I've long known how little compassion the American legal system has. It's
part of the trigger happy mentality of the police state.

This article spells out in LARGE letters why it is a completely
inappropriate to want to live in the United States of America.

America is a nation filled with hate. no compassion. no mercy. just a sick
sick sick heap of *****.

A woman who has committed no crime, is suspected of no crime, is held in a
cell like a criminal. ***** AMERICA.

***

http://www.iol.co.za/index.php?set_id=1&click_id=13&art_id=vn20050109125407914C386161

Widow in legal battle to 'go home' to US

January 09 2005 at 05:37PM

By Fred Kockott

Carla Freeman woke up on Saturday thinking she would go to sit by her
husband's grave in Clarkston, Washington.

But she was in Nelspruit, disorientated, oceans apart from her new family
and her life in the US over the past four years.

Freeman, nee Mantia, is the 27-year-old daughter of an Italian-born father
and Capetonian mother. She used to work as a receptionist at Nelspruit's
Town Lodge before settling in the US where she married Robert Freeman.

Now denied residency in the US as she is no longer the spouse of a US
citizen, Freeman's life is torn between two continents.

"My nieces and nephews don't understand why I had to leave. If I'm not
allowed back into the US during the next 10 years, I will have missed out
on
a huge part of their lives."

Freeman first went to the US in June 1999 to work as an au pair. "My best
friend from high school recommended me to a family in Chicago. They paid
for
my ticket."

Then she met Robert. "We had gone to a karaoke bar to meet a friend's
mother
from Germany. He was with them. He was an amazing person, so full of life.
We had so much in common. He was a hard worker, had good values and an
amazing family."

After a three-month romance, Freeman returned to South Africa in July
2000.
Two weeks later Robert phoned, proposing marriage.

'I would go and sit by Robert's grave and talk to him'
"It was July 14, at four in morning. My folks said if he was serious, he
must come to South Africa. He did. We planned to get married in South
Africa
that April, but Robert first had to buy a car, so we postponed it until
February 23, 2001. We went to live in Chicago."

Eighteen days before the Freemans's first anniversary, Robert was killed
in
a head-on collision with a truck and was buried in Clarkston.

"I moved in with my sister-in-law, Christine, and her daughters Alex and
Sammy Jo," said Freeman. She knew there would be "complications" obtaining
her permanent residency, but thought these would be procedural issues.

But when she went for an interview with immigration authorities, her
application for residency was denied, and she was given two weeks to leave
the country. That was in February last year. After legal intervention, a
federal judge halted Freeman's deportation order pending a review of her
application for residency.

"When I went for a second interview in March, the man handling my
application was writing up the letter of denial before he had spoken to
me."

Freeman said officials then took her from the office, removed her
jewellery
and locked her in a holding cell while trying to book her on the next
flight
out of Portland.

"My lawyer, Brent (Renison) brought an urgent court application for my
release, but the judge couldn't hear the case that day, so I was taken to
a
county jail," said Freeman.

Freeman was released seven hours later, and the deportation order
suspended
pending the outcome of her application to the US Court of Appeals.

But her movements were restricted. "I was only allowed to travel between
Oregon and Washington states. They took away my work permit and social
security card, and I had to report to the Immigration Naturalisation
Service
on the first Thursday of every month.

"I couldn't live under those conditions and hadn't seen my family here for
two years. I came to South Africa for Christmas, but to get my passport
(which had been confiscated) I had to sign an order preventing me from
entering the US over the next 10 years.

"I am applying for a waiver of this order while my case is before the
Appeals Court, but I really can't take all this. I've been treated like a
common criminal," said Freeman, bursting into tears.

"When I felt like this, I would go and sit by Robert's grave and talk to
him."

This article was originally published on page 3 of Tribune on January 09,
2005

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