An American retired soldier has expressed his heartbreak after the US government denied his Kenyan wife entry.
Mark Stancil, an Army and Navy veteran says his wife Deborah has been barred from coming to the United States.
In a post on Common Dreams, Mark blamed a consular officer for his wife’s problems.
“A consular officer in the U.S. Embassy in Kenya will not grant Deborah’s visa to live in the United States,”
As an American citizen, I never thought I would be forced to choose between love and country. I am an Army and Navy veteran, and it feels like a betrayal of my service that I can’t live with my family in my own country,” Mark said.
The military veteran said his first wife passed away more than a decade ago, it was one of the hardest times in his life. He became a single father, and while it’s been his life’s joy to raise kids, it has been lonely.
That all changed when Deborah came into his life.
They met on a Christian website and immediately fell in love. Despite him living in Missouri and Deborah in Kenya.
“We had an instant connection. She is beautiful, caring, and smart as a whip. We started talking every day and quickly realized we wanted to spend our lives together,”
“We are both preachers, and our faith has given us strength as we navigate life’s challenges. In 2018, I flew to Kenya and we got married at a big church wedding in her PARENTS’ village. I adopted Deborah’s daughter from a previous marriage, and in 2020, we had our beautiful baby girl,” Mark added.
Mark revealed his desires are simple, he wants to live with his wife and children.
“I trust God has a plan, but that doesn’t make living apart less difficult. We spend hours on the phone every day, and I go to Kenya twice a year, but it’s not the same as living together,”
“I have a good union job on a Ford assembly line in a community I love, and if I moved to Kenya I wouldn’t be able to provide for my family the way they deserve,” he said.
Mark Stancil is prepared to fight for his wife bring her to the US and challenge unjust family separations with the support of the International Refugee Assistance Project (IRAP) and American Families United.
