September 10, 2007 6:12 A.M.
By Terrie Morgan-Besecker tmorgan@timesleader.co

Red tape trips up hopes for green card

Nicola Carara, a Jamaican who has worked with local church, says she’ll have to leave.

KINGSTON TWP. – To members of the Back Mountain Harvest Assembly Church, Nicola Carara is a loving, caring volunteer who has devoted her life to spreading the word of God.

She’s a mentor to the young and old alike, they say, someone who brings people to the Lord through her unique talents in creating multimedia productions that convey a powerful, Christian message.

But the U.S. government sees Carara as something else: an illegal immigrant.

Now, after spending thousands of dollars in an unsuccessful battle to obtain legal working papers, Carara, a native of Jamaica, said she will voluntarily depart the United States by the end of the month, even though she has not been officially ordered to do so.

“I cannot stay here and actively minister to people, especially kids, when I am not respecting the laws of the land,â€