Green card for Alex’s wife

After weeks of uncertainty, Yaderlin Jimenez, whose husband is missing in action (MIA) in Iraq, finally had her fear of deportation laid to rest when she was awarded her Green Card on Sunday, July 1 from the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (CIS).
“We’re happy that she was eligible by United States Immigration Law to be granted her Green Card,” said Shawn Saucier, Spokesperson for the CIS. “Hopefully this is something that will lessen the pain of having her husband overseas.”
Jimenez, the wife of Corona-born MIA Army Specialist Alex Jimenez Duran, first arrived in the U.S. illegally from the Dominican Republic in 2001. She then married her husband Jimenez in 2004.
Ever since applying for her card that year, she and her husband waited for the application to go through. However, it was through applying for the card that Jimenez’s illegal status was revealed, and authorities began building the case for her deportation.
As soon as her story hit the press, Jimenez’s case drew a great deal of public support from public figures and politicians such as Congressmember Joseph Crowley.
“It’s not the right way to treat someone fighting in the armed forces, by going for their family,” said a Crowley spokesperson.
Even though the case to deport Jimenez ended late June, her status as an illegal immigrant remained. Jimenez’s Green Card allows her to live and work freely in the U.S.
“This is an excellent development because the pressure put on officials by the press, and representatives of the people have paid off,” Crowley said.