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Alex Jimenez, and the other missing soldier Byron Fouty.
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SANTO DOMINGO.- The U.S. government is trying to deport the wife of Army specialist Alex Jimenez, who has been missing in the deserts of Iraq for more than a month.

Yaderlin Hiraldo entered the US illegally from the Dominican Republic in 2001, and when Jimenez petitioned for her green card while he was stationed in Iraq it alerted the government to her presence, according to a report on Boston television station WBZ.

The Dominican-born Jimenez went missing May 12 in Iraq when he and two other soldiers were captured by al-Qaeda following an ambush.

Hiraldo's green card processing was stopped by an immigration judge when her husband went missing, and the government has so far refused to grand a so-called hardship waiver that would allow her to stay in the country.

Matthew Kolken, an Immigration lawyer told WBZ that Hiraldo would have to wait 10 years to return to the US if she returned to the Dominican Republic to apply for a green card, as the Government wants her to do.

Jimenez's identification card was found in an al-Qaeda safe house recently, along with a video claiming that al-Qaeda members had killed Jimenez and other member's of his unit. But there has been no other sign of him since his disappearance.

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COMMENTS
5 comment(s)
Written by: claudio, 20 Jun 2007 7:25 PM
From: NY
I don't think that's the best way to pay to the wife of a US hero. This country is full of illegal inmigrants, most of them, i mean 99.9% are good people who don't hurt nobody and I don't think this woman has made any damage and that her partner deserves more respect.
Written by: JD, 21 Jun 2007 8:56 AM
From: Washington DC
The US is the greatest country on earth but what message does this send to young men who are thinking of enlisting in the military?

Honestly, the American people are ASHAMED of how the government treats families & US soldiers (who risk their lives & return home in body bags) . This is one example in a million! You would think the Big US government would equally support US soldiers & families no matter what. But instead the government actions greatly raises anit-war sentiment!
Written by: Ed Gonzalez-Acosta, 21 Jun 2007 10:32 AM
From: Cabrera, M.T.S.
Dear friends and others,

The US only does what is in its interest, for the most part. Human rights, equity, the environment, justice, and other enlighten values are things that are used by the US to exploit resources and advance its cause, for the most part. This does not surprise me, just like it did not surprise me that we did not go into Ruwanda, and are not going into Sudan. Justice? Fairness? If the US truly valued these principles, then the world would be a different place.
Written by: rafael, 21 Jun 2007 8:07 PM
From: miami
This was an action done by a low ranking inmigration officer without knowledge of the high profile person Yaderlin was, inmigration officers are very close to the military and their families and will not do something like this if she had shows her military ID card. I know bacause I'm DOMINICAN and a retier Army seargeant. God bless Yaderlin and a safe return home for Alex.
Written by: Frank, 22 Jun 2007 12:17 AM
From: Tampa,Fl
Wow! This speaks a lot about how U.S soldiers are being exploited by their government. Private security personnel in Iraq make 160000+ year do to far less than the average infantry men, who get paid 8 times less.And is another example on how the U.S is not the greatest country on earth.
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