I was a stranger, and you didn’t invite me into your home… “I tell you the truth, when you refused to help the least of these my brothers and sisters, you were refusing to help me.” Matthew 25:43, 45

How does it feel to be “the stranger” or “the other” in these days? I know some people who are, and I will call them Mary and David. Mary came to the US legally on a fiancée visa with her 10-year-old son. As soon as they arrived, Mary married an American citizen, originally from her home country. Things went relatively smoothly for a few years, but then her husband became abusive. Just as Mary’s work authorization was to be renewed, he wrote something to Immigration that caused them not to re-authorize her work permit. She continued to work, assuring her employer that the work authorization was coming. She was making a very modest salary as a cleaner in a large company. Her husband began to demand that she pay half the rent out of her small salary. He refused to give her money for any shoes or clothes for David. Then out of spite, he said she could not use either of his two cars to get to work, even while he was out of town driving his truck. From her apartment, she had to walk nearly an hour to get to the nearest bus stop, then take two buses to her workplace. Of course, the return journey was the same. She began working 12-hour shifts to earn enough money to pay the rent. In the meantime, David was home alone or with her disgruntled husband.

When her husband was home, he demanded she buy and prepare food for him to take with him on his long-haul trucking route. He screamed abuse at her, telling her how worthless she was. He forced her to sleep on the living room sofa and keep her clothes in a suitcase as he didn’t want to see her or her things. When she tried to leave him, he stopped her and insisted she stay with him. By this point, she didn’t have a work permit and could only continue her job because her employer chose not to ask about it. She was a good employee, and they needed her.

How do I know these things about this family? Because I saw them myself. Four months after I met Mary, I invited her and David to come live in my home. I was going to be away for 10 weeks, and she would have a free place to stay to get her affairs in some kind of order. When I returned from my trip, she was still in a mess, though my house was in great shape. For months, I tried to help her find a way forward. Her attorney, working pro bono, applied for a Violence Against Women Act visa (VAWA) and for a work permit. All of that was submitted on September 9, 2024. Almost immediately, David, then 14-years-old received a work authorization. As of today, 18 months later, Mary still doesn’t have one. How does that make sense?

They are in this country legally. She is still married to her husband. But without a work authorization, it is impossible to a) obtain a valid driver’s license, b) work for any company, or c) register a car. While you can pay for car insurance, and she does, if there is an accident, will the insurance company pay anything since she doesn’t have a valid license? She can’t travel because she doesn’t have a valid driver’s license or a visa in her passport. Her son wants to learn to drive, but she can’t teach him because she can’t get a valid driver’s license. Do you begin to see the conundrum she’s in?

When she asks Immigration about the status of her papers, the answer is, “They have moved to another office and we have no information.” There is also no information about where this other office is.

In the current climate, she is terrified to go more than a few miles from her home in transitional housing because of ICE. She carries copies of all her paperwork with her in the car in case she is stopped, but will the officers even bother to look? She will have to leave her home by January 2027 if she can’t get her work authorization. At that point, she will probably be living in her car with David, a 16-year-old.

Mary came in good faith, did everything the right way. But we have failed her and David. She has asked for help from politicians to advocate for her. If they did, nothing has resulted from it. Without some intervention, it could take five years to get her work authorization. Could she go back home? Possibly, but there is war there and certainly no opportunities for her or David. We pride ourselves on being “the land of opportunity”, but where is the opportunity for Mary?