The Pink Flamingo :: Immigration Reform Gone Bad - Leading Scientist to Be Deported

From ErasticRagemail: A leading biological scientist from Poland who has been here since 1994 is being deported because she submitted the wrong photo to ICE for the renewal of her papers. This isn't some "ignorant" illegal immigrant, but one of the world's leading experts on biological warfare. Do we really want this women leaving the US? The reason - there is a glare on her glasses. She is being deported becasue of the glare on her glasses.

"...Katarzyna Dziewanowska is a Polish born scientist recruited to the University of Idaho in 1994 and has been involved in studying methods of fighting biological agents, such as the plague, that could be used in germ warfare. Her travails began in 2003 when she applied for Permanent Residency. She submitted her application and an application for a work permit...."

What is wrong with this picture?

I can't wait to hear how the anti-immigration crowd spins this one. I thought we were trying to recruit people like this to stay in the US.

"...But her appeals have fallen on deaf ears with immigration officials. She'd like to take the case before an immigration judge, but that could take months or years. In the meantime, she can't work and has no legal residency status. Because it is a family application, her husband – a UI researcher studying a promising treatment of retroviruses – can no longer receive grants. Her son can't apply for a free-tuition program through his employer.

"She has no legal status," said Michael Cherasia, her former attorney. "She's not able to legally work. Certainly she can't continue to do her research. (Agents) could come to her door any morning, arrest her, detain her and ship her out of the country."

The rejection of her petition is part of a long pattern of bureaucratic communications straight out of Kafka. Her application for residency languished for years, status unknown. Frequently, neither Dziewanowska, her attorneys nor her colleagues could reach officials in person to discuss the case, they say. Seeking information about her case, she once called a number she found at an agency Web site; the person who answered could only provide information from the Web site.

"They eventually put me in a situation where you start to feel like a criminal, when you don't have any intention to break the law," said Dziewanowska, 64.

Her supporters say that Dziewanowska's brief period of unauthorized work was a simple error, and that her record as a researcher and visiting worker should count in her favor. She's been without work since October...."

When and where does all of this end? The woman was caught in a "catch-22" of paperwork because of the wrong photo (profile) and then the second one had a glare on one lense of her glasses. I am really curious to see how the anti-immigration crowd spins this. So far, I find the answer to be, she's smart enough to know the rules. How do you deal with the rules when you are dealing with ICE idiots who aren't smart enough to see through a little lense glare. There is no excuse for this piece of stupidity.