It’s rare that one sees jubilant effects of a single law in someone’s life. So often, laws seem obscure – the effect of what the federal Congress does so often seems not so personal, but instead some seemingly mundane detail buried under so many layers of legal, financial, or bureaucratic sediment.
Just lately, I’ve had the pleasure of seeing blatant joy at the result of an act of Congress. It has restored a bit of my faith in our nation.
Meet my friend Miguel (not his real name, for confidentiality purposes). He’s about 40 years old, an intelligent, well-educated man, and is originally from Mexico. He immigrated to the United States over a decade ago for work, and was granted a residency visa and eventually a job at a respected technology company which is a worldwide name.
In the succeeding years, his paperwork and residency status somehow fell through the cracks. I don’t know how, but it did. Though he was still employed at the same company (and remains in the same job), his residency status ended.
And then, unexpectedly, he discovered he was infected with HIV.
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