a spelling bee story for our time

Kunah Sah is bound for Washington, D.C. for a chance to compete in the world's greatest nerd-off. (The National Spelling Bee. I ought to know.) His parents, though, have been deported to India, unable to secure a permanent visa because of this country's unfriendly immigration laws.

Ken and Sarita live in a kind of limbo, moving from the home of one relative to another, unable to start new lives with their son and businesses in America, and hoping against hope that some kind of miracle will lift them from desolation.

"You have millions of [undocumented] people who have broken the law, and no one is forcing them out [of the U.S.]," Ken says. "But I followed the law - and this is my reward for being honest."

They lived here legally for sixteen years. It took the U.S. that long to deny them asylum.

[via Obscure Store. special thanks to commentator Joe.]