Seattle - Reunited After More than 10 Years |
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March 15th, 2007 - 08:52AM |
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François (far right) finally reunited with his family. Photo: The IRC By Nita Nehru, volunteer at the IRC's Seattle refugee resettlement office As Americans, we often take for granted the First Amendment of the Bill of rights – our right to free speech, press, religion, peaceable assembly, and to petition the government for a redress of grievances. Since our country was founded on the premise that all its citizens would have the inalienable rights of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness and safety, we rarely have to question the effects our opinions and beliefs will have on our security and wellbeing. But life is not so lucky for the vast majority of people in our world. Many live under brutal dictatorships, in fear of the harm that their beliefs will bring upon themselves and their loved ones. The people of the Republic of Haiti have endured years of harsh dictatorships and political unrest. From the time of “Papa Doc” Duvalier’s authoritarian leadership in the 1960s to the violent military regime established in the 1990s, millions of Haitians have lived in terror. Hundreds of thousands have fled their home country. Today, over 420,000 live as refugees or legal permanent residents in the United States alone. François Levancy was one of thousands of refugees when he fled Haiti on June 24, 1994. His politicalviews in favor of the ousted President Jean-Bertrand Aristide made him a target of the military regime. “[There were] problems in Haiti. Shooting. [They] kill people for nothing…I am happy that my life has protection [in the United States]. In Haiti, you live in a room and if you go outside you are scared. [You] don’t know if you will ever come back,” says François. François’s journey towards safety landed him on U.S. soil on August 2, 1994. But his family still remained in Haiti – his wife and his two little children, a son and daughter, both under the age of 5.Now out from harm’s way, François turned all his attention on bringing his family to safety. It would take thirteen years for his family to be allowed into the country. François worked hard to both adapt to his new life and reunite with his family. He secured employment as a maintenance person in a downtown warehouse, managing to support himself and his family through his earnings. He prepared for his eventual U.S. citizenship application by studying English with the help of tutors at another local refugee agency. He filed petitions to bring his family members here, but clerical errors and legal omissions resulted in denials. “Whether it was human error or clerical error, the point is that he was kept apart from his family for thirteen years… He missed his children’s childhood,” says Jennifer Malloy of the IRC. In June of 2003, he contacted IRC for additional assistance with his family petitions. His caseworker prepared and refiled all the petitions with thorough documentation, then regularly followed up with USCIS, the National Visa Center, the U.S. Embassy in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, and the office of Senator Patty Murray to overcome continued processing delays. While François worked tirelessly to bring his family to the United States – meeting with lawyers, seeking help from the IRC, trying to contact government officials, working overtime to save money – his wife and family in Haiti had doubts about his efforts. “I told her I [could not]bring her over because of problems, but she [did] not believe me. Thought I was not trying,” explains François of his difficult separation. Finally on October 19, 2006, after thirteen long years, François was reunited with his wife and children. “[Before] I would just cry when I came to Seattle. Sometimes not eat, just cry…[I am] much happier with [my] family here.” But François’s family’s difficulty is still not entirely over. His wife speaks no English, making it difficult to work, and even doing mundane tasks such as grocery shopping can be a challenge. His children attend an ESL school, but are still trying to adjust to life in a foreign country and are making progress. His wife is taking English classes and his children are already excelling in school. Today François’s family knows that they are safe. But what of the many Haitians who do not have that luxury? Perhaps the help from Haitians living abroad, such as François, will allow the little island country to start on a path towards stability. Posted By: theirc | Refugees in the U.S. Permalink |
