what others did after Issac visa was denied

After hearing the final verdict our lawyer Katie wrote a letter and sent an e-mail to the Chief of Immigrant Visas in Ciudad Juarez. In this letter she explained that a legal error had been committed with our case. That the officer said that Issac claimed to be a U.S citizen and that there was no proof of this. She explained and showed the documents showing that the Immigration office in St. Louis had previously droped this charge from Issacs case due to their being no evidence and because Issac stated that he did not make this claim.
She received a letter back telling her how a congressional office could contact them and that if she wanted to speak to them she would have to use the Call Center. Well there's a dead end. I have had a few people try and no one has been able to get through on the call center line and it also costs a lot of money. So you get to pay to be on hold for a long time to not get through to anyone.
Katie also sent a letter explaining all of the above to Legal net to request for Advisory Opinion regarding our case. Legal net is an email channel limited to immigration attorneys to inquire about the status of visa applications or request an advisory opinion on the denial of a visa.
Katie also sent a letter to the U.S. Department of state alerting them to our issue.
From all of this inquiry Katie received a letter stating that Issac admitted to the consular officer under oath that he stated orally to an immigration officer at the POE that he was a returning U.S. citizen, and that their was no legal error made.
When we asked Issac about this he said the officer was cruel and asking many repetitive questions and in different ways. Issac is unsure of how the officer came to this conclusion but is certain it was during the confusing part of the interview. So long story short in the end an officer was allowed to treat my husband like a criminal and use cruelty and frustration to confuse him during the interview. To understand this better you should read Issacs story of how the interview went.

My mom also sent a letter, along with pictures to the Consulate, any talk show she could find, many Senators and anyone she thought may listen. For the ones who actually did look into the case they received a letter exactly like Katie's. So without explanation all these people assume that what the consulate says is factual and strait forward. Little do they know of how my husband was treated and talked to on that day.

I wrote a nice letter explaining the hardships and misunderstandings of our case to the Chief of Immigrant Visas in Ciudad Juarez. I explained the ill treatment Issac received and asked why these immigrants are not allowed legal representation inside the consulate. Also I wanted to know why the interviews were not recorded. There is no proof of what this officer says. We all know someone with a badge is not always legit. Anyway he didn't respond so I sent another letter that was a little more harsh and told him what I really thought. And I then received a letter identical to the others that were received.

My sister sent a letter every week for a month or so and then pretty often after that to the consular office. They finally wrote her back sometime in late may 08 or early June 08 with the same response as the other but with one difference. On the letter to Shawndra they said, "but this case is under investigation." I nor Katie had been informed of any investigation. They said in this letter that they would get back to my sister as to what they found. Shawndra has heard nothing since and has written to ask about this "investigation".

Visa apointment (Amanda)

We finally received the long awaited call from Katie, saying that Issac’s visa appointment had been scheduled. We were so excited. This was it. We knew that Issac would be turned down for the visa, but this was one more step that was necessary in order for me to file for a waiver to begin my case for “hardship on an American citizen”, which would allow me the chance to get my husband back into the country for the sake of our family.We now began the tedious online process of scheduling our waiver appointment. (From what I understand they randomly put the appointments up a few weeks in advance in order to prevent people from making the appointments and selling them.) This new process of having online registration is supposed to be making this whole thing smoother, but it actually made it more stressful. We had at least five or six people getting on at all hours of the night trying to get this appointment for us. I had my phone on day and night waiting on someone to call and say they got it. I finally got one about a week from his visa date. (There has to be a better way to do this.) When we got the visa date, Issac quit his job in Monclova and went to stay with a pastor in Juarez where the consulate is. We paid our fees and he got his shots, the medical checkup and the fingerprints that were all necessary for the appointment. (and were all expensive as well).My lawyer gave me the waiver packet to take with me, as I had planned to arrive in after Issac was done with this initial visa appointment. I was going to arrive just in time for the waiver appointment.Issac went to his visa appointment and went through hell. I wasn’t there so I’ll let him explain that in his part of this letter. I could hear the devastation and desperation in my husband’s voice when he called me 5 hours after the scheduled time for his appointment and said he was told to wait in a waiting room alone while the officer made his decisions. Now I was nervous. I called Katie and she said it was normal. Katie had previously expressed that she wished she could be there to help him but that lawyers are not allowed in the consulate.Issac called me about eight o’clock and said the officer told him he would have to come back on Monday for his decision. This was a Thursday.I don’t think I can explain the frustration, stress, unease, and plain fear I was feeling over that weekend. I cried and poured my heart out to our church explaining what had happened to Issac. They cried and poured their hearts out to God for my family.On that Monday Issac called me; his broken spirit evident in his voice. He told me that the officer not only denied Issac’s visa, but he also took away our right to apply for a waiver on the basis of “hardship on an American citizen.” I was crushed and dumbfounded.

The Visa apointment (Issac)

Now for those of you who have not yet had your appointment do not let this sway you please press on. I pray that they soon make the employees there treat immigrants with respect. I as have many other have petitioned to the government officials to see that this happens. I have no idea if that will go far but for what its worth here is our experience.
This is a section from Issacs letter and is his words.

The trip to the embassy was a 12 hour bus ride. I kissed everybody goodbye; since i was going to leave to go back to the united states from Cd Juarez. I was to cross to El Paso and catch a plane there to St Louis. We had the plane tickets ready.

I stayed at a pastor’s house there, which was a blessing for us. I got there October 29^th. I went to get a physical exam at one of the authorized clinics the following day. We spend so much money on that exam. Plus i had to get shots as well.

November 1st, I got up for the appointment. I was ready, at peace and determined to get this over with. I headed to the embassy. Once there, i got in line. It was a very, very long line, and everybody there was going to deal with visas and immigration. I got there at 7am.

It took forever to get in. I went from one waiting room to the next. Finally I came to a window where they took my fingerprints, and checked my paperwork. The pictures they asked for were not like the ones i had on me so i had to go outside and get some fresh pictures taken. I came back and i got another waiting number, only to go to another waiting room.

At last, i came to the final waiting room, where the immigration officer interviews the applicants.

After a long while they called me up to window “27”. I will never forget that window. I walked up to the officer and saluted him saying hi. He replied and said; “why do you talk to me? Do you know me?”

I apologized. He started the interview and i answered all of his questions.

He was upset at the fact that I was speaking to him in English and kept questioning why I spoke it so fluently. He then asked me how I entered the US and I told him exactly how it happened. When I finished, he basically said that I was lying. He commented that my English was so good and that no Mexican could learn English outside of the US. I answered saying that i wasn’t lying and that I was being serious. That’s when he lost it. He started yelling, screaming that i was wasting his time, that he had a lot to do and that I was a liar. I didn’t know what to do nor say. Then he proceeded to call security to escort me outside the building and wait there until he felt like talking to me again. I had no idea what was going on. The people that worked there witnessed me being escorted out of the room and told me that this guy was mean, but not to worry because he would have to call me back by the end of the night.

By this time it was about 5 o’clock pm. I hadn’t had anything to eat all day and had the worst headache ever. My knees were shaking. After 30 minutes or so, he sent another guard out to get me. The first thing he said to me was not to speak unless I’m spoken to and not to do anything else. Just be there and stand still. He took my fingerprints, gave me a receipt and told me to come back to pay the fingerprints fee. He then told me to come back the following Monday.

I went back to the pastor’s house and felt like I was falling to pieces. The whole weekend was so bizarre. On Monday I did what the officer told me to do. There I was again in front of him and waiting for him to call me up.

We started the whole interview all over again. He asked me about Amanda, about church, about how I learned English about when I came back to México on a voluntary departure. He then commented about the fact that i had been charged with a false claim in St Louis. He asked me again how I entered the US and I told him. Again, he insisted that i was lying. He himself decided to charge me with this same offense that had been dropped in a US court of law. He then said that there was no waiver available on earth for me because of this charge and that i was banned from ever entering the United States again. He did this all on his own speculation, with no proof and no witnesses. I was guilty until proven innocent.

I had to ask permission to say something, so i did. I then told him that we had brought this very same charge to a judge and had dropped it. I asked how he could charge me with the same thing again. He said he was under a different jurisdiction and there is nothing else that could be done.

I told my lawyer about that and she said that once they decide on something, nothing can be done, especially with a charge like that one.

My entire world felt apart. I felt my knees crumble and my spirit at its lowest point. This wasn’t supposed to happen. I was supposed to go home to my wife and daughter. It was supposed to be over.

I bitterly cried myself to sleep. We cancelled the flights. We cancelled our plans.

Just like that, our dreams were shattered.