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Next week my father will be 90. Born in that final Edwardian summer of 1914, he fought throughout World War II, escaped from prison camp and was wounded on the beaches of Normandy.
Five of his six children will gather in Scotland with numerous grandchildren to celebrate his birthday. I, his youngest son, will not be able to attend because the Department of Homeland Security has removed my freedom to travel.
Or to be absolutely accurate, I am free to go. But, if I do, I will not be allowed to return to my wife and children here in Washington. That's one of those choices that is not a choice at all. Like 700,000 others, I am stuck in green-card hell.
Since Sept. 11, 2001, the average waiting time for a green card has ballooned from 18 months to nearly three years. It's understandable that the Bush administration needs to do additional background checks on applicants, but in the process it is making the lives of green-card applicants a misery. More important, it's destroying a valuable opportunity to restore America's battered reputation abroad. http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A41361-2004May19.html
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