Parents can't part red tape: Son stuck in Jamaica 2 yrs.
(http://www.suntimes.com/news/metro/3651 ... 01.article)

May 1, 2007

John and Georgian Olen have spent nearly two years navigating the red tape of the immigration process to get their 7-year-old son Romani Campbell from Jamaica to their Oriole Park home.

"I've thought about it for weeks and especially since [last week's] raid," said John, 40. "I understand -- they're trying to keep their family together; I'm trying to get my family together."

John, a U.S. citizen, and his wife -- a permanent legal resident from Kingston, Jamaica, who came here two years ago as a student -- say they have filed all the paperwork, paid all the fees and were even approved for Romani's visa in December. Yet they still haven't been able to get the final documents so Romani can join them legally in the United States.

"He's been with a nanny for over a year," said Olen who, like his wife, has been traveling back and forth trying to get an appointment with the U.S. Embassy there to ask for help. "We're on the phone, he cries, then I cry, then my wife cries -- it's tormenting."


Though frustrated that others essentially skipped ahead in line by coming illegally Olen says he understands, but wouldn't even consider that an option for his family. "I just keep thinking that if I didn't follow the law, sooner or later our family would be separated," he said. "I follow the law. ... I don't want any trouble in the future."

Esther J. Cepeda