Ralph Isenberg has vowed to starve himself to death if the government carries out its threat to deport his wife, a convicted prostitute who is in this country illegally.

Ralph Isenberg risked everything for her. His marriage of 30 years disintegrated. His best friend stopped talking to him. His adult son and daughter shunned him.

Now he says he's prepared to die for Yanhong Hu.

Mr. Isenberg, a member of Dallas' City Plan Commission, said he is planning to begin a hunger strike this week after trying everything to keep his new wife in the country.

Since they met about three years ago, he persuaded high-placed government and business leaders – including U.S. Reps. Pete Sessions and Eddie Bernice Johnson and the entire Dallas City Council – to write letters of support for her residency application.

But Monday, immigration officials said they would not allow Yanhong Hu, who now goes by Nicole Isenberg, to stay in the country past Aug. 15. The couple had sought a six-month extension after the birth of their daughter on July 1.

No. Hell no! Get her out of the country now. She has a history of immoral conduct and illegal activity, and therefore is ineligible to stay. And you are more than welcome to go with her, Ralph.

Paul Hunker III, chief counsel for U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement in Dallas, said Mrs. Isenberg needs four waivers for immigration law violations before the State Department can approve her application for permanent residency.

"This is really one of the most egregious cases I've seen in my 12 years as a government attorney," he said.

Mr. Sessions had lobbied for a six-month delay in her departure, citing concern for the health of the baby.

Wealth or political influence cannot be a factor in the enforcement of immigration law, but the birth of a U.S. citizen is strongly taken into consideration, Mr. Hunker said.

"Originally, the Aug. 15 date was set with the birth of their child in mind, because of a request made by their attorney," Mr. Hunker said. "If we didn't care about the child, we would have picked [Mrs. Isenberg] up and deported her."

So you see, this August 15 date is the one that you people asked for, Mr. Issenberg. You cannot now claim it is an unreasonable requriement. And you met your wife as one of her johns at a bathouse/massage parlour/brothel(?), so I find your statements that her conviction on prostitution charges was all a mistake to be less than persuasive.

Money and connections are no basis for a waiver of our nation's laws.

And Issenberg's threatened suicide is reason enough to speed up the deportation.

Posted by: Greg at 03:07 AM | Comments (5) | Add Comment
Post contains 459 words, total size 3 kb.