping hand for new arrivals from his home country. That this man -- who by the way stands 7 feet tall, so he's kind of hard to miss -- would not take care of his own business, is unfathomable, to say the least; and while I didn't get all of the details from his wife, it was pretty clear that someone other than himself made a major mistake with his paperwork.

Bottom-line... they hauled him off to Wisconsin on the spot, and he's now scheduled to be deported to Senegal later this week. His wife, who's five months pregnant, spent the entire Thanksgiving Holiday alone and understandably worrying about a myriad of possibilities related to this whole ordeal. The only reason she even came into the office yesterday morning was to quickly grab some stuff off of her computer that she felt would help the situation. And I think I've got problems!

Seriously, did she say what the "official" reason was?

The latest news, as of this morning, is that my co-worker has taken a few days off from work, and that her husband will supposedly be granted re-entry into the US, but only once he returns to Senegal and applies to do so from there. That's all I know as of now.

Eee-gad. This is a gut wrencher. Is there anything any of us can do to help? Anything she needs for the coming baby-- things she is worrying about right now that perhaps someone else could help relieve?

It is about time the INS cracked down - they have to start someplace. Most of those people are just a drain on our welfare system.
rlv

I have clothes and blankets and things/toys/objects... "baby things" in my attic I would love to give away to someone that would care. Let me know. I would help!