When someone asks what I do for a living, I tell them "I have the best job in the world."
For the first 25 years after law school I worked at the Michigan Supreme Court and the Louisiana Court of Appeal. It was a very academic career, mostly research and writing.
Everything changed in 2012 when I took a leap of faith and a 50% cut in pay. One Sunday, over coffee in the parish hall, I learned that a nonprofit in central Louisiana was looking for a Spanish-speaking immigration attorney. The next day I applied for the job and signed up for an intense course on immigration law through the American Immigration Lawyers' Association.
I never could have imagined some of the experiences I have had since I got that job: meeting potential clients at a gas station restaurant because they were afraid to come to the office, crying with a husband and wife when I told them that under the current law she had no way to stay in the United States with their three children, and celebrating with a young Marine who was able to bring his fiancé to the United States. More blessings and sadness and joy than I ever thought possible!
Let me share some of the joy with you. One of our clients recently received her green card. She has been working for this day for 22 years! Isabel is a citizen of Jamaica who came to the US on a student visa. She married an abusive US citizen who controlled her partly by refusing to file the necessary papers for her to get a green card and threatening to have her deported. Isabel broke free from him and worked with JFON to receive a temporary visa under the Violence Against Women Act. A few years later, JFON filed Isabel's application for a green card. In my second week at JFON, I received a letter from USCIS that Isabel's application card had been denied. That's how I met Isabel, a wonderful young woman who has turned her life around and is almost through with schooling to become an RN.
In its decision to deny Isabel, USCIS made two errors of law. I worked through the American Immigration Lawyers Association to have the Dallas USCIS director reconsider the decision on her own - and it was approved!
Isabel received her green card and a job offer to work as a nurse on the same day. She was shrieking with joy as I gave her the news! She said that it's
"amazing, Limbo no more!
This is one of the happiest days of my life! No one can tell me there is no God! He is God - he is right in time. I haven't seen my Dad in 22 years. I can go home - I haven't seen my mom in 16 years! I got a job as a nurse today, at $18 an hour. I'm in school, I have my own place, God IS Good!"
She then hung up to tell everyone the good news, but not before asking me to give everyone who supports JFON her thanks - she said she could never have done it without you.
Graham Bateman, JFON-DFW Staff Attorney
+ + +
