Life Happens.

Well, it appears as if David's case is finally nearing an end. However, it is a very real possibility that it will not be the "end" that we were hoping for, unfortunately. The way things are moving now, we have had to address the "what if" situation of David being sent back to Mexico. Obviously that is not what we WANT, but it very well could happen at this point. Everything is hinging on his 9-month custody review decision. The officer assigned to his case (which is different than the officer who made the decision to continue detention at his 3-month and 6-month review) has submitted his recommendation to the ERO headquarters in Washington, DC. They are the ones who ultimately decide whether to release David, or continue to detain him. Unfortunately at this point, according to our attorney, if the decision is made to continue detention, then they will most likely remove him from the country instead of keeping him in custody. The policy regarding U-visa petitioners has changed, and they have decided that individuals who have applied for that visa don't necessarily need to wait for the visa while they are in the U.S. They can just go back to their country to await a decision. I believe this is partly due to the current administration's immigration policies, but also partly due to the fact that the number of U-visa petitions that come in are just growing like crazy every year. At this point, there are over 100,000 pending U-visa petitions--up from less than 50,000 just three years ago, and less than 20,000 five years ago.

Obviously we are hoping for a decision to release him. At this point that is the best-case scenario we can hope for. Unfortunately, there is a very slim chance that they will make that decision. It is more likely that they will decide to continue detaining him--and therefore send him back to Mexico. Although it's not what we are hoping for and definitely not what we want, there are a few silver linings in that case. The first of course is that he will be FREE. Even if he's in a different country, at least he is FREE. He no longer has to be locked up and restricted and all that crap. The other is, even if he gets sent back to Mexico, his visa will still be pending a decision. Since it appears that a decision will be made in the next month or so, ICE may not bother to remove the expedited status once he is out of custody, and we will still most likely hear something about the visa soon. If it gets approved, then we can start the parole process, and hopefully he would only be gone about three or four months total. Yes, it would suck for him to be stuck in custody for 11 months and STILL get sent back to Mexico in the end, at least the fact remains that because he was in custody, his petition was expedited, and that of course was a benefit to his case as well. And at least then, I can actually fly down there and go see him and be with him and we can be together again, FINALLY! So, hopefully it won't be too bad even if the worst that we expect actually does happen. And if his visa doesn't end up working out, then we can get married and start the process of bringing him back with a waiver and a petition for an alien relative. No matter what, and no matter how long, he WILL be back here....we'll find a way, and I will not stop fighting for him.

Of course this situation sucks. Of course this is not how we pictured our life together turning out. Things were good. We were living together in our house, we were working, he was building his business, we were doing amazing things together (vacations, events, date nights, just having fun and making memories), we were spending time with friends and family, we were happy and enjoying life. We expected things to always be that way. We were supposed to spend every birthday and holiday and milestone together. We were supposed to plan our wedding and we probably would have been married by now. We were supposed to attend certain events and do certain things together. But so many times, life is a lot of "supposed to" that doesn't necessarily work out that way. And that's okay, because it happens. And the thing that matters most is NOT whether life is working out the way we planned or expected it to. The thing that matters most is how we react to those circumstances. The thing that matters most is that we have each other, and we will be together in the end no matter what happens or where in this world we end up. We will face these challenges together and come out stronger on the other side.

I am crazy in love with David. And he is crazy in love with me. Sometimes you just know when someone is your soulmate. I know that I cannot live without him, and this past almost-year has been the most difficult time of my life (and his of course), having to be away from each other and going through this whole immigration fiasco. But I'm in it for life. The moment David put that ring on my finger was the best moment of my whole life, hands down. We may not yet have said "I do," but that doesn't mean I'm not already committed to that man, to our future, and to the rest of our life together. We don't need a fancy ceremony, a big ordeal, or a piece of paper to confirm the fact that we ARE together--for better or for worse, for richer or for poorer, in sickness and in health, as long as we both shall live. Because we already know that's the case. Sure, eventually we will *officially* make those vows....but for right now we are living them, and that's something we intend to do forever.