Work Visa Was Unfairly Denied

* Every day, I read about illegals coming into this country, receiving all kinds of benefits, which I’m paying for with my tax dollars.

Now I want to tell you my tale: My family lives in Europe (I’m a legal immigrant for 40 years) and my 20-year-old niece is graduating from high school in May and will begin studying law in September. This young woman is fluent in three languages, English being one of them, and she would like to spend the summer with my family here in Thousand Oaks.

My husband, who is an insurance agent, has offered her a job working in his office. The problem is that the INS denied her work visa because she does not fit into one of its many designations.

Here is a girl who is a straight-A student, highly educated, intelligent, has a home to stay in and just wants to work for a limited time so she will be productive and gain some knowledge of the business world. She would not be a burden on society or take a permanent position away from an American worker.

I hope that our lawmakers in Washington are satisfied with the job they’re doing on immigration because I’m not and neither are most of the citizens of the United States.

GERDA SAWAYA

Thousand Oaks