Kansas City, Mo. —After a hiatus of nearly four years, the Kansas City family will be reunited just in time for the holiday season.
Steve Stegall and his wife, Letie Stegall, have since split Exile in February 2018 to Mexico.
“As you look around, you tell me that our roads are far safer than they were before Letty was taken,” Stegel said.
Letty was arrested and deported as part of a local sting that targeted undocumented immigrants with a criminal history. Several years ago she was caught in the attempt due to the misdemeanor of driving while intoxicated.
On February 26, 2018, Letty was picked up by immigration agents outside her local gym and dropped off in Mexico five days later.
“It was so shocking, very heartbreaking, to have to tell my daughter, ‘Your mom isn’t going to come here for your graduation; she’s gone,'” Steve said. “It was one of the hardest things I’ve ever done in my life.”
For years Letty has been in the process of becoming a US citizen. The COVID-19 pandemic further delayed the process.
“The embassy was closed for about a year,” Steve said. “It was one thing after another and, you know, you can’t predict things like that. You just have to keep your head up and keep going.”
Despite being married to Steve, Letty has to go through the US citizenship process after originally entering the country illegally.
“People think the US immigration system is easy, and it’s not,” immigration attorney Rekha Sharma-Crawford
said. “It’s really time for Congress to address the effects of a broken system and the consequences it causes families. Laws are broken and the system can’t handle so many families until Congress helps fix them.” Will continue to cause heartache and heartbreak. Correct point.”
Meanwhile, Steve is excited and grateful that it is time to reunite with his wife.
“We’re very happy,” said Steve. “We can’t believe the time has come and there’s a light at the end of the tunnel. We’ve been waiting for this for a long time.”
Steve said it could be anywhere from 25 to 50 days before Letty returns to Kansas City.
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