A Neighbor’s Perspective – Please Read

This letter was written by Dan and Hoa’s neighbor in Minneapolis. This is a fantastically written letter that accurately describes the wonderful characters of Dan and Hoa in contrast to their tragic situation.

September 26, 2009

Dear [  ],

I am writing about a matter that is of great concern to me, my family and my neighborhood.  Enclosed is the Memorandum and Order that should explain the legal status of our friend and neighbor Hoa Nguyen who is currently incarcerated in the Sherburne County Jail pending deportation to her native country of Vietnam. Exhibit A. She has been in this country since 1999 and married her long-time boyfriend in November 2008.  Hoa’s incarceration came about due to an extremely minor error that Hoa made in the calendaring of her hearing date in immigration court in Bloomington, Minnesota. She apparently missed her hearing on August 13, 2009 due to this mistake and was handcuffed, arrested and taken away to jail one day later.  I am asking that you intervene on her behalf to prevent or reverse this disastrous result.

Although I am an attorney, immigration law is far from my area of practice in ERISA employee benefits. I therefore cannot pretend to adequately understand whether Hoa’s case has been handled competently or optimally.  Nor do I understand whether the Immigration Judge who adjudicated this matter correctly applied the legal standards. Since time is of the essence, I am writing this letter to you as fast as I can, and at the expense of my own independent legal research, in order to convey my dismay, embarrassment and humiliation at how this lovely woman has been treated in my country. My understanding is that there are no meaningful legal avenues that Hoa can pursue at this time to prevent her deportation.  She and her husband have been advised that any appeal rights Hoa has are not worth exercising because they are futile.

What I understand all too well is that Hoa’s deportation is unnecessary and accomplishes nothing for the United States.  Hoa and her husband, a U.S. Citizen, will be subjected to an unnecessarily harsh sanction, that of deportation, for a simple act of inadvertence.  While it is perhaps true that Hoa did slip up regarding her immigration status, the deportation of individuals with poor calendaring skills who are otherwise wonderful, productive and law abiding members of our community, cannot possibly be the purpose of the laws under which Hoa is being punished.  Therefore, I do beg for your intervention on this matter.

Although Hoa’s situation is disturbing enough on its face, I believe some context is in order if you are to understand why Hoa’s situation has triggered such strong reactions.  Enclosed are some affidavits and letters from interested parties describing Hoa and her circumstances and those of her husband Dan Hanson. Exhibit B.

For my part, my husband, my daughter and I, have lived in our home in Minneapolis in the “Wedge” or “East Lowry Hill” neighborhood for over 13 years.  You may be familiar with the neighborhood.  It is one of the most interesting in Minneapolis in that it is diverse in every way.  We happen to live in one of the large, single family, Victorian homes, but there are many rentals, duplexes and apartment buildings in the neighborhood as well.  There are often issues with noise, maintenance of property etc.  We are always aware when properties change hands because it tends to favorably affect the quality of our lives when responsible people who value our neighborhood purchase property or rent in the Wedge.  We get to know our neighbors because it makes us all safer, it builds community, and the people tend to be interesting.

The property where, until recently, Hoa lived with her husband Dan is one that has undergone rather miraculous positive changes.  In May 2005 a group of young adults, all graduates of Luther College, bought this property at 2447 Colfax Ave. S. together.  This conspicuously wholesome bunch of “kids” purchased the house together because they were tired of renting and none was quite situated to buy a home on his or her own.  They have rehabilitated the house, built a new garage, and tended the garden.  The owners of the house include a school teacher in at Seward Montessori, and school teacher at the Woodbury/Cottage Grove Spanish immersion, and ER nurse at Hennepin County Medical Center, a transplant nurse, a musician who is also pursuing his degree in Audiology at the University of Minnesota, and a musician who works at Majors and Quinn bookstore in Uptown.  Dan, Hoa’s husband and another owner of the house, is a carpenter.  He recently started his own contracting business, and due to his skill and the general sense of integrity that he exudes, he has already been hired by several neighborhood homeowners to work on their Victorian homes.

At the time of the home purchase Dan and Hoa were already boyfriend and girlfriend for many several years and were clearly in love; there is no question as to the bona fides of this marriage. Hoa is a tiny, bubbly young woman with a great sense of humor.  We were overjoyed that Dan and Hoa decided to get married. Hoa moved into the home with Dan and her other Luther College colleagues where she tended the garden and the potted plants.  Although Dan and Hoa are both extremely intelligent, their lives were conventional in many ways.  Dan would work on a contracting project down the street and return home for lunch prepared by Hoa. Dan and Hoa would hold hands and go out to dinner in the neighborhood. Dan and Hoa would come and join their neighbors for trivia night at the Leaning Tower of Pizza on Lyndale Avenue. Dan and Hoa just seemed to be a happy, loving couple embarking on nothing short of the American dream.

What I foresaw was that they would eventually leave the property across the street from us because of the ultimate success of Dan’s contracting business, the completion of Hoa’s terminal degree in French, and their plan to have a family. They did not share the plan to have a family with me, but I wished this for them, because they both are such nurturing people.  They clearly nurtured each other and would have been spectacular parents.  By way of example when Dan was hired by our neighbors to remodel their basement, he was found walking the homeowners’ children to school before beginning his building work.

We understood Hoa to be pursuing a PhD and the University of Minnesota, but apparently she had been experiencing some burnout.  I now understand that this made her hesitate in the midst of her program, which resulted in the loss of her student status unbeknownst to her, and which ultimately led to the need for a hearing that she inadvertently missed.  None of us knew that she was struggling, but it now makes sense in light of the fact that she had been on a very serious academic track since she was 16. She attended the United World College in Norway for high school and it was there that she apparently learned of Luther College.  She graduated Luther College Summa Cum Laude and was a member of Phi Beta Kappa.

Since we learned that Hoa was incarcerated, it feels as if the whole neighborhood has been in a state of mourning.  We are all feeling seriously let down by the result of Hoa’s motion to the Immigration Court.  We are all at a loss to understand how it is that Hoa can be seen as a reasonable target for this kind of enforcement.  We are disappointed that the system could not provide a reasonable alternative for Hoa who so clearly deserves to be here in the U.S., who is such a valuable person to us, and who would have made such a great contribution.  The other day I received an email from another neighbor.  The subject heading was, “Bad News/Worse News.”  The email first described how the sender’s mother had suffered a heart attack.  The “Worse News” was that Hoa’s motion had been denied and she would be deported.  Since we all know that Hoa poses no threat to the security of the United States there is a sense of betrayal and of cynicism that has taken over. Meanwhile, on a more practical level, we worry about Hoa’s safety in a jail with violent criminals. She is physically very small and clearly has not experience in this kind of environment. The image of Hoa in a correctional facility is very haunting.  These are dark days.

Personally, this has affected my eating and sleeping. As a U.S. Citizen, I am hurt that someone so dear has to suffer such harsh consequences for no reason.  As an attorney, I am desperate to find a form of broader legal reasoning that would support this harsh result. I see the people around me, friends and neighbors of Hoa, loosing their confidence in “the system.”  This is exemplified by an email I got from a neighbor that stated his interpretation that “the judge has determined that Hoa’s intelligence and sweet disposition are too threatening to the security of the United States.” I know that there are laws that can be blind to the equities of a given situation, but this is the worst such case to touch me personally and I doubt that I will ever be able to find justification for such an absurd consequence.  As Americans we brag that we are a country of immigrants.  Hoa’s situation, if it is allowed to stand, does great damage to that pride.

Please help Hoa.  Please help your constituents recover their faith and trust in government by helping to correct this serious misfiring of the law.  Hoa needs to come home where she can begin her life again.  She has done nothing morally wrong and deserves to be free.

Your truly,

Sally