Together again with her husband, Tharwat Alasadi says she has a new lease on life. "Now I feel so good," the 29 year old Clemson professor says. "It was difficult for me. I''ve never been in a situation like that before." The Fulbright scholar was arrested by immigration agents in July. She spent 11 days in an Alabama jail. For Tharwat and her husband, the time felt like 11 years. "This was my half," says husband Taiyo Davis. "When that gate opened and she stepped across, I had my other half."
All the details behind Alasadi's arrest are still unclear. Immigration officials say her Visa expired in May even though she married her husband, a U.S. citizen. The couple says they had filed the paperwork to help Alasadi stay in the states. She says it's a story she heard from many women behind bars. "There were like 100 women there, and some of them have been there for like three or 4 months now, and they're fighting their cases but it's not clear." It's why she believes the laws need to be changed. "They are good people, they are mothers who have children. The only problem is that they are immigrants and they have no rights."
Now, the couple is working to help others, while still fighting against time in their own case. As part of her bond, Alasadi must return to Syria. Her plane ticket is marked for August 17th. "This is not about illegal immigration," says Davis. "This is about breaking American families apart. I'm a U.S. citizen and this is my other half and I feel like I can't live without her. I love her." That love, they say, will get them through, despite the distance they face yet again. "I love America."
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