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MAF Blogger Danny
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It seems that Immigrations and Customs Enforcement is disputing the legality of a marriage that took place between a U.S. Marine and his Japanese wife while he was stationed in Iraq. This American hero and his new wife already have a child together (I think from before they were actually wedded), but under some weird technicalities, ICE is saying that the marriage between this Marine and his Japanese mate is not valid, and that therefore she AND their child will be ineligible for the citizenship they would normally be awarded if said Marine had not made the ultimate sacrifice for his country, and was still around.

Legal technicalities aside, I think, and I think most rational people would agree, that when one of our troops gives up his life for his country, allowing his wife (or at least the woman he intended to be his wife) and his own flesh-and-blood son to stay in the country is THE LEAST we can do to honor his memory

Read the full story at Black Five and read all the way to the bottom where there is a call to action. The idea is that if we can convince a Senator from Tennessee (where the family is from) to be an advocate, they can push through some exception or get her citizenship taken care of ASAP.

Let’s see what we can do to help this military family out!

Click Here for the full story on Black Five

Here is an excerpt from BlackFive:

A Marine’s Japanese widow is fighting to raise her son in the nation her husband died protecting. Hotaru Ferschke and Sgt. Michael Ferschke had a proxy wedding, filing marriage papers after he deployed. He was killed in Iraq. Now U.S. immigration refuses to acknowledge the marriage.

Also interesting is the longer AP story on this family

Ferschke and his bride had been together in Japan for more than a year, and she was pregnant when he deployed. They married by signing their names on separate continents and did not have a chance to meet again in person after the wedding, which a 57-year-old immigration law requires for the union to be considered consummated.

“She is being denied because they are saying her marriage is not valid because it was not consummated — despite the fact that they have a child together,” said Brent Renison, an immigration lawyer in Oregon who has advised the family.

Hotaru Ferschke and the baby, Michael “Mikey” Ferschke III, are staying for now on a temporary visa at the home of her parents-in-law, in the Smoky Mountains town of Maryville. Robin and Michael Ferschke Sr., who are fighting for their daughter-in-law to stay, have emblazoned their son’s picture on everything from a blanket draped on the back of the couch to a waving banner on the fence outside.

The 22-year-old Marine radio operator met the young Japanese woman at a party while he was stationed in Okinawa. Though neither knew much of the other’s language, something clicked.

“He called me after they met and he goes, ‘Mom, I am in love,’” Robin Ferschke said.