Cynthia
12-09-2007, 12:50 AM
Resources for your extreme hardship/I-601 waiver packet:
Tips for Writing the HSL (http://immigrate2us.net/forum/showthread.php?t=83)
Laurel Scott's Memo on the I-601 (http://immigrate2us.net/forum/showpost.php?p=709&postcount=1)
Some Supporting Document Tips (http://immigrate2us.net/forum/showthread.php?t=3142)
Help for HIV Waivers (http://immigrate2us.net/forum/showthread.php?t=96)
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Approved HSL Courtesy of Member mariadelpilar via Tegucigalpa, Honduras
LETTER OF EXTREME HARDSHIP FOR PETITIONEE
IMMIGRANT VISA CASE CASE #XXXXXXXXXX
TABLE OF CONTENTS
MEDICAL REASON 2
RESPIRATORY PROBLEMS 5
FINANCIAL REASONS/CHILD CARE COSTS/POTENTIAL BURDEN TO SOCIETY 5MEDICAL INSURANCE 6
CHILDREN’S EDUCATION 6
INVESTMENT IN PERSONAL EDUCATION AND TEACHING CAREER 7
US VS. HONDURAS 7
ORICA VS. DENVER 8FAMILY 9
HUSBAND’S HISTORY 9
HUSBAND AS MY PARTNER AND A FATHER 9
MARRIAGE 10
June 2007.
US IMMIGRATION OFFICETEGUCIGALPA,
HONDURAS RE: PETITIONEE
Immigrant Visa Case CASE #XXXXXXXXXX
I, PETITIONER, declare under penalty of perjury, under the laws of the United States, that the forgoing is true and correct. My name is PETITIONER. I am the petitioner for my husband, PETITIONEE (WAC-##-###-#####)/NVC Immigrant Visa Case CASE #XXXXXXXXXX, whom I will hereon refer to as HUSBAND. The primary reason that I am asking for a Waiver of Extreme Hardship is because I need my husband, HUSBAND to be able to be with us in the United States to help take care of our daughter, DAUGHTER HUSBAND LAST NAME, who due to her prematurity and intraventricular hemorrhage is classified as a child with “special needs and developmental delays”, and our son, SON HUSBAND LAST NAME, an infant.
MEDICAL REASON
The main reason that I am asking for a Waiver of Extreme Hardship is because I need HUSBAND to be able to be here to help take care of our daughter, DAUGHTER HUSBAND LAST NAME, and administer her ongoing needs for physical therapy. On October 9, 2005, HUSBAND and I gave birth to DAUGHTER HUSBAND LAST NAME. DAUGHTER was born at 26 weeks (<28 is considered “extremely premature”) and only weighed 960 grams (considered Extremely Low Birth weight < 1000 g) around 2.2 lbs. Due to her prematurity, her lungs were not developed, and she was intubated within 2 minutes of life. Even with the intubation, her oxygen saturation was 30% initially and it took 15 minutes of CPR for her oxygen to come up to 70%. I can remember as if it were yesterday, having just given birth, my first time, with all the hopes and expectations, of hearing the baby’s first cry, instead replaced by an unforgettable memory of seeing a group of nurses feverishly resuscitating DAUGHTER as she laid there unresponsive. I knew it wasn’t good. I just prayed for the will of God. I remember Dr. X, a neonatologist from Children’s Hospital that was called that night, telling us that DAUGHTER had a 60% chance of survival. Once she was intubated and stabilized, the nurse who saved DAUGHTER began to explain to us all the tubes and machines to which she was hooked up, when she broke in tears and disappeared behind the curtains. I still don’t know why she cried, but all we knew is that we were thankful for all the efforts that she made in saving DAUGHTER’s life and that she didn’t give up. I wondered if she was overwhelmed with the effort it took to save DAUGHTER or if she knew the possible future for a child who had just gone through what DAUGHTER suffered. We are so thankful to that nurse, that DAUGHTER’s middle name is the name of her life saving nurse, Diane. DAUGHTER was transported hours from birth by Flight for Life to the NICU at the University of Colorado Hospital where she was hospitalized for close to three months (released January 2nd, 2006). Within a few days from birth, DAUGHTER was diagnosed as having an intraventricular hemorrhage grade III (a bleed in the ventricles of the brain). Dr. X, DAUGHTER’s doctor, explains an Intraventricular Hemorrhages as follows:
The internal structures of the brain in a preterm infant are at risk for hemorrhage. The bleeding is usually the result of a previous period of low blood flow, and occurs in the first four days of life. Diagnosis of the bleeding is performed with bedside ultrasound exams. The degree of bleeding is graded from 1 to 4. Grade 1 and 2 bleeds are small, and they do not increase the infant's risk of neurodevelopmental abnormalities, while 33% of the babies with grade 3 and 4 bleeds will suffer severe neurologic injury, and another 33% will suffer lesser deficits. The final neurologic complication in preterm babies is injury to the motor tracts in the brain called periventricular leukomalacia (PVL), which causes cerebral palsy-a movement disorder with spasms that can impair the ability to walk.
The intraventricular hemorrhage led to hydrocephalus (fluid in the ventricles of the brain). While in the hospital she suffered a great many obstacles: the closing of the Patent Ductus Arteriosis, Nectrotizing enterocolitis, etc., but the most significant and with potential long-term effects is the IVH Grade III . Her lungs were underdeveloped and she spent a significant amount of time on and off high frequency oscillating respirators and CPAP. When DAUGHTER came home she was still on oxygen. Her current diagnosis includes, Chronic Respiratory Disease (a.k.a. bronchopulmonary dysplasia (BPD)), arising in the Perinatal Period, and Developmental Delays among others . DAUGHTER received physical therapy throughout her ~3 month stay in the NICU and continues to receive physical therapy at home because her prematurity, lack of oxygen, and intraventricular hemorrhage are known to cause physical and other disabilities.
As a result of all of these complications, DAUGHTER is considered a child with “special needs and developmental delays”. According to the “Criteria for Determining Disability in Infants and Children: Low Birth Weight” , a report from the U.S. Social Security Administration, children with very low birth weight and very premature are at higher risk for:
• cerebral palsy and neurological disability
• abnormal cognitive development or mental retardation
• speech/language delay, hearing loss, behavioral disorders, and learning disabilities
• visual disability
• pulmonary disability
• growth impairment
A synopsis of the objective and findings of this report are below:“Objective:To determine whether specific factors or combination of factors alone or in addition to birth weight predict significant developmental disability in former premature infants and whether premature infants with such factors have long-term developmental disabilities.Main Results: We looked for evidence of association of very low birth weight (VLBW defined as <1500 grams) with six outcome conditions. The evidence of the literature overwhelmingly supports that the risk of cerebral palsy (CP) and major neurologic disability is increased among VLBW infants compared to full-term infants. The literature is consistent in demonstrating that risk of CP, major neurosensory and/or neurologic disability is inversely proportional to the degree of immaturity whether measured by gestational age or by birth weight.The evidence demonstrates that children who were born VLBW have significantly higher rates of cognitive abnormality in early childhood and a several-fold increased prevalence of IQ <70 as adults compared with children or adults who were born normal birth weight at term. There is evidence that even children who were apparently "well" VLBW infants during their neonatal course are also at significantly greater risk for both moderate and severe delay compared to larger birth weight groups. VLBW infants are at high risk for developing cognitive, neuromotor, and neurosensory disabilities including blindness and hearing loss. These disabilities in turn may lead to other disabilities in speech and language, behavior problems and learning disabilities affecting school performance. All of the above problems have been identified in disproportionate numbers in the VLBW infants.The studies provided strong evidence of increased incidence of speech and language delays in VLBW and extremely premature infants, and identified clinical factors associated with the increased incidence. Across all measures of short-term memory and language outcomes, preschool children who were born preterm performed at a lower level than children who were full-term counterparts. These deficits were independent of the general IQ.The evidence identified by this review clearly demonstrates that children born as VLBW infants, with or without retinopathy of prematurity (ROP), are at significantly increased risk of visual impairments and disability compared to children born full term. The risk of visual disability in VLBW infants varies inversely with gestational age.The studies reviewed indicate that VLBW infants with bronchopulmonary dysplasia (BPD) are at increased risk for long-term pulmonary disability. The greater the severity of BPD, the greater is the association with long-term pulmonary impairment and need for re-hospitalization.VLBW infants, with or without other conditions, are at high risk for poor growth during the first years of life due to acute neonatal illnesses, developmental delays, and chronic illnesses.Conclusions: Surviving premature infants often sustain multi-organ system complications that may persist beyond the first few years of life and frequently result in permanent impairments. Complications of even a single organ system may have a profound impact upon other organ systems. Biomedical determinants of disability in premature infants are often compounded by adverse determinants of social and psychological adaptation of these vulnerable children and their families.”
In the interest of not quoting the whole report, it needs to be read in is entirety and in parallel with DAUGHTER’s discharge report, as in almost every compounding factor individually analyzed, DAUGHTER has suffered it in combination with many of the other factors mentioned. The fact that DAUGHTER was extremely low birth weight and extremely premature, had low oxygen at birth, had an intraventricular hemorrhage grade III leading to hydrocephalus, and was on respirators and on oxygen for about the first 6 months of life, had a PDA, suffered necrotizing enterocolitis, had Hyaline Membrane Disease causing Chronic Lung Disease (Bronchopulmonary Dysplasia) etc. puts her at an even higher risk for all of the aforementioned issues according to the SSA report. In addition, this report states, “The long-term complications result in significantly increased tangible and intangible lifelong costs to the family and society for medical care as well as for ongoing ancillary health and educational services.”
You cannot imagine how difficult that in spite of all the love in the world, or even if you had all the money in the world, you can do nothing to change the reality that your lovely child could be afflicted with any one of the above impairments. However, there is something we can do to make sure that the outcomes are the best possible, by providing the best possible care by both of her parents and by doctors and other providers such as physical therapists, speech therapists, occupational therapists, and special educators, here in Denver, CO. Some of DAUGHTER’s past and current physical problems could point to DAUGHTER having cerebral palsy or some other neurological problems. For example, DAUGHTER demonstrated persistence in her ATNR (Asymmetrical Neck Tone Reflex) beyond the time that is normal, an indication of possible neurological problems. Currently, DAUGHTER appears to be walking on her tip toes a little more than normal, another early indicator of neurological problems, specifically a form of cerebral palsy known as diplegia, which is more common in premature babies . As a mother, it has been heart-sinking to wonder if a movement or action is an early indication of any of the above long term issues. Although the best prayer I know is to let God’s will be done, many times I pray to God to please give me whatever pain and suffering DAUGHTER has or will have, and to please spare her of any of these conditions. I teach high school, and I’ve had a number of students who suffer from cerebral palsy. I know many of the struggles that these students face, from being bound to a wheelchair, limited mobility, requiring assistance even for minor things such as going to the bathroom, to numerous surgeries made in the hopes of improve their quality of life, as many of them suffer chronic pain.
The most important reason that we need HUSBAND with us is so that he can take care of DAUGHTER and continue her physical therapy and upcoming speech and language development. We have a letter from DAUGHTER’s physical therapist detailing that HUSBAND has been taking care of DAUGHTER and been responsible for her home care physical therapy. This letter explains how important it is for DAUGHTER’s development for HUSBAND to continue her physical therapy to ensure the best possible outcomes for DAUGHTER. She is being seen by Dr. X, one of the most recognized neonatologists in Denver, who is the Director of the NICU at University Colorado Hospital and a doctor at the Special Care Clinic of Denver’s Children’s Hospital, ranked 7th in the United States, and recognized by his peers as one of the best doctors. We have a couple of letters from Dr. X asking for your consideration in this matter . We are very lucky and Dr. X and is the doctor for both of our children. In an article written by Dr. X, he answers the question of “What is the outcome for survivors of the intensive care nursery?” as follows:
Neurodevelopmental handicaps may occur in survivors of the intensive care nursery. These handicaps include cerebral palsy, which can be severe enough to prevent a child from walking, and cognitive deficits, which can be severe enough to prevent a child from learning to talk or read. Fortunately, deficits this severe occur in the minority of survivors, but others may have lesser deficits that cause delayed motor development, learning disabilities, and behavioral disorders, such as attention deficit disorder (hyperactivity).
The rates of abnormalities are higher in babies of lower gestational age at birth, particularly those born at 25 weeks or less. Although ROP rarely causes blindness, vision problems may still occur. The frequency of hearing loss is increased compared to term infants. The consequences of chronic lung disease are an increased rate of hospital readmission during the first two years of life, a continued oxygen need, and an increased incidence of asthma-like symptoms.
Finally, preterm infants are at an increased risk for poor weight gain, and they may require nutritional supplements or special formulas. Most premature infants who "graduate" from an intensive care nursery do quite well; however, coordinated follow-up to address all of their needs is of paramount importance.
We have a letter from Denver Options, the early intervention program provided by the Colorado Department of Education, regarding DAUGHTER’s participation in the program due to her special needs . Lastly, we have a letter from Denver Health Hospital Health Care Program, for children with Special Needs, which assisted in making sure we were being provided all the services to which DAUGHTER was entitled due to her condition.
RESPIRATORY PROBLEMS AND PHYSICAL THERAPY NEEDS REQUIRE HOME CARE
DAUGHTER’s lungs were underdeveloped at birth and as a result she is at a much higher risk for contracting illnesses, and being exposed to other children, particularly in a daycare setting, could put her at unnecessary risk. DAUGHTER’s few exposures to a sick person result in her getting sick and when she gets sick, it is difficult for her to breathe and eat or drink at the same time, and her nutrition is affected, a concern with premature children. After discussing our situation with doctors and consulting with support organizations about what other parents did in similar situations, we found out that the best care is given when children are taken care of at home by their families. To prevent the health risks of a day care setting, and even though it would be financially more lucrative to have both of us working and sending our children to day care, we have chosen to place DAUGHTER’s needs first, and made the decision to take care of DAUGHTER at home. I am a high school teacher and with my humble means of income have to provide for my whole family. Although I would prefer to be in the traditional maternal role at home taking care of DAUGHTER and SON, and HUSBAND would prefer the role of being the provider, as a family, we have to sacrifice and HUSBAND is taking care of DAUGHTER and SON while I go to work. Due to our limited finances, I ended up returning to work 2 weeks after labor with DAUGHTER and 3 weeks after labor with SON, so that we could afford to survive and continue our health insurance benefits. The physical therapy that DAUGHTER receives at home once a week needs to be carried out by HUSBAND with DAUGHTER continually. With the help of DAUGHTER’s physical therapist, HUSBAND challenges DAUGHTER with physical therapy every day so that there are no further physical delays in her development and to ensure the best possible outcomes for DAUGHTER. Because we have been able to do this so far, we are fortunate that DAUGHTER is progressing in her physical development. However, there are currently ongoing concerns with DAUGHTER’s physical development as many long-term problems may not be diagnosed until years to come and we are able to see what she is capable and not capable of doing. In addition, DAUGHTER is about to begin additional therapy for her speech and cognitive development.
FINANCIAL REASONS/CHILD CARE COSTS AND RISKS/POTENTIAL BURDEN TO SOCIETY
Without HUSBAND here to help take care of DAUGHTER and our other son, SON, I don’t see any possible solutions that will allow me to be financially solvent. I have always been able to provide for myself and my family, but this situation is going to force me to become a burden to society, and potentially lose my home, my career, health benefits, the health of my children and my own health, and my dignity. Below is a table that shows my monthly income and our monthly expenses.
Balance Deposit/Withdrawal
2400 ~2400 Monthly Direct Deposit from being a teacher Note: It costs me $701 monthly for medical insurance for myself and my children.1572.73 827.47 Mortgage 1360.73 212 Electric 1196.07 164.66 Auto Insurance 1170.17 25.90 Internet Service 1105.91 64.26 Cell Phone Service 1017.78 88.13 Home Phone/DirectTV 929.65 39.01 Water 229.65 700.00 Groceries (varies) 109.65 120.00 Gasoline (varies)
This does not include the $45 co-pays I have to pay for each of my children’s doctor’s appointments, clothes for my growing children, credit card balances, car maintenance, house maintenance, annual sewage bill, and any other extraordinary expenses.
The point of this above summary is to show that I have about $109 left each month. With that money I would have to pay for daycare for DAUGHTER and SON if HUSBAND was not here. I have been researching daycare places and they cost from $1600-1800 a month for the two children . I will have to choose to pay either for my home, food, or daycare. I cannot afford all three.
In addition, daycare would be a negligent option, as it has been made clear to me by doctors and service providers that it is not the optimal setting for a child like DAUGHTER. Doing so would place DAUGHTER at higher risk of contracting illnesses and is not the optimal setting for physical therapy and monitoring of her developmental progress. Whereas at home HUSBAND is able to focus on our two children, in a childcare setting, DAUGHTER would be one of 5 or more children being cared for and probably not as much attention will be given to her in all aspects in this setting. The best outcomes for DAUGHTER’s health are if she is taken care of in our home. In addition, with so many reports of negligence and child abuse even in day care settings, and with the special medical circumstances that DAUGHTER has, I would certainly be unsure of the quality of care and attention she would receive considering her ongoing physical therapy needs. The only way I can envision the best possible outcomes for DAUGHTER is for HUSBAND to take care of DAUGHTER and SON while I continue to go to work.
I could relieve myself of my financial obligation to pay my mortgage by attempting to sell my home. Unfortunately, Colorado is #1 in foreclosures and currently it is very difficult to sell a home. Actually, the mortgage payment I pay is less than what I used to pay for an apartment in this same neighborhood, so this option wouldn’t really help me pay for daycare.
MEDICAL INSURANCE
Currently through my job and at a cost of $701/month (please see EXHIBIT X), I have medical coverage for myself and my children. Because the cost of medical insurance is so high, so much of my paycheck goes to insurance. The good news is that my children and I can have the medical attention that they need, especially DAUGHTER, who needs special medical care.
Currently I have been diagnosed with having high cholesterol. I need ongoing care with that and possibly medication.
I am a strong person and I wouldn’t have gotten so far in life if I was not, but this situation is consuming me. Every waking moment I spend thinking about what we’re going to do. How am I going to handle going to work full time, coming home to take care of two infants, one with special needs, without the help of my husband. Every time we go to get into the car, we each take one of the babies. I cannot even envision how I am even going to be able to go grocery shopping by myself with the two babies. I’ve been suffering from insomnia. I cannot sleep well trying to figure out everything I need to put in place for the potential of survival and not losing everything I’ve worked for all my life. Currently, each morning, I wake up exhausted. My students and my school administrators are noticing there’s something wrong, as they can tell I’ve had little sleep or because for a second, I become overwhelmed with our potential separation and tears weld up in my eyes.
CHILDREN’S EDUCATION
If we were to move to Honduras to be together as a family, I doubt we would have access to the programs and services that are currently available for DAUGHTER here in the US and specifically in Colorado both in terms of health and education, and which are so important for her development. The programs that are available here in Colorado are specifically due to a mill levy tax passed in 2003. Currently, DAUGHTER is being served by Denver Options and Early Childhood Connections, an intervention program that serves children with “special needs and delays”. Through this program, DAUGHTER will receive physical therapy at home until at least 3 years of age. In addition, the schools in the United States have special education for children who need it. I have spoken with my husband regarding if services like these are available in Honduras, and from what he recalls, where he is from, most children with special needs, are not even sent to school. He is aware of a Teleton program that sounds like a fundraiser that helps families with children like DAUGHTER. I wouldn’t want to subject DAUGHTER to a charity-based program without guarantees of services that are critical to her development. With my background as a high school teacher, I know that children with special needs in the US are able to go on all the way through high school and sometimes even college, to help them be able to live, if possible, independent adult lives. I have a few students who have cerebral palsy and muscular dystrophy, and in spite of their disabilities, they have had an opportunity to develop their minds, which is so important for me as a teacher, and as a mother of a child who potentially might have disabilities. Although HUSBAND tells me that there is 1 good hospital that he knows of in Honduras, this is a private hospital and the services are for a high cost. Considering the unemployment rate is 27%+ in Honduras, I’m unsure if even if both of us were able to obtain work, that we could even afford DAUGHTER’s medical care and potential surgeries if she were to need them.
INVESTMENT IN PERSONAL EDUCATION AND TEACHING CAREER
I am a high school teacher and in order to be able to teach in Colorado, I had to become licensed and endorsed here in Colorado. That involved attending two years at Metropolitan State College in Denver, CO for my teacher licensure and passing a rather difficult Science Exam for the state of Colorado that allows me to teach here. It has taken a few years to transition from being a Probationary Teacher to obtaining a Professional Teacher’s License . I’m not sure what teaching requirements there are for Honduras; however, if I were to leave the Denver Public School district, I would lose my position and need to re-interview without any guarantee to future employment. A lot of teachers continue teaching in the district until retirement age because the years of longetivity are sometimes not counted in other districts and/or accumulate for the pension. Especially since I started teaching as a second career, I am way behind in salary to counterparts my same age who started teaching right out of college. Leaving my teaching position here, even temporarily will harm my chances of future employment in the district in which I so much desire to serve and my future earning potential as a teacher within the same district, Denver Public Schools.
In addition, I have begun taking courses towards my Master’s at the University of Colorado. If I don’t complete the coursework within a certain period of time, I will lose all the credits I have taken. Also, Denver Public Schools has an innovative compensation program, Pro-Comp that I would like to enroll in, but to do so I have to complete my master’s within a limited time frame . I have had a grant to attend graduate school, and if there is a lapse in my studies I will not be able to take advantage of this program.
Currently, with my salary and HUSBAND here, we have enough to survive. I’m not sure that I would be able to do the same in Honduras as teacher or in any other job, considering their ~27% unemployment and the fact that I would be a foreigner trying to obtain a job in an already highly political and competitive market. I can’t imagine subjecting my children to such an unstable environment in which I may not be able to provide them what is necessary just for survival.
US VS. HONDURAS
The U.S. Department of State website contains the following information regarding Honduras.
CRIME: Crime is endemic in Honduras and requires a high degree of caution by U.S. visitors and residents alike. U.S. citizens have been the victims of a wide range of crimes, including murder, kidnapping, rape, assault, and property crimes. Fifty-three U.S. citizens have been murdered in Honduras since 1995, with a very significant recent increase, and most cases remain unresolved. Kidnapping of U.S. citizens has occurred in Honduras, including two incidents in 2006. Poverty, gangs, and low apprehension and conviction rates of criminals contribute to a high crime rate, including horrific acts of mass murder.
The thought that we might have to move to Honduras for us to be able to be together sounded very romantic before we had DAUGHTER with her special needs. Now, that I’m traveling down to Honduras for HUSBAND’s immigration visa interview, I’m a little bit scared to go there, even though I am a seasoned traveler and have even lived in other countries. In preparing for our travel to Honduras, I have read the reports from the CIA and travel.gov regarding Honduras. There are many concerns that I have starting with the crime, especially against US Citizens. Based on the above information, Honduras is not safe for US Citizens. United States Citizens are often victims of robberies, kidnappings and many other criminal activities. This would be an extremely dangerous place for our family.
MEDICAL FACILITIES: Medical care in Honduras varies greatly in quality and availability. Outside Tegucigalpa and San Pedro Sula, medical care is inadequate to address complex situations. Support staff facilities and necessary equipment and supplies are not up to U.S. standards anywhere in Honduras. Facilities for advanced surgical procedures are not available. Wide areas of the country, including the popular tourist areas of the Bay Islands, do not have a general surgery hospital. Ambulance services are limited in major cities and almost non-existent elsewhere. OTHER HEALTH INFORMATION: Mosquito-borne illnesses are an ongoing problem in Honduras. All persons traveling in Honduras, even for a brief visit, are at risk of contracting malaria. Take a prophylactic regimen best suited to your health profile. The country regularly suffers from outbreaks of dengue fever during the rainy season. Travelers should take precautions against being bitten by mosquitoes to reduce the chance of contracting such illnesses. Severe air pollution, which can aggravate or lead to respiratory problems, often occurs throughout the country during the dry season due in large part to widespread forest fires and agricultural burning. Because of DAUGHTER’s chronic respiratory disease, the severe air pollution could make DAUGHTER’s breathing worse. Also, it is stated that the medical facilities are nowhere at the level they are in the United States and with DAUGHTER’s continuing needs, I cannot in good conscience choose to live in Honduras when we have some of the best doctors and hospitals in the United States at our fingertips, and I need the best possible care for my children, especially DAUGHTER.
From the World Factbook on the CIA website it says:
“Honduras, the second poorest country in Central America and one of the poorest countries in the Western Hemisphere, with an extraordinarily unequal distribution of income and massive unemployment,…” The unemployment rate in Honduras is about 27.9% . The main reason my husband left his country was because his job situation was highly unstable whereby he may have a job for a few months and then be without a job for a while, and the salaries were very low. I’ve talked to HUSBAND about the idea of me finding a job in Honduras as a teacher, and he has told me that teaching positions are highly political, and that they require connections to be obtained.
ORICA VS. DENVER
The town where my husband is from, Orica, is 3 hours from the capital. If we were to move there it would be very risky for DAUGHTER’s health. Because of the nature of the farming community, the lack of modern appliances, the hygiene typical of the United States, my husband told me that as a child, he and all his cousins had parasites in his stomach, since the water is not treated to have the same quality as in the United States. Something simple such as brushing her teeth, or drinking some water, cannot be done without boiling the water, not even washing your hands is enough. There is no hospital in Orica. There is a village clinic, but nothing remotely close to a hospital. HUSBAND tells me that there is 1 ambulance, and if it is occupied, one must travel on your own to the capital of Tegucigalpa. Not too many families have cars, and the roads are all dirt roads.
I’m a very adventurous person, and I when I was single, the idea of going on a short trip to a place like Orica may have sounded like fun. However, now that I am a mother of two children, one of which is a special needs child, I have become a lot more conscientious of my responsibility and the consequences of my actions with respect to my children. I worry that they would get sick. I worry that the health care is not available, not proximal, or not up to par with the United States. I worry that hospitals are 3 hours away. I worry that I might not even be able to afford to buy a car in Honduras because we cannot find work.
In Orica, most of the people subsist in agriculture. My husband’s father was killed when he was 9, and HUSBAND, my husband, started working in the tomato fields. An adult working in the fields made 25 lempiras/day, children made half. For me, it is hard to believe that children would have to work to survive. I was surprised to hear that children are not required by law to go to school, and that sometimes parents have to make their children work just so they can survive. Although I am not opposed to a child learning the value of hard work, I wouldn’t choose the extreme of placing my children in a situation where they would have to work instead of going to school, just so we as a family could survive. However, if we were to live in Honduras, that might be our reality. I have seen pictures of parents and children in the city dump trying to scavenge for food or things along with the black crows. It is so sad. I can’t do this to my children.
FAMILY
I believe that children learn most of how to behave from what they learn from their own family. As a teacher, I can attest that a lot of my students suffer because their families are so busy just trying to survive, that they are not around to provide the character lessons that the children need to learn, and to provide them the love that they need to become healthy and caring citizens.
I know that if my husband were not here to inculcate his values and his love to my children, that my children will be detrimentally affected, much in the same way that children from single-parent homes are affected from the lack of the missing parent. I consider this extreme hardship, especially for a child with special needs who has a father that loves her and wants to care for her, to have to suffer this being apart from her father.
HUSBAND’S HISTORYHUSBAND’s father died when he was nine years old. His mother had 5 other children for which to provide, and since that age, as if it wasn’t enough to lose one’s father, HUSBAND took it upon himself to provide for himself. HUSBAND began working on the tomato fields on weekends trying to earn enough money to help him pay for his school expenses so that he wouldn’t be an additional burden to his mother. When HUSBAND came of age to attend high school, HUSBAND had to move to Tegucigalpa, Honduras, since there were no high schools in Orica at the time. Moving to Tegucigalpa involved extraordinary expenses, especially to an orphan who did not have a working father to provide for him and a mother who was struggling to survive. There HUSBAND worked so that he could afford to pay for a room to live in, food, and transportation costs of going to school and maintaining a job. Unfortunately, due to the high unemployment rate in the country, HUSBAND wasn’t able to make the money required to finish his schooling as was forced back home to Orica. There his family extended him help when they could by giving him jobs but it wasn’t enough for his survival and the growing desire to take some responsibility to help his mother with his younger sisters. HUSBAND, like many in his country, heard of others in his own village and around the country who risked everything to come to the United States with the hope of finding a job to send money back home to support their families. Since HUSBAND came to the United States in May of 2001, he put two of his younger sisters all the way through high school, something he wasn’t able to do for himself. As a teacher and a wife and a mother, I appreciate that he values education so much, yet it makes me so sad that no one was able to do this for HUSBAND, but that he was man enough to do it for his sisters. However noble his intentions, it does not excuse that he broke the laws of this great country by coming here illegally.
HUSBAND’s personal need is no excuse for his illegal entry in the United States. However, neither he nor I realized how grave and difficult our marriage would be and the effect on our children because of his perpetration. I have been a teacher at Denver Public Schools where many of the students who attended are illegal. With such a great number of undocumented students attending my school, I didn’t realize that it would be so difficult, for me, a US citizen, to be able to obtain residency for HUSBAND through the proper channels. Both HUSBAND and I were naïve about the difficulties we would face through this immigration process. After spending money on consultations with supposed immigration lawyers, they all told us different things: from the antiquated pardon where one could pay as a means of consequence to advising us to not leave the country for any reason. The stress of deciding what to do has been one of the most difficult challenges of my life. Because we consider our alliance to the United States a privilege, we acknowledge that HUSBAND should suffer some consequence for his actions. However, I think it is extreme and unusual hardship for DAUGHTER (and SON) with her critical brain development from age 0-3, to have to suffer permanently because we are trying to do the right thing by attending the immigration visa interview and applying for this waiver, in the hope that in the long term, HUSBAND will be there for DAUGHTER, my son, SON, and I. It has been especially a difficult decision in the face of potential immigration reform.
Both HUSBAND and I recognize that it is a privilege to be in this country and that anyone violating its laws should suffer consequences. It is for this reason, that in spite of knowing what is likely to happen in our situation, we are going ahead and honoring the interview that we are so lucky to have in the US Embassy in Tegucigalpa.
HUSBAND AS MY PARTNER AND A FATHER
HUSBAND has taught DAUGHTER all the vocabulary she knows. She can clap, kiss, hug, sit down on the chair and drink her bottle, give him things, lie down in her crib, walk, blink, blow her nose, say the word “ball”, say “Bye Betty” to our neighbor, among others. DAUGHTER is in love with her dad. It would be devastating for her development to lose him. HUSBAND is taking care of DAUGHTER and SON and in all his free moments is helping to fix our 1910 home in the case that we will have to rent it to someone else in an effort to preserve it as our property and not lose it to foreclosure if I end up not being able to pay for our mortgage.
HUSBAND takes care of the babies all the time. I cannot imagine what DAUGHTER will lose if HUSBAND isn’t here. Her development will be gravely affected. All the efforts we, and mostly HUSBAND, has made so far with DAUGHTER, could be frozen in time, and it kills me knowing that a child’s future depends so much on what happens from the age of 0-3. As it is right now, with each of us here, it is a struggle to take care of an infant and a toddler. Because DAUGHTER could have physical disabilities, physical activity is very important for her, so we allow her to walk about a lot, but this requires constant supervision.
MARRIAGEIt needs to be emphasized that by issuing an approval of an I-130, the United States government has formally and legally recognized the validity of our marriage. It is well documented that family unity is an important value unpinning the raison d´etre of the United States of America and that actions to assure family unity are part of the intent of the United States immigration law (for example, see Title 8, Chapter 12, Subchapter II, Part II, Section I, pp. 64 and 65). Although it is a function of the law to provide legal definition and recognition to this marriage between PETITIONEE and me, PETITIONER, it is clearly the intent of law to support the complex nature of marriage. In other words, in this and other genuine marriages there are multiple social, psychological, familial, economic, cultural, spiritual, etc. bonds, which are presumed by the law to exist conjointly with the legal presence of marriage. Support for these complex interacting marital bonds is a fundamental value of the larger society and a function of the law.
Because ours is a full and complete marriage with intense emotional, social, familial, economic and spiritual ties, the reciprocal bond between us must be granted great weight while evaluating what would happen to our family if HUSBAND were not admitted to the United States. My children and I will miss HUSBAND painfully. I am very anxious about our future because it depends upon my husband’s return. However, these are considered herein to be simply the backdrop of the fact that DAUGHTER is a special needs child, and that losing her father, even temporarily could gravely affect her development permanently. This I consider extreme and unusual hardship.
SUMMARY
DAUGHTER is a special needs child and her father, HUSBAND, is her primary caretaker. The primary reason we need HUSBAND here is so that he can continue to be the primary caretaker for DAUGHTER due to her ongoing physical and medical needs. DAUGHTER is a special needs child because of complications due to her prematurity, the most important of which was an IVH Grade III hemorrhage. Any time of separation from her father will be catastrophic for her development, as DAUGHTER is currently in the midst of the most critical time for her brain development.
If we were to move to Honduras, we would not have the medical, physical, and developmental services available to DAUGHTER here in the United States, specifically in Denver, CO. If we were to move to I could lose my career as a teacher. If we moved to Honduras, both my husband and I would also be faced with imminent unemployment and without the possibility of providing for ourselves and our children. These factors would make moving to Honduras with our children to be united as a family an incredibly risky and unstable situation that I would prefer to avoid at all costs. Because Honduras is economically depressed, has poor health care (by United States standards), is extremely dangerous, has bad air pollution, has limited educational opportunities for children with special needs and cannot provide the employment opportunities necessary for me to fulfill my dreams and maintain my standard of living, I cannot see moving to Honduras as a viable option. However, neither is it viable to stay in the United States without my husband.
If I stay in the United States, with my salary, I cannot afford to pay for day care, my home, and living expenses. I will forced to become a burden to society in order to take care of my children, and in doing so DAUGHTER and SON both will possibly be losing out in the most important time in my children’s brain development without the support and love of their father. If DAUGHTER, SON, and I were unable to live with HUSBAND, we would suffer great hardship in so many levels: physical, emotional, financial, and educational. This dilemma is tearing family and me apart.
Because our marriage is evidenced by our love and our children, I implore on you to consider my situation for the waiver of extreme hardship. If HUSBAND is not able to return I will lose everything….the possibility that DAUGHTER will receive the best care possible to ensure the best possible outcomes considering her special needs, I could lose my home and everything I have fought to hard to attain because I cannot afford to pay both for childcare, my mortgage and living expenses. I could lose the job that gives me some sense that I’m giving back something to the world, and most of all I would lose the support that I would need from my husband in physically and emotionally dealing with our current situation with DAUGHTER as well as any further complications that should arise in her health. While understanding the need for retribution for my husband’s illegal entry into these great United States, I humbly ask you for the greatest compassion that you can offer us under the law.
Sincerely,
PETITIONERAddress
Tel. (###) ###-####
Email: XXX@XXX.COM
Tips for Writing the HSL (http://immigrate2us.net/forum/showthread.php?t=83)
Laurel Scott's Memo on the I-601 (http://immigrate2us.net/forum/showpost.php?p=709&postcount=1)
Some Supporting Document Tips (http://immigrate2us.net/forum/showthread.php?t=3142)
Help for HIV Waivers (http://immigrate2us.net/forum/showthread.php?t=96)
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Approved HSL Courtesy of Member mariadelpilar via Tegucigalpa, Honduras
LETTER OF EXTREME HARDSHIP FOR PETITIONEE
IMMIGRANT VISA CASE CASE #XXXXXXXXXX
TABLE OF CONTENTS
MEDICAL REASON 2
RESPIRATORY PROBLEMS 5
FINANCIAL REASONS/CHILD CARE COSTS/POTENTIAL BURDEN TO SOCIETY 5MEDICAL INSURANCE 6
CHILDREN’S EDUCATION 6
INVESTMENT IN PERSONAL EDUCATION AND TEACHING CAREER 7
US VS. HONDURAS 7
ORICA VS. DENVER 8FAMILY 9
HUSBAND’S HISTORY 9
HUSBAND AS MY PARTNER AND A FATHER 9
MARRIAGE 10
June 2007.
US IMMIGRATION OFFICETEGUCIGALPA,
HONDURAS RE: PETITIONEE
Immigrant Visa Case CASE #XXXXXXXXXX
I, PETITIONER, declare under penalty of perjury, under the laws of the United States, that the forgoing is true and correct. My name is PETITIONER. I am the petitioner for my husband, PETITIONEE (WAC-##-###-#####)/NVC Immigrant Visa Case CASE #XXXXXXXXXX, whom I will hereon refer to as HUSBAND. The primary reason that I am asking for a Waiver of Extreme Hardship is because I need my husband, HUSBAND to be able to be with us in the United States to help take care of our daughter, DAUGHTER HUSBAND LAST NAME, who due to her prematurity and intraventricular hemorrhage is classified as a child with “special needs and developmental delays”, and our son, SON HUSBAND LAST NAME, an infant.
MEDICAL REASON
The main reason that I am asking for a Waiver of Extreme Hardship is because I need HUSBAND to be able to be here to help take care of our daughter, DAUGHTER HUSBAND LAST NAME, and administer her ongoing needs for physical therapy. On October 9, 2005, HUSBAND and I gave birth to DAUGHTER HUSBAND LAST NAME. DAUGHTER was born at 26 weeks (<28 is considered “extremely premature”) and only weighed 960 grams (considered Extremely Low Birth weight < 1000 g) around 2.2 lbs. Due to her prematurity, her lungs were not developed, and she was intubated within 2 minutes of life. Even with the intubation, her oxygen saturation was 30% initially and it took 15 minutes of CPR for her oxygen to come up to 70%. I can remember as if it were yesterday, having just given birth, my first time, with all the hopes and expectations, of hearing the baby’s first cry, instead replaced by an unforgettable memory of seeing a group of nurses feverishly resuscitating DAUGHTER as she laid there unresponsive. I knew it wasn’t good. I just prayed for the will of God. I remember Dr. X, a neonatologist from Children’s Hospital that was called that night, telling us that DAUGHTER had a 60% chance of survival. Once she was intubated and stabilized, the nurse who saved DAUGHTER began to explain to us all the tubes and machines to which she was hooked up, when she broke in tears and disappeared behind the curtains. I still don’t know why she cried, but all we knew is that we were thankful for all the efforts that she made in saving DAUGHTER’s life and that she didn’t give up. I wondered if she was overwhelmed with the effort it took to save DAUGHTER or if she knew the possible future for a child who had just gone through what DAUGHTER suffered. We are so thankful to that nurse, that DAUGHTER’s middle name is the name of her life saving nurse, Diane. DAUGHTER was transported hours from birth by Flight for Life to the NICU at the University of Colorado Hospital where she was hospitalized for close to three months (released January 2nd, 2006). Within a few days from birth, DAUGHTER was diagnosed as having an intraventricular hemorrhage grade III (a bleed in the ventricles of the brain). Dr. X, DAUGHTER’s doctor, explains an Intraventricular Hemorrhages as follows:
The internal structures of the brain in a preterm infant are at risk for hemorrhage. The bleeding is usually the result of a previous period of low blood flow, and occurs in the first four days of life. Diagnosis of the bleeding is performed with bedside ultrasound exams. The degree of bleeding is graded from 1 to 4. Grade 1 and 2 bleeds are small, and they do not increase the infant's risk of neurodevelopmental abnormalities, while 33% of the babies with grade 3 and 4 bleeds will suffer severe neurologic injury, and another 33% will suffer lesser deficits. The final neurologic complication in preterm babies is injury to the motor tracts in the brain called periventricular leukomalacia (PVL), which causes cerebral palsy-a movement disorder with spasms that can impair the ability to walk.
The intraventricular hemorrhage led to hydrocephalus (fluid in the ventricles of the brain). While in the hospital she suffered a great many obstacles: the closing of the Patent Ductus Arteriosis, Nectrotizing enterocolitis, etc., but the most significant and with potential long-term effects is the IVH Grade III . Her lungs were underdeveloped and she spent a significant amount of time on and off high frequency oscillating respirators and CPAP. When DAUGHTER came home she was still on oxygen. Her current diagnosis includes, Chronic Respiratory Disease (a.k.a. bronchopulmonary dysplasia (BPD)), arising in the Perinatal Period, and Developmental Delays among others . DAUGHTER received physical therapy throughout her ~3 month stay in the NICU and continues to receive physical therapy at home because her prematurity, lack of oxygen, and intraventricular hemorrhage are known to cause physical and other disabilities.
As a result of all of these complications, DAUGHTER is considered a child with “special needs and developmental delays”. According to the “Criteria for Determining Disability in Infants and Children: Low Birth Weight” , a report from the U.S. Social Security Administration, children with very low birth weight and very premature are at higher risk for:
• cerebral palsy and neurological disability
• abnormal cognitive development or mental retardation
• speech/language delay, hearing loss, behavioral disorders, and learning disabilities
• visual disability
• pulmonary disability
• growth impairment
A synopsis of the objective and findings of this report are below:“Objective:To determine whether specific factors or combination of factors alone or in addition to birth weight predict significant developmental disability in former premature infants and whether premature infants with such factors have long-term developmental disabilities.Main Results: We looked for evidence of association of very low birth weight (VLBW defined as <1500 grams) with six outcome conditions. The evidence of the literature overwhelmingly supports that the risk of cerebral palsy (CP) and major neurologic disability is increased among VLBW infants compared to full-term infants. The literature is consistent in demonstrating that risk of CP, major neurosensory and/or neurologic disability is inversely proportional to the degree of immaturity whether measured by gestational age or by birth weight.The evidence demonstrates that children who were born VLBW have significantly higher rates of cognitive abnormality in early childhood and a several-fold increased prevalence of IQ <70 as adults compared with children or adults who were born normal birth weight at term. There is evidence that even children who were apparently "well" VLBW infants during their neonatal course are also at significantly greater risk for both moderate and severe delay compared to larger birth weight groups. VLBW infants are at high risk for developing cognitive, neuromotor, and neurosensory disabilities including blindness and hearing loss. These disabilities in turn may lead to other disabilities in speech and language, behavior problems and learning disabilities affecting school performance. All of the above problems have been identified in disproportionate numbers in the VLBW infants.The studies provided strong evidence of increased incidence of speech and language delays in VLBW and extremely premature infants, and identified clinical factors associated with the increased incidence. Across all measures of short-term memory and language outcomes, preschool children who were born preterm performed at a lower level than children who were full-term counterparts. These deficits were independent of the general IQ.The evidence identified by this review clearly demonstrates that children born as VLBW infants, with or without retinopathy of prematurity (ROP), are at significantly increased risk of visual impairments and disability compared to children born full term. The risk of visual disability in VLBW infants varies inversely with gestational age.The studies reviewed indicate that VLBW infants with bronchopulmonary dysplasia (BPD) are at increased risk for long-term pulmonary disability. The greater the severity of BPD, the greater is the association with long-term pulmonary impairment and need for re-hospitalization.VLBW infants, with or without other conditions, are at high risk for poor growth during the first years of life due to acute neonatal illnesses, developmental delays, and chronic illnesses.Conclusions: Surviving premature infants often sustain multi-organ system complications that may persist beyond the first few years of life and frequently result in permanent impairments. Complications of even a single organ system may have a profound impact upon other organ systems. Biomedical determinants of disability in premature infants are often compounded by adverse determinants of social and psychological adaptation of these vulnerable children and their families.”
In the interest of not quoting the whole report, it needs to be read in is entirety and in parallel with DAUGHTER’s discharge report, as in almost every compounding factor individually analyzed, DAUGHTER has suffered it in combination with many of the other factors mentioned. The fact that DAUGHTER was extremely low birth weight and extremely premature, had low oxygen at birth, had an intraventricular hemorrhage grade III leading to hydrocephalus, and was on respirators and on oxygen for about the first 6 months of life, had a PDA, suffered necrotizing enterocolitis, had Hyaline Membrane Disease causing Chronic Lung Disease (Bronchopulmonary Dysplasia) etc. puts her at an even higher risk for all of the aforementioned issues according to the SSA report. In addition, this report states, “The long-term complications result in significantly increased tangible and intangible lifelong costs to the family and society for medical care as well as for ongoing ancillary health and educational services.”
You cannot imagine how difficult that in spite of all the love in the world, or even if you had all the money in the world, you can do nothing to change the reality that your lovely child could be afflicted with any one of the above impairments. However, there is something we can do to make sure that the outcomes are the best possible, by providing the best possible care by both of her parents and by doctors and other providers such as physical therapists, speech therapists, occupational therapists, and special educators, here in Denver, CO. Some of DAUGHTER’s past and current physical problems could point to DAUGHTER having cerebral palsy or some other neurological problems. For example, DAUGHTER demonstrated persistence in her ATNR (Asymmetrical Neck Tone Reflex) beyond the time that is normal, an indication of possible neurological problems. Currently, DAUGHTER appears to be walking on her tip toes a little more than normal, another early indicator of neurological problems, specifically a form of cerebral palsy known as diplegia, which is more common in premature babies . As a mother, it has been heart-sinking to wonder if a movement or action is an early indication of any of the above long term issues. Although the best prayer I know is to let God’s will be done, many times I pray to God to please give me whatever pain and suffering DAUGHTER has or will have, and to please spare her of any of these conditions. I teach high school, and I’ve had a number of students who suffer from cerebral palsy. I know many of the struggles that these students face, from being bound to a wheelchair, limited mobility, requiring assistance even for minor things such as going to the bathroom, to numerous surgeries made in the hopes of improve their quality of life, as many of them suffer chronic pain.
The most important reason that we need HUSBAND with us is so that he can take care of DAUGHTER and continue her physical therapy and upcoming speech and language development. We have a letter from DAUGHTER’s physical therapist detailing that HUSBAND has been taking care of DAUGHTER and been responsible for her home care physical therapy. This letter explains how important it is for DAUGHTER’s development for HUSBAND to continue her physical therapy to ensure the best possible outcomes for DAUGHTER. She is being seen by Dr. X, one of the most recognized neonatologists in Denver, who is the Director of the NICU at University Colorado Hospital and a doctor at the Special Care Clinic of Denver’s Children’s Hospital, ranked 7th in the United States, and recognized by his peers as one of the best doctors. We have a couple of letters from Dr. X asking for your consideration in this matter . We are very lucky and Dr. X and is the doctor for both of our children. In an article written by Dr. X, he answers the question of “What is the outcome for survivors of the intensive care nursery?” as follows:
Neurodevelopmental handicaps may occur in survivors of the intensive care nursery. These handicaps include cerebral palsy, which can be severe enough to prevent a child from walking, and cognitive deficits, which can be severe enough to prevent a child from learning to talk or read. Fortunately, deficits this severe occur in the minority of survivors, but others may have lesser deficits that cause delayed motor development, learning disabilities, and behavioral disorders, such as attention deficit disorder (hyperactivity).
The rates of abnormalities are higher in babies of lower gestational age at birth, particularly those born at 25 weeks or less. Although ROP rarely causes blindness, vision problems may still occur. The frequency of hearing loss is increased compared to term infants. The consequences of chronic lung disease are an increased rate of hospital readmission during the first two years of life, a continued oxygen need, and an increased incidence of asthma-like symptoms.
Finally, preterm infants are at an increased risk for poor weight gain, and they may require nutritional supplements or special formulas. Most premature infants who "graduate" from an intensive care nursery do quite well; however, coordinated follow-up to address all of their needs is of paramount importance.
We have a letter from Denver Options, the early intervention program provided by the Colorado Department of Education, regarding DAUGHTER’s participation in the program due to her special needs . Lastly, we have a letter from Denver Health Hospital Health Care Program, for children with Special Needs, which assisted in making sure we were being provided all the services to which DAUGHTER was entitled due to her condition.
RESPIRATORY PROBLEMS AND PHYSICAL THERAPY NEEDS REQUIRE HOME CARE
DAUGHTER’s lungs were underdeveloped at birth and as a result she is at a much higher risk for contracting illnesses, and being exposed to other children, particularly in a daycare setting, could put her at unnecessary risk. DAUGHTER’s few exposures to a sick person result in her getting sick and when she gets sick, it is difficult for her to breathe and eat or drink at the same time, and her nutrition is affected, a concern with premature children. After discussing our situation with doctors and consulting with support organizations about what other parents did in similar situations, we found out that the best care is given when children are taken care of at home by their families. To prevent the health risks of a day care setting, and even though it would be financially more lucrative to have both of us working and sending our children to day care, we have chosen to place DAUGHTER’s needs first, and made the decision to take care of DAUGHTER at home. I am a high school teacher and with my humble means of income have to provide for my whole family. Although I would prefer to be in the traditional maternal role at home taking care of DAUGHTER and SON, and HUSBAND would prefer the role of being the provider, as a family, we have to sacrifice and HUSBAND is taking care of DAUGHTER and SON while I go to work. Due to our limited finances, I ended up returning to work 2 weeks after labor with DAUGHTER and 3 weeks after labor with SON, so that we could afford to survive and continue our health insurance benefits. The physical therapy that DAUGHTER receives at home once a week needs to be carried out by HUSBAND with DAUGHTER continually. With the help of DAUGHTER’s physical therapist, HUSBAND challenges DAUGHTER with physical therapy every day so that there are no further physical delays in her development and to ensure the best possible outcomes for DAUGHTER. Because we have been able to do this so far, we are fortunate that DAUGHTER is progressing in her physical development. However, there are currently ongoing concerns with DAUGHTER’s physical development as many long-term problems may not be diagnosed until years to come and we are able to see what she is capable and not capable of doing. In addition, DAUGHTER is about to begin additional therapy for her speech and cognitive development.
FINANCIAL REASONS/CHILD CARE COSTS AND RISKS/POTENTIAL BURDEN TO SOCIETY
Without HUSBAND here to help take care of DAUGHTER and our other son, SON, I don’t see any possible solutions that will allow me to be financially solvent. I have always been able to provide for myself and my family, but this situation is going to force me to become a burden to society, and potentially lose my home, my career, health benefits, the health of my children and my own health, and my dignity. Below is a table that shows my monthly income and our monthly expenses.
Balance Deposit/Withdrawal
2400 ~2400 Monthly Direct Deposit from being a teacher Note: It costs me $701 monthly for medical insurance for myself and my children.1572.73 827.47 Mortgage 1360.73 212 Electric 1196.07 164.66 Auto Insurance 1170.17 25.90 Internet Service 1105.91 64.26 Cell Phone Service 1017.78 88.13 Home Phone/DirectTV 929.65 39.01 Water 229.65 700.00 Groceries (varies) 109.65 120.00 Gasoline (varies)
This does not include the $45 co-pays I have to pay for each of my children’s doctor’s appointments, clothes for my growing children, credit card balances, car maintenance, house maintenance, annual sewage bill, and any other extraordinary expenses.
The point of this above summary is to show that I have about $109 left each month. With that money I would have to pay for daycare for DAUGHTER and SON if HUSBAND was not here. I have been researching daycare places and they cost from $1600-1800 a month for the two children . I will have to choose to pay either for my home, food, or daycare. I cannot afford all three.
In addition, daycare would be a negligent option, as it has been made clear to me by doctors and service providers that it is not the optimal setting for a child like DAUGHTER. Doing so would place DAUGHTER at higher risk of contracting illnesses and is not the optimal setting for physical therapy and monitoring of her developmental progress. Whereas at home HUSBAND is able to focus on our two children, in a childcare setting, DAUGHTER would be one of 5 or more children being cared for and probably not as much attention will be given to her in all aspects in this setting. The best outcomes for DAUGHTER’s health are if she is taken care of in our home. In addition, with so many reports of negligence and child abuse even in day care settings, and with the special medical circumstances that DAUGHTER has, I would certainly be unsure of the quality of care and attention she would receive considering her ongoing physical therapy needs. The only way I can envision the best possible outcomes for DAUGHTER is for HUSBAND to take care of DAUGHTER and SON while I continue to go to work.
I could relieve myself of my financial obligation to pay my mortgage by attempting to sell my home. Unfortunately, Colorado is #1 in foreclosures and currently it is very difficult to sell a home. Actually, the mortgage payment I pay is less than what I used to pay for an apartment in this same neighborhood, so this option wouldn’t really help me pay for daycare.
MEDICAL INSURANCE
Currently through my job and at a cost of $701/month (please see EXHIBIT X), I have medical coverage for myself and my children. Because the cost of medical insurance is so high, so much of my paycheck goes to insurance. The good news is that my children and I can have the medical attention that they need, especially DAUGHTER, who needs special medical care.
Currently I have been diagnosed with having high cholesterol. I need ongoing care with that and possibly medication.
I am a strong person and I wouldn’t have gotten so far in life if I was not, but this situation is consuming me. Every waking moment I spend thinking about what we’re going to do. How am I going to handle going to work full time, coming home to take care of two infants, one with special needs, without the help of my husband. Every time we go to get into the car, we each take one of the babies. I cannot even envision how I am even going to be able to go grocery shopping by myself with the two babies. I’ve been suffering from insomnia. I cannot sleep well trying to figure out everything I need to put in place for the potential of survival and not losing everything I’ve worked for all my life. Currently, each morning, I wake up exhausted. My students and my school administrators are noticing there’s something wrong, as they can tell I’ve had little sleep or because for a second, I become overwhelmed with our potential separation and tears weld up in my eyes.
CHILDREN’S EDUCATION
If we were to move to Honduras to be together as a family, I doubt we would have access to the programs and services that are currently available for DAUGHTER here in the US and specifically in Colorado both in terms of health and education, and which are so important for her development. The programs that are available here in Colorado are specifically due to a mill levy tax passed in 2003. Currently, DAUGHTER is being served by Denver Options and Early Childhood Connections, an intervention program that serves children with “special needs and delays”. Through this program, DAUGHTER will receive physical therapy at home until at least 3 years of age. In addition, the schools in the United States have special education for children who need it. I have spoken with my husband regarding if services like these are available in Honduras, and from what he recalls, where he is from, most children with special needs, are not even sent to school. He is aware of a Teleton program that sounds like a fundraiser that helps families with children like DAUGHTER. I wouldn’t want to subject DAUGHTER to a charity-based program without guarantees of services that are critical to her development. With my background as a high school teacher, I know that children with special needs in the US are able to go on all the way through high school and sometimes even college, to help them be able to live, if possible, independent adult lives. I have a few students who have cerebral palsy and muscular dystrophy, and in spite of their disabilities, they have had an opportunity to develop their minds, which is so important for me as a teacher, and as a mother of a child who potentially might have disabilities. Although HUSBAND tells me that there is 1 good hospital that he knows of in Honduras, this is a private hospital and the services are for a high cost. Considering the unemployment rate is 27%+ in Honduras, I’m unsure if even if both of us were able to obtain work, that we could even afford DAUGHTER’s medical care and potential surgeries if she were to need them.
INVESTMENT IN PERSONAL EDUCATION AND TEACHING CAREER
I am a high school teacher and in order to be able to teach in Colorado, I had to become licensed and endorsed here in Colorado. That involved attending two years at Metropolitan State College in Denver, CO for my teacher licensure and passing a rather difficult Science Exam for the state of Colorado that allows me to teach here. It has taken a few years to transition from being a Probationary Teacher to obtaining a Professional Teacher’s License . I’m not sure what teaching requirements there are for Honduras; however, if I were to leave the Denver Public School district, I would lose my position and need to re-interview without any guarantee to future employment. A lot of teachers continue teaching in the district until retirement age because the years of longetivity are sometimes not counted in other districts and/or accumulate for the pension. Especially since I started teaching as a second career, I am way behind in salary to counterparts my same age who started teaching right out of college. Leaving my teaching position here, even temporarily will harm my chances of future employment in the district in which I so much desire to serve and my future earning potential as a teacher within the same district, Denver Public Schools.
In addition, I have begun taking courses towards my Master’s at the University of Colorado. If I don’t complete the coursework within a certain period of time, I will lose all the credits I have taken. Also, Denver Public Schools has an innovative compensation program, Pro-Comp that I would like to enroll in, but to do so I have to complete my master’s within a limited time frame . I have had a grant to attend graduate school, and if there is a lapse in my studies I will not be able to take advantage of this program.
Currently, with my salary and HUSBAND here, we have enough to survive. I’m not sure that I would be able to do the same in Honduras as teacher or in any other job, considering their ~27% unemployment and the fact that I would be a foreigner trying to obtain a job in an already highly political and competitive market. I can’t imagine subjecting my children to such an unstable environment in which I may not be able to provide them what is necessary just for survival.
US VS. HONDURAS
The U.S. Department of State website contains the following information regarding Honduras.
CRIME: Crime is endemic in Honduras and requires a high degree of caution by U.S. visitors and residents alike. U.S. citizens have been the victims of a wide range of crimes, including murder, kidnapping, rape, assault, and property crimes. Fifty-three U.S. citizens have been murdered in Honduras since 1995, with a very significant recent increase, and most cases remain unresolved. Kidnapping of U.S. citizens has occurred in Honduras, including two incidents in 2006. Poverty, gangs, and low apprehension and conviction rates of criminals contribute to a high crime rate, including horrific acts of mass murder.
The thought that we might have to move to Honduras for us to be able to be together sounded very romantic before we had DAUGHTER with her special needs. Now, that I’m traveling down to Honduras for HUSBAND’s immigration visa interview, I’m a little bit scared to go there, even though I am a seasoned traveler and have even lived in other countries. In preparing for our travel to Honduras, I have read the reports from the CIA and travel.gov regarding Honduras. There are many concerns that I have starting with the crime, especially against US Citizens. Based on the above information, Honduras is not safe for US Citizens. United States Citizens are often victims of robberies, kidnappings and many other criminal activities. This would be an extremely dangerous place for our family.
MEDICAL FACILITIES: Medical care in Honduras varies greatly in quality and availability. Outside Tegucigalpa and San Pedro Sula, medical care is inadequate to address complex situations. Support staff facilities and necessary equipment and supplies are not up to U.S. standards anywhere in Honduras. Facilities for advanced surgical procedures are not available. Wide areas of the country, including the popular tourist areas of the Bay Islands, do not have a general surgery hospital. Ambulance services are limited in major cities and almost non-existent elsewhere. OTHER HEALTH INFORMATION: Mosquito-borne illnesses are an ongoing problem in Honduras. All persons traveling in Honduras, even for a brief visit, are at risk of contracting malaria. Take a prophylactic regimen best suited to your health profile. The country regularly suffers from outbreaks of dengue fever during the rainy season. Travelers should take precautions against being bitten by mosquitoes to reduce the chance of contracting such illnesses. Severe air pollution, which can aggravate or lead to respiratory problems, often occurs throughout the country during the dry season due in large part to widespread forest fires and agricultural burning. Because of DAUGHTER’s chronic respiratory disease, the severe air pollution could make DAUGHTER’s breathing worse. Also, it is stated that the medical facilities are nowhere at the level they are in the United States and with DAUGHTER’s continuing needs, I cannot in good conscience choose to live in Honduras when we have some of the best doctors and hospitals in the United States at our fingertips, and I need the best possible care for my children, especially DAUGHTER.
From the World Factbook on the CIA website it says:
“Honduras, the second poorest country in Central America and one of the poorest countries in the Western Hemisphere, with an extraordinarily unequal distribution of income and massive unemployment,…” The unemployment rate in Honduras is about 27.9% . The main reason my husband left his country was because his job situation was highly unstable whereby he may have a job for a few months and then be without a job for a while, and the salaries were very low. I’ve talked to HUSBAND about the idea of me finding a job in Honduras as a teacher, and he has told me that teaching positions are highly political, and that they require connections to be obtained.
ORICA VS. DENVER
The town where my husband is from, Orica, is 3 hours from the capital. If we were to move there it would be very risky for DAUGHTER’s health. Because of the nature of the farming community, the lack of modern appliances, the hygiene typical of the United States, my husband told me that as a child, he and all his cousins had parasites in his stomach, since the water is not treated to have the same quality as in the United States. Something simple such as brushing her teeth, or drinking some water, cannot be done without boiling the water, not even washing your hands is enough. There is no hospital in Orica. There is a village clinic, but nothing remotely close to a hospital. HUSBAND tells me that there is 1 ambulance, and if it is occupied, one must travel on your own to the capital of Tegucigalpa. Not too many families have cars, and the roads are all dirt roads.
I’m a very adventurous person, and I when I was single, the idea of going on a short trip to a place like Orica may have sounded like fun. However, now that I am a mother of two children, one of which is a special needs child, I have become a lot more conscientious of my responsibility and the consequences of my actions with respect to my children. I worry that they would get sick. I worry that the health care is not available, not proximal, or not up to par with the United States. I worry that hospitals are 3 hours away. I worry that I might not even be able to afford to buy a car in Honduras because we cannot find work.
In Orica, most of the people subsist in agriculture. My husband’s father was killed when he was 9, and HUSBAND, my husband, started working in the tomato fields. An adult working in the fields made 25 lempiras/day, children made half. For me, it is hard to believe that children would have to work to survive. I was surprised to hear that children are not required by law to go to school, and that sometimes parents have to make their children work just so they can survive. Although I am not opposed to a child learning the value of hard work, I wouldn’t choose the extreme of placing my children in a situation where they would have to work instead of going to school, just so we as a family could survive. However, if we were to live in Honduras, that might be our reality. I have seen pictures of parents and children in the city dump trying to scavenge for food or things along with the black crows. It is so sad. I can’t do this to my children.
FAMILY
I believe that children learn most of how to behave from what they learn from their own family. As a teacher, I can attest that a lot of my students suffer because their families are so busy just trying to survive, that they are not around to provide the character lessons that the children need to learn, and to provide them the love that they need to become healthy and caring citizens.
I know that if my husband were not here to inculcate his values and his love to my children, that my children will be detrimentally affected, much in the same way that children from single-parent homes are affected from the lack of the missing parent. I consider this extreme hardship, especially for a child with special needs who has a father that loves her and wants to care for her, to have to suffer this being apart from her father.
HUSBAND’S HISTORYHUSBAND’s father died when he was nine years old. His mother had 5 other children for which to provide, and since that age, as if it wasn’t enough to lose one’s father, HUSBAND took it upon himself to provide for himself. HUSBAND began working on the tomato fields on weekends trying to earn enough money to help him pay for his school expenses so that he wouldn’t be an additional burden to his mother. When HUSBAND came of age to attend high school, HUSBAND had to move to Tegucigalpa, Honduras, since there were no high schools in Orica at the time. Moving to Tegucigalpa involved extraordinary expenses, especially to an orphan who did not have a working father to provide for him and a mother who was struggling to survive. There HUSBAND worked so that he could afford to pay for a room to live in, food, and transportation costs of going to school and maintaining a job. Unfortunately, due to the high unemployment rate in the country, HUSBAND wasn’t able to make the money required to finish his schooling as was forced back home to Orica. There his family extended him help when they could by giving him jobs but it wasn’t enough for his survival and the growing desire to take some responsibility to help his mother with his younger sisters. HUSBAND, like many in his country, heard of others in his own village and around the country who risked everything to come to the United States with the hope of finding a job to send money back home to support their families. Since HUSBAND came to the United States in May of 2001, he put two of his younger sisters all the way through high school, something he wasn’t able to do for himself. As a teacher and a wife and a mother, I appreciate that he values education so much, yet it makes me so sad that no one was able to do this for HUSBAND, but that he was man enough to do it for his sisters. However noble his intentions, it does not excuse that he broke the laws of this great country by coming here illegally.
HUSBAND’s personal need is no excuse for his illegal entry in the United States. However, neither he nor I realized how grave and difficult our marriage would be and the effect on our children because of his perpetration. I have been a teacher at Denver Public Schools where many of the students who attended are illegal. With such a great number of undocumented students attending my school, I didn’t realize that it would be so difficult, for me, a US citizen, to be able to obtain residency for HUSBAND through the proper channels. Both HUSBAND and I were naïve about the difficulties we would face through this immigration process. After spending money on consultations with supposed immigration lawyers, they all told us different things: from the antiquated pardon where one could pay as a means of consequence to advising us to not leave the country for any reason. The stress of deciding what to do has been one of the most difficult challenges of my life. Because we consider our alliance to the United States a privilege, we acknowledge that HUSBAND should suffer some consequence for his actions. However, I think it is extreme and unusual hardship for DAUGHTER (and SON) with her critical brain development from age 0-3, to have to suffer permanently because we are trying to do the right thing by attending the immigration visa interview and applying for this waiver, in the hope that in the long term, HUSBAND will be there for DAUGHTER, my son, SON, and I. It has been especially a difficult decision in the face of potential immigration reform.
Both HUSBAND and I recognize that it is a privilege to be in this country and that anyone violating its laws should suffer consequences. It is for this reason, that in spite of knowing what is likely to happen in our situation, we are going ahead and honoring the interview that we are so lucky to have in the US Embassy in Tegucigalpa.
HUSBAND AS MY PARTNER AND A FATHER
HUSBAND has taught DAUGHTER all the vocabulary she knows. She can clap, kiss, hug, sit down on the chair and drink her bottle, give him things, lie down in her crib, walk, blink, blow her nose, say the word “ball”, say “Bye Betty” to our neighbor, among others. DAUGHTER is in love with her dad. It would be devastating for her development to lose him. HUSBAND is taking care of DAUGHTER and SON and in all his free moments is helping to fix our 1910 home in the case that we will have to rent it to someone else in an effort to preserve it as our property and not lose it to foreclosure if I end up not being able to pay for our mortgage.
HUSBAND takes care of the babies all the time. I cannot imagine what DAUGHTER will lose if HUSBAND isn’t here. Her development will be gravely affected. All the efforts we, and mostly HUSBAND, has made so far with DAUGHTER, could be frozen in time, and it kills me knowing that a child’s future depends so much on what happens from the age of 0-3. As it is right now, with each of us here, it is a struggle to take care of an infant and a toddler. Because DAUGHTER could have physical disabilities, physical activity is very important for her, so we allow her to walk about a lot, but this requires constant supervision.
MARRIAGEIt needs to be emphasized that by issuing an approval of an I-130, the United States government has formally and legally recognized the validity of our marriage. It is well documented that family unity is an important value unpinning the raison d´etre of the United States of America and that actions to assure family unity are part of the intent of the United States immigration law (for example, see Title 8, Chapter 12, Subchapter II, Part II, Section I, pp. 64 and 65). Although it is a function of the law to provide legal definition and recognition to this marriage between PETITIONEE and me, PETITIONER, it is clearly the intent of law to support the complex nature of marriage. In other words, in this and other genuine marriages there are multiple social, psychological, familial, economic, cultural, spiritual, etc. bonds, which are presumed by the law to exist conjointly with the legal presence of marriage. Support for these complex interacting marital bonds is a fundamental value of the larger society and a function of the law.
Because ours is a full and complete marriage with intense emotional, social, familial, economic and spiritual ties, the reciprocal bond between us must be granted great weight while evaluating what would happen to our family if HUSBAND were not admitted to the United States. My children and I will miss HUSBAND painfully. I am very anxious about our future because it depends upon my husband’s return. However, these are considered herein to be simply the backdrop of the fact that DAUGHTER is a special needs child, and that losing her father, even temporarily could gravely affect her development permanently. This I consider extreme and unusual hardship.
SUMMARY
DAUGHTER is a special needs child and her father, HUSBAND, is her primary caretaker. The primary reason we need HUSBAND here is so that he can continue to be the primary caretaker for DAUGHTER due to her ongoing physical and medical needs. DAUGHTER is a special needs child because of complications due to her prematurity, the most important of which was an IVH Grade III hemorrhage. Any time of separation from her father will be catastrophic for her development, as DAUGHTER is currently in the midst of the most critical time for her brain development.
If we were to move to Honduras, we would not have the medical, physical, and developmental services available to DAUGHTER here in the United States, specifically in Denver, CO. If we were to move to I could lose my career as a teacher. If we moved to Honduras, both my husband and I would also be faced with imminent unemployment and without the possibility of providing for ourselves and our children. These factors would make moving to Honduras with our children to be united as a family an incredibly risky and unstable situation that I would prefer to avoid at all costs. Because Honduras is economically depressed, has poor health care (by United States standards), is extremely dangerous, has bad air pollution, has limited educational opportunities for children with special needs and cannot provide the employment opportunities necessary for me to fulfill my dreams and maintain my standard of living, I cannot see moving to Honduras as a viable option. However, neither is it viable to stay in the United States without my husband.
If I stay in the United States, with my salary, I cannot afford to pay for day care, my home, and living expenses. I will forced to become a burden to society in order to take care of my children, and in doing so DAUGHTER and SON both will possibly be losing out in the most important time in my children’s brain development without the support and love of their father. If DAUGHTER, SON, and I were unable to live with HUSBAND, we would suffer great hardship in so many levels: physical, emotional, financial, and educational. This dilemma is tearing family and me apart.
Because our marriage is evidenced by our love and our children, I implore on you to consider my situation for the waiver of extreme hardship. If HUSBAND is not able to return I will lose everything….the possibility that DAUGHTER will receive the best care possible to ensure the best possible outcomes considering her special needs, I could lose my home and everything I have fought to hard to attain because I cannot afford to pay both for childcare, my mortgage and living expenses. I could lose the job that gives me some sense that I’m giving back something to the world, and most of all I would lose the support that I would need from my husband in physically and emotionally dealing with our current situation with DAUGHTER as well as any further complications that should arise in her health. While understanding the need for retribution for my husband’s illegal entry into these great United States, I humbly ask you for the greatest compassion that you can offer us under the law.
Sincerely,
PETITIONERAddress
Tel. (###) ###-####
Email: XXX@XXX.COM