Just let the girl go to Disneyland!!!

[LittleDollClaudia]

Visa OK to make Disneyland trip a reality for woman
By Shelli DeRobertis
Daily Bulletin

A denial in November for a young woman with Down syndrome to visit Disneyland and family in the United States was overturned Friday, when Teru Rodriguez, a 28-year-old Mexico resident, was granted a 10-year nonimmigrant visa.
The U.S. consulate in Ciudad Juarez originally denied Rodriguez a nonimmigrant visa - a visitor's visa - on the grounds that officials could not trust she would return home.

"I was so happy to hear that finally we would be able to go to Disneyland and that Teru would be able to see her princesses," said Beatriz Rodriguez, Teru's mother.

Beatriz Rodriguez said she received a call from her daughter-in-law, Olivia Rodriguez, on Feb. 28 telling her that an appointment had been set for March 2 to once again review Teru's application.

She said she was previously told that she need not reapply for Teru's visa unless circumstances changed, and she was left thinking her daughter would never get to see Disneyland.

"My daughter-in-law, Olivia, called me and asked me if we could be at the consulate at 8 a.m.," she said over the phone, speaking from her home in Durango, Mexico.

"I started looking for buses that could take us."

Teru's brother, Jose Rodriguez, and his wife, Olivia Rodriguez, are U.S. citizens who live in Chino and helped Teru and her mother attain an appointment last November to apply for the nonimmigrant visas.

"For years they have wanted to come here and go to Disneyland," Olivia Rodriguez said.

At the Nov. 13 appointment, Beatriz Rodriguez was issued a visitor's visa, but the agent at the U.S. consulate issued Teru a denial after he asked Teru to speak, and she did not reply, Beatriz said.

The denial form cited section 214 (b) of the U.S. Immigration and Nationality Act. According to the paperwork, a denial under this law means the applicant either was unable to demonstrate the intended activities in the United States were consistent with the reasons under the nonimmigrant visa categories, or that the person was unable to meet the requirements of the particular nonimmigration category.

Beatriz Rodriguez responded for Teru and explained to the agent that her daughter could speak very little, and she offered him paperwork from Teru's doctor that explained her disability.

The agent would not accept the paperwork, Beatriz Rodriguez said, and told her that as Teru's mother, she could not prove that she would not go into the United States and abandon Teru.

Beatriz Rodriguez said she would have no reason to abandon her daughter. The retired elementary school teacher said she and her husband are financially able to care for Teru, who is enrolled in a school where she is learning to better communicate.

"It's inconceivable," Olivia Rodriguez said. "They gave the mother a visa, but not the daughter who's 100 percent dependent on her."

Olivia Rodriguez said after the denial she contacted everyone she could think of who could help Teru receive a visitor's visa.

Letters were sent back and forth between the 42nd District Rep. Gary Miller's office and Deputy Chief Jeffrey Pilgreen of the U.S. Consulate General Ciudad Juarez, until finally a reconsideration was granted.

"We were contacted ... and the congressman and his staff worked to cut through the red tape," said Congressman Press Secretary Scott Toussaint.

On March 2, Beatriz and Teru Rodriguez traveled 12 hours to reach the U.S. consulate in Ciudad, where their visit was a stark contrast to their initial one in November.

Pilgreen told her that Teru would be issued her visa, and within 20 minutes she had it in her hand.

Beatriz Rodriguez is making arrangements to take Teru to Disneyland in April.

"My daughter is excited, ever since to she found out, she'll come up to me and say, `Let's go mom, let's go,"' Beatriz Rodriguez said.

Also excited that persistence paid off, Olivia Rodriguez is looking forward to accompanying Teru to Disneyland.

But she said she is still curious as to what policies are in place for people with disabilities who wish to visit America.

"I've never heard of a child going on a trip to the United States with their parents and getting denied," Olivia Rodriguez said.

[mechurchlady]

Where is the compassion and humanity? It is sad that our government workers can be so callous and cruel. I hope she has fun at the parks.

[disneyaddict]

Aw, I'm glad they let her go.

That is a bit ridiculous, though. Who in their right mind would deny her that?

[hobie16]

Not an isolated case. Years ago a friend was set to marry a French national he'd met while she was in the country on a student visa. She went to the immigration office in San Francisco to apply for a visa extension. She told her story and the very nice clerk behind the counter asked when she was getting married. She said September 18. He stamped her passport with a stamp that said she had to be out of the country by the 17th.

It took some political connections and a rabid US congressman to get it fixed. The very nice clerk was eventually fired.

[disneyaddict]

She told her story and the very nice clerk behind the counter asked when she was getting married. She said September 18. He stamped her passport with a stamp that said she had to be out of the country by the 17th.

Why would he even bother to ask when she was getting married? I mean, I guess it's a nice gesture, but to turn right around and stamp her passport for the day before? I mean, come on...if you're going to go out of the way to ask about the wedding date, you can give her a couple more days at the very least, right?

[hobie16]

Why would he even bother to ask when she was getting married? I mean, I guess it's a nice gesture, but to turn right around and stamp her passport for the day before? I mean, come on...if you're going to go out of the way to ask about the wedding date, you can give her a couple more days at the very least, right?

It wasn't a nice gesture. The guy sucked her in and canceled the rest of her student visa stay. She was asking to extend the student visa so she could apply for a resident card after she got married. That's why he got fired.