yet another wtf moment. my son's oldest friend and his family are being deported.

[RainDog]

I live in a college town and lots of people come here to study from other countries. if they perform an essential/unusual function, have some achievements and they get a job, they are generally allowed to stay in this country, or at least they were in the past that I knew.

so I just heard that this kid, a boy from Albania, and his parents are being deported because long ago (my son has known him for 12 years) his parents came here on student visas.

in the meantime, his mom got her PhD and received a job offer at another University. This kid moved to be near his family, and b/c he got a scholarship to another U. in the area. He has an older sister who was the valedictorian of her senior class. She graduated college and was taking a break before applying to law school to study international law.

The kid, young man now, was really shy when he started elementary school. My son had a hard time playing what others' would choose b/c he's autistic. he would play by himself. This kid worked out a deal with my son and for years they would rotate play. On that kid's day they played Star Wars. On my kids' day they played baseball. For years.

This kid suddenly became "not shy" in middle school and both he and my son participated in theatre. My son likes to do theatre because he can pretend to be "neurotypical," the other kid discovered he was.. flamboyant. It didn't matter. They remained friends and are still friends, even tho the kid lives a few states away. He comes here to visit every year.

I've heard of that woman from Norway or whatever being detained when she came to the U.S. b/c the had overstayed a tourist visa by a couple of weeks years and years ago.

so now, even tho you are wanted as an employee here, and your family has contributed to this society, it seems, the law is the law...even if it wasn't really the way the law worked before.

His mom's area of scholarship isn't something you just plug in another person to do.

the kid and his family have had a month to move. they kept hoping they would get a last minute stay... to stay. the kid now says he's certain that, when he's back in Albania, he can go to the American Embassy and will be allowed to start his junior year of college.

Mussolini invaded Albania. The Albanians are famous during WWII for being the only nation that ended the war with more Jewish residents than before the war. They not only protected their own fellow Albanians, Jews from other western European countries escaped and hid there.

Albania went to the Soviets and Chinese after WWII. They were ruled by a dictator for 40 years.

This kid has never really known any country as his own other than America.

I cannot believe this.

[Suich]

1. That's really screwed up.

Do you know if they have contacted their congressperson for some help?

:shrug:

[RainDog]

2. I told them to go to the media

I was told, where I used to work, that one family who had lived here for years was given a week to leave the country. That was shortly after 9-11.

He and his family are active in a Christian church. I think Albania has a Islamic majority. I don't know if that had anything to do with it or not.

[BrklynLiberal]

3. They definitely need to get a good lawyer and contact the media.