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"I was a mail-order bride."
Sarah sat across from me and in broken English began telling me her story. “I came to this country as a mail-order bride. My husband had come to my country looking for someone to share his life with and I was looking for a way out of the poverty and hopelessness that life offered in my village. He seemed like a nice man so we married and moved to America. For the first few months, everything was wonderful. He was kind and helpful when I was trying to understand the language and customs of Americans. His mother lived with us in our small house and I was happy to be in such a nice place and to be part of a family.
“I became pregnant with my son during our first year of marriage. My husband was thrilled that he would be a papa but he became very critical of everything I did. He didn’t like the way I cooked, or the way I dressed or the way I pronounced certain words. He also became very jealous of me, especially after I got a job working as a waitress. He would often sit in the car outside the restaurant where I worked and watch me. I was so nervous that I made too many mistakes and was fired from my job.
“When I came home from the hospital after giving birth to my son, things took a turn for the worse. My husband led me down the steps to the basement and showed me my new room. When he left for work each morning, my son and I were locked in the basement with only a mattress on the floor, a small blanket and a pot in the corner for using the bathroom. Each night when he came home, he unlocked the basement door and allowed me to come upstairs to shower, eat and please him. If I complained, he told me that he would call Immigration and they would deport me back to my country and I would lose my son.
“Two weeks ago, my husband came home and began a fight. He grabbed my son and was waving him in the air. I was so afraid that he would hurt my baby that I grabbed his arm and screamed for him to stop. His mother called the police but when they arrived, my husband calmly opened the door and showed the officer the scratch on his arm and said that I had assaulted him. I was sobbing and hysterical because I had been so afraid that my son would be harmed. But I was the one arrested. Now, I don’t know where my son is or if I’ll ever see him again. My husband said he would take care of my immigration status when we got married but now the lawyers are saying that I am here illegally and may be deported. What will happen to me and to my son?”
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