THE EDITOR, Sir:
I UNDERSTAND the pain that Ms. Pauline Rattray went through with trying to get a visa to visit the US to see her daughter graduate. I am a Jamaican and a US citizen. I have been living in the US for over 30 years. My sister, who is a respected teacher for over 20 years, tried to get a visitor's visa to visit me when I was having bypass surgery; two in the past 15 years. The US Embassy refused to grant her a visa each time. Those refusals hurt both my sister and myself.
You need your family by your side not only in sad occasions but also to celebrate achievements. I can imagine that Ms. Rattray's daughter was also hurt.
The US Embassy caused my sister to miss the weddings of her niece and nephew, several graduations and other joyful occasions.
The US Embassy refused to grant her a visitor's visa because they felt that she would not return to Jamaica. Ms. Rattray is right; not everyone wants to live in the US. My sister has travelled to Latin America and other Caribbean islands and returned to Jamaica to her job. She just wants to travel, not to live in the US.
Why does the US Embassy in Jamaica continue to deny decent, respectable, honest, hard working Jamaican citizens the opportunity to visit the US while they grant visas to the undesirables?
Ms. Rattray, there is light at the end of the tunnel. My sister, was granted a visa this year. Maybe, Ms. Rattray you will be granted a visa when you are a little bit older.
I am etc.,
HUGH PABARUE
E-mail:
hugh.pabarue@daytonOH.ncr.com
Dayton, Ohio
Via Go-Jamaica
