"My only solution, the lawyer said, was to go back to the Philippines and accept a 10-year ban before I could apply to return legally."
I am all for letting Vargas stay, and for liberalizing this country's immigration policies.
But would going abroad for 10 years really be so bad?
Vargas has proven himself to be an accomplished professional writer and should have no problem finding work pretty much anywhere he goes.
As a writer and a reporter he would gain valuable international experience by living and writing abroad. He could see the world. reunite with his mother and brother, learn something about his country of origin.. and, who knows, he might find he prefers the Philippines (or some other country) even more than the US.
He does have a life in America and that's the country he's most used to, so leaving won't be easy; but he said he hasn't let himself get too close to anyone here, so that should make it somewhat easier to move somewhere else.
When you're young 10 years might seem like a long time, but it's really not that long in the scheme of things. If he's in his 20's now, he'll be in his 30's when he gets back -- plenty of time left to rebuild his life here, should he wish to.
Unfortunately, there is no guarantee he would be allowed back in, and it would be stressful or even dangerous not to be able to come back in in the meantime, should he need to for some reason. So it's certainly not an enviable position to be in; but it's not necessarily the worst thing in the world to go abroad for 10 years -- many people do so gladly and willingly.
I am all for letting Vargas stay, and for liberalizing this country's immigration policies.
But would going abroad for 10 years really be so bad?
Vargas has proven himself to be an accomplished professional writer and should have no problem finding work pretty much anywhere he goes.
As a writer and a reporter he would gain valuable international experience by living and writing abroad. He could see the world. reunite with his mother and brother, learn something about his country of origin.. and, who knows, he might find he prefers the Philippines (or some other country) even more than the US.
He does have a life in America and that's the country he's most used to, so leaving won't be easy; but he said he hasn't let himself get too close to anyone here, so that should make it somewhat easier to move somewhere else.
When you're young 10 years might seem like a long time, but it's really not that long in the scheme of things. If he's in his 20's now, he'll be in his 30's when he gets back -- plenty of time left to rebuild his life here, should he wish to.
Unfortunately, there is no guarantee he would be allowed back in, and it would be stressful or even dangerous not to be able to come back in in the meantime, should he need to for some reason. So it's certainly not an enviable position to be in; but it's not necessarily the worst thing in the world to go abroad for 10 years -- many people do so gladly and willingly.