March 15, 2003

I, Andrew DeFaria, do hereby declare under penalty of perjury that the following is true and correct:

I married my wife, Olga A. DeFaria. While at first we had some hard times, our relationship has developed into good marriage. Together, we are helping to raise my 10 year old United States citizen daughter from a previous marriage.

My wife came to the United States from the Ukraine. Her father was an alcoholic. Olga's father was very abusive. He often attacked Olga's mother, sometimes with an ax. Her troubled father ended up committing suicide which Olga had witnessed. Her childhood was one of fear and depression¹. She ran away from home and was the victim of sexual abuse. She returned home and was sexually abused again. She is now a recovering alcoholic and under medical and psychological care². She is currently completing an Intensive Outpatient program³. Together we are seeking therapy and treatment⁴.

I love my wife very much. I am aware of her criminal history because I helped her in her criminal defense. I am aware of her medical problems, recovering alcoholic, depression, and suicidal attempts. Some people may wonder why I stay with her notwithstanding of all that has happened, the answer is clear - I stay because I love her and I am willing to work with her for her sake.

If my wife is not admitted and given legal residence and the waiver herein requested denied, I, a United States citizen, would suffer extreme hardships. In addition, my daughter, Olga's step daughter, is also becoming bonded and very attached. Each of us would suffer individually and we would suffer cumulatively if Olga was not granted a waiver.

The hardships we would suffer are as follows:

1 Emotional Hardship

1a. Emotional hardship caused by separation

If a waiver is not granted there will be a separation of my wife from me. All of my family and my daughter lives in the United States. I have lived here all my life. I have work here. Our daughter has her school, her friends and her life here.

In the Ukraine⁵ there is no work. There is a dangerous level of crime. The economy is in shambles. There is no work for a person with my skills. The political situation is unstable. Foreigners are not liked and not easily accepted into society. People live in fear of their lives from crime and poverty. There is little hope for anyone in Ukraine. I do not speak Russian. I would have to leave our daughter in the United States since the custody order does not allow our daughter to leave the country without a new order. My ex wife has legal custody of my daughter and would not allow me to take her to the Ukraine. Life in the Ukraine would not be an option for me nor our daughter.

Therefore, I could not go to live with my wife in the Ukraine. Furthermore, our daughter would not be allowed to join us in the Ukraine. If no waiver is granted our family will be forcefully separated.

Our family has suffered much already but together we have managed to be strong. To have suffered so much already and to be forcefully separated because of no waiver would be an incredible blow to our family.

On being separated the psychological pain would be great. My wife and I will miss the enriching bonding that a close family has to offer. I will be hurt and miss my wife. Our daughter will be hurt and miss her step mother. Both the psychological pain and loss of bonding would create an extreme hardship.

If we were separated I would only be able to call and occasionally visit my wife in the Ukraine. However the expense of international calls and international travel would require that this contact would be extremely limited. And my ex wife would be very reluctant to allow our daughter to even visit her step mom in the Ukraine, if she would allow it at all. The separation would be an extreme hardship, being away from my wife that I love dearly would be very hard.

1b. Separation of our daughter from her step-mother

For the factual reasons noted above, our daughter would also have to stay in the United States. If her step-mother had to depart, the separation would be an extreme hardship. There is a psychological bonding and security as well as a growing love between them. If separated, our daughter would not only suffer greatly but it will have a devastating impact on her for the rest of her life. The result would be that my daughter and wife would suffer greatly.

1c. Cumulative effect of the separation

With the separation of my wife from our family I would suffer and my daughter will suffer as noted above, but furthermore I would suffer additionally at seeing our daughter suffering at being separated from Olga. And our daughter would suffer at seeing me suffer because of the separation between Olga and I. There would be great suffering from all three of us which would make each of us suffer more.

Economic Hardship

2a Economic hardship to me

If a waiver is not granted I would suffer great economic hardship. If my wife is in the Ukraine I would have to support her there. As noted above the economy is bad and my wife would be unable to support herself. Also as noted above, my wife has special medical and psychological needs. I would have to send her the funds to pay for very expensive treatments in the Ukraine. The expense of providing a second household and medical care would be extremely high. I do not know how I would be able to provide her with the funds she needs.

In the year 2000 I made over $180,000.00 but in 2001 I only made $64,774. This year my taxable income is $31,035. This economic downturn has effected my profession very much.

While I am not poor, I am managing to get by with this bad U.S. economy. I would be hard pressed to provide Olga with the funds she would need.

2b. Economic hardship to our daughter

If a waiver is not granted our daughter would suffer extremely. Not only would the household suffer as noted above, but the reduction of funds in my household would be felt by our daughter. No longer would I be able to provide the small things which the children need, like money for sports, family outings and our daughter's own small desires.

Our daughter now has a happy and comfortable life which would change and then would become one of grim and strict budgeting and doing without in order for me to support my wife living in another country and provide for her medical and psychological treatments.

If I were to consider moving to the Ukraine and separating from our daughter, even if I managed to find a job in the Ukraine, I do not know how I would be able to pay my court mandated child support of approximately $1000/month as I do not think that I would be able to obtain employment in the Ukraine for even that much of a monthly salary, never mind make money above that figure to be able to afford to pay for the medical attention my wife would need and to be able to survive in the Ukraine. Not being able to pay my child support would be an extreme hardship on our daughter and on my ex wife and her family as they use that money to provide for our daughter. Lack of these funds would additionally throw another family of United States citizens into financial turmoil. Again, my moving to the Ukraine is not a very viable option for me.

The economic hardship to the household finances would cause us to suffer as noted herein a very extreme hardship.

2c. Cumulative effect of economic hardship

Lastly, and not to be overlooked, is that with the change in our household's economic situation, there would be other hardships. I would suffer at knowing I could not give our daughter all that I have given her in the past. There would be an extreme feeling of guilt. My daughter may even develop resentment toward Olga and even myself because of what the drain of resources would do to our former way of life. This too would be an extreme hardship.

3 Psychological Hardship

3a. Psychological hardship on me

If a waiver is not granted I would suffer psychologically, different from emotional harm, the psychological harm of being away from the one you love. The psychological harm in the worry of not knowing how your spouse is doing day in and day out. The worry that the economy is poor and my wife would not have a place to live or work. With the previous problems she has had home she clearly would be unable to return to her parent's home.

My wife's medical and psychological needs are being covered here in the United States through my Kaiser coverage. In the Ukraine this type of care may exist but would be out of our reach economically. The treatment my wife now has is making all the difference in the world from keeping her from being depressed, sober and non suicidal. Without this treatment living in the Ukraine would be devastating to my wife's progress. Furthermore, returning to the Ukraine would be returning to the environment which created all the medical and psychological problems which she developed. Clearly this is of great harm. With me knowing this I would get very depressed thinking of these possibilities. I would be very worried that such an environment and separation from her loving husband and family, faced with the same environment in which her previous sexual attackers still reside and without proper medical and psychological attention she needs, that she would become extremely depressed and suicidal again. In fact, I have been seeking psychological consultation and medication myself trying to cope with the possibility of this waiver being denied and having my family broken up as described herein.

3b Psychological hardship on our daughter

If a waiver is not granted there would be great psychological harm to our daughter. Not only would the psychological harm parallel the emotional harm, but our daughter would be emotionally traumatized if she were to be separated from someone with whom she is developing such a good and deep loving relationship. The psychological harm will be great and certainly reach the level of extreme hardship to my daughter.

3c. Cumulative effect of psychological hardship

If a wavier is not granted and I see our daughter suffer as described above I would be further harmed psychologically. My daughter would also suffer psychologically at seeing me suffer psychologically. The cumulative effect of the psychological hardship would create an additional extreme hardship to me and my daughter alike.

Other Hardships

1. Loss of opportunities. My wife's health is improving, she is so much better. She is at the point in her recovery that she is now looking for employment. With her employment she will become a stronger person and be able to contribute to our family's economy. Therefore, if she was forced to leave there would be a loss of these opportunities to our household. We would lose a stronger wife/mother and lose her economic support.
2. The whole experience I have suffered with my wife and her problems have left an injury in me psychologically. I am on medication, Wellbutren, for my depression. My depression all stems from the possibility of losing my wife and the destruction of my family. If my wife were to leave I know I would suffer additional depression as the fears that are driving my depression become a reality. I am uncertain as to the level of harm I would suffer, but it is foreseeable that I would need more medication and therapy.
3. My fear for her safety. I am scared for my wife's safety. I fear she will face so many problems, as noted above, that she may become suicidal again. I fear because of the level of crime in her country. I fear for the very real possibility of her coming into contact with the same persons that previously attacked her. I do not think that she could be safe in any way.

In summary, if my wife were denied this waiver:

1. I would suffer extreme hardship due to forced separation from my wife
2. Joining my wife in the Ukraine would not be a viable option because I do not speak Russian, the ability to obtain employment is very limited in my field and I could not afford to support my wife and myself and support our daughter back in the United States if I were to move to the Ukraine.
3. I would be forced to choose between a relationship with my wife and a relationship with our daughter.
4. It would be very difficult to have more children, a primary goal for both of us when we decided to marry, in an international, long distance relationship.
   
5. If I were to choose our daughter then contact and communication with my wife would be severely limited due to expense and logistics.
6. Our daughter would suffer emotionally and psychologically due to the breaking of the bond between her and her step-mother.
7. Forced separation would have a cumulative effect on the emotional suffering of our daughter and I.
   
8. It would be an extreme hardship on me financially to attempt to afford a second household to support my wife, with her additional medical and treatment needs, in the Ukraine and our daughter in the US.
9. Our daughter would suffer economically as a forced separation would drastically increase the financial load on our family.
10. I would worry greatly about the lack of treatment that my wife would be able to get in the Ukraine, that she might come into contact with the very people and situations that have caused her so much psychological harm before. It is a very real possibility that she might become suicidal again. 
11. I would suffer additional psychological problems and need even more treatment than I have already sought due to my worry of separation from my wife and the possibility of her becoming suicidal again.
12. Our family would lose a strong wife and mother and economic opportunities that she brings to the family.
13. I would fear for my wife's safety in the Ukraine and I would not be able to protect and provide for her adequately.
    

As a family we are doing well in all respects. As a family we have a stable and secure home. If my wife were denied the waiver then I would be forced into a terrible choice: To be permanently separated from my wife since there would be no other way for her to immigrate, or to join her in such a dire, bleak life as described above and be permanently separated from our daughter and causing further harm to our daughter and disruption of her financial well being not to mention being unable to fulfill my financial and court ordered obligation to provide financial support for our daughter. In both options our daughter and I would suffer greatly, emotionally, economically, psychologically and physically. The end result of the waiver not being granted would be to destroy a happy home and cause a loss of love, bonding and security. If the waiver is not granted it would condemn me to poverty and a life of no hope as a separated family.


Andrew DeFaria

Footnotes:

1. See personal statement attachment 1 for more details
2. See attached Kaiser medical records
3. See IOP program description and noted treatment
4. See Kaiser notes and treatment
5. See attached country conditions