After we finished recording this episode over coffee at Safaa and Sedra’s apartment, Houda said that it was the most important episode we have recorded yet.
Safaa and her two youngest children came to Tucson a year and a half ago without her husband Haitham. He had been deported to Syria from Jordan for working. In Jordan, it is illegal for refugees to work—but most of the men do. They have to support their families somehow. Houda’s dad was also arrested in Jordan twice for working, but he was not deported.
Safaa has followed all the instructions she was given to apply to bring to the United States to reunite her family. She was told it would take six months from application to visa. His resettlement has been approved for over six months now, but no visa has been issued. The family is in limbo, waiting to be reunited.
Safaa is struggling as a single mother to her two youngest children–though she has a husband who is eager to support his family. Only the U.S. government stands in the way.
صفا/Safaa: من هنا:نتمنى للقاء الأحبة
Sedra/سدوا: From here, we are waiting our hearts to be whole.
