2 front page newspaper articles Vancouver BC

[soscolin 2]

http://www.theprovince.com/news/todays-pap...4360/story.html

and

http://www.metronews.ca/vancouver/local/ar...erred-at-border

From Provonce article: includes picture

Park serves as cross-border couple's meeting spot

'It's just unreal that I can't go home with him and be with him'

By Cassidy Olivier, The Province; with a file from the Seattle TimesSeptember 15, 2009

Married but kept apart by immigration law, David Williams and Janeane Ardiel share an embrace in a neutral area of Peace Arch International Park. "It's like being severed from my lifeline," Ardiel said.Photograph by: Erika Schultz, The Seattle Times

A nondescript metal bench inside Peach Arch International Park is the only place married couple David Williams and Janeane Ardiel can look into each other's eyes and utter three simple words.

"I love you."

Williams, a 45-year-old U.S. national who works as a chef in Bellingham, can't enter Canada because of a 2003 drunk-driving conviction.

Ardiel, a 45-year-old 911 emergency operator from Port Coquitlam, was barred entry into the States in July on suspicion that she was intending to move and stay there and not just visit the man she describes as the love of her life.

"It's just not the same -- being able to see each other for a few hours as opposed to being able to do everything together," she says. "It is just unreal that I can't go home with him and be with him."

The couple married in April after a courtship that began almost three years ago over the phone.

"Sometimes, we talked for hours," said Ardiel. "We didn't meet until January [2007], but I mean, we had already fallen in love over talking on the phone."

After she flew to Florida several times to meet him, Williams decided last October to drop everything and move to Washington so he could be closer to Ardiel.

Being just a stone's throw away from the border meant Ardiel could visit Williams every week.

Then, last April they decided to get married in a quiet ceremony in front of a justice of peace in the U.S.

Ardiel's frequent visits across the border continued until she was stopped in July.

It was a shock, she said, because she had checked with immigration to ensure everything had been done by the book.

"I went in and talked to immigration before we got married," she said, adding she did not marry in order to get into the U.S.

"We checked into the legalities and did not think there would be any issues in filing the paperwork after we got married."

Len Saunders, the couple's immigration lawyer, said Ardiel has since filed the proper documents required for a Green Card -- the equivalent to permanent-resident status in Canada.

He said the couple had put if off because they could not afford to do it right away. It was something they had planned on doing down the road, thinking a delay would not have caused problems.

Saunders said he's hopeful that soon Ardiel may be able to cross the border under a visitor's status while the Green Card application is being processed -- something that can take at least six months.

"It's hard," Ardiel said of the meetings in no-man's land. "I get really emotional when I see him. Having to leave is the same thing.

"It's like being ripped apart again."

colivier@theprovince.com

© Copyright © The Province

and from Metro News includes picture

Love deferred at border

andrea woo

15 September 2009 05:46

ERIKA SCHULTZ /THE SEATTLE TIMES

Married but kept apart by immigration law, American David Williams and Canadian Janeane Ardiel share an embrace in a neutral area of Peace Arch International Park.

On Thursday, Janeane Ardiel will pack a lunch to eat with her new husband at a picnic table surrounded by shrubs and flowers. The picnic spot, located at Peace Arch International Park on the U.S.-Canadian border, is the only place the couple can legally meet and feel each other’s touch.

Ardiel lives in Port Coquitlam and her husband, David Williams, lives in Bellingham, Wash.

He can’t enter Canada because of a six-year-old DUI conviction, so for the three years they’ve dated — and four months they’ve been married — Ardiel visited him in the U.S.

On July 22, a U.S. border guard noticed her almost-weekly trips and denied her entry, saying they believed she intended on living in the U.S. and not just visiting. After being photographed and fingerprinted, Ardiel was sent home to Port Coquitlam, with directions not to cross the border for at least six months.

“It has been absolutely horrible,” said Ardiel. “David and I had been inseparable for the last year and a half. He’s like my lifeline, and I feel like my lifeline’s been severed.”

In the meantime, the two can meet at the picnic table without technically leaving either country.

It’s a spot recommended by their immigration lawyer, Len Saunders, who said the issue rests on an unfortunate technicality.

“If you’re American and you have a DUI, it’s very difficult to get into Canada,” he explained.

“If you’re Canadian, like Premier (Gordon) Campbell, and you’ve got a DUI, you have no crossing issues going south.”

Ardiel was introduced to Williams by her sister, who met Williams through a friend in Florida, where he lived at the time. Ardiel and Williams spoke on the phone for three months and fell in love without even exchanging a photo.

“We never knew what each other looked like,” said Ardiel. “He said, ‘I am just so in love with you, just from talking with you.’ He would have gotten married in January (2007), the first time I met him. We fell in love talking to each other on the phone.”

Williams moved to Bellingham from Florida to be closer to Ardiel.

Saunders said that by showing customs officials Ardiel has a pending application for a green card, and good ties and equities to Canada, she should be able to resume temporary visits within a few weeks.

“She’ll have a happy ending,” he said. “It’s just unfortunate right now because they can’t be together other than for their weekly meetings for an hour or two.”

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