Student makes a plea for immigraton reform by sharing a story

 

Dear Congressman Cleaver,

I write to you today, because my family has found ourselves in a position that I believe is unjust. And while we have been able to work through our situation and struggles, I worry for other families in our same position. I want you to make immigration reform a priority, and I want Congress and the White House to change some of the laws for immigrants to make our system more humane.

My husband’s name is R_________. He is a Lebanese man who at 18 left everything and everyone he knew to come into the United States of America. He took every single minute step to insure he came to this country, completely legally and correctly. He sharpened his English skills and scored one of the highest test scores in his entire country. He has done nothing but work hard to not only get to the United States, but also to stay here. R______ has been here for five years and working for four and a half. 

When I met R_________ in January 2022 he had just accepted a job with the state of Missouri working as a DFS caseworker. After working there for several months, he switched to another position with the state. However, in December 2022 our lawyer informed us that R_____ would not be able to work past January 31. This came as a huge shock and upset to us. Mainly because R_____ was the sole provider of our home. He paid for groceries and he paid our rent. I work as a waitress and am a full-time student; solely based on my income we could no longer afford our rent. We had to find somewhere else to live within the next month. However, for people who cannot afford a lawyer this notice can be even shorter.

Now, luckily for us, we were blessed, and my parents very happily had us move into their home. However, for families, not as blessed as mine, the same situation could have put them into debt, out of home and in a complete spiral. I haven’t stopped thinking about that since we had to move. So that’s why I think families should be protected from this. R_____ is a perfect representation that you can do everything by the book and properly and still be thrown to the wolves so to speak. We were one of the lucky ones who had support behind us. But I worry for those who don’t have the support. This is why I think there should be an implemented policy that if a legal immigrant has worked in the U.S. for over two years, there should not be a lapse of time where the person cannot work. These are people who have already been contributing to their communities and this country. People who want to positively affect the United States of America. These people should not be put in a situation that can completely sabotage an entire family. 

We have to wait for R_____‘s green card for him to be able to work. At this point for us that means he will be out of work for a total of 6 to 8 months. But for some people who aren’t blessed enough to have lawyers and be able to afford a lawyer, this could mean it takes a year or more. People who successfully migrate here completely legally and buy the books should not be sabotaged by a rule that can completely destroy a family. If not for my parents having open arms, my husband, the person I’m supposed to spend the rest of my life with, wouldn’t have been able to afford to stay in this country. He would’ve had to have gone back to an unsafe country. R_____ loves this country, and most of the time more than Lebanon. And even though going through this made us lose our home when we were first getting started, R_____ has done nothing but be thankful that he’s even in this country.

Congressman, I ask you to just think about what could happen to a family in this situation. All I can ask of you is to consider that families can be destroyed by this. And if you are as upset and concerned about this, as I am, consider putting in a protection plan for the people who just want to be in this country with their families. 

I appreciate the time you’ve taken to read this, and I hope that our story can help set in motion something to protect others from this. 

Sincerely, ____ ________

This would have been stronger (but it is already good) if you had explained how it was that your husband was working and had accepted a job at the Missouri DFS. I assume he had come to the USA as a student, and after graduating he was hired in a field where an insufficient number of citizens were applying to fill positions.  That could be true for social workers such as those who work in child and family services. So, his student visa was converted to a work-related visa, and then when he switched jobs he was forced to take time off and not work until his new status (as a permanent resident, with a “Green Card” because he was now the spouse of a U.S. citizen) became processed and official.  I think what you are asking Congressman Cleaver is to sponsor or co-sponsor a bill that would allow foreign citizens who work here legally under any of the various schemes that allow their employment to not lose their status if they change from one job to another, nor lose their status of being allowed to work while their legal status changes from one type to another.  You didn’t explain exactly what you wanted, but just told an excellent personal narrative with moral content that shows that the current situation is bad. 

The other thing that you could do to make this more persuasive would be to comment on your story and point out the moral implications.  You sort of do that by stressing how great R_____ is, and how much he loves our country.  But you have to be direct and say, “the situation is wrong because it breaks [some moral principle of fairness or justice]”.  That is, you are not merely asking your audience to do something related to legislation: you are asking them to take a step to make the world a better place where government policies conform to standards of morality, ethics, human rights, justice, and so forth.