Eden
After about a month of petitioning, a Hoosier family learned just days before Christmas that they will soon be reunited.
Three-year-old Eden, a child from Kenya adopted by Ben and Meghan Wolfe of Indianapolis in 2009, was recently granted a humanitarian visa by U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services.
With that visa, Eden will be able to return to the United States for a period of time before the family returns to Kenya so they can apply for Eden to immigrate to America.
Meghan Wolfe and her toddler son, Andrew, are currently living in West Lafayette with her parents, Rob and Dede Campbell.
Wolfe is expecting her second child soon, and she returned to Indiana in November.
Ben Wolfe, a Purdue University graduate, is in Eldoret, Kenya, with Eden.
Dede Campbell said the family got the good news about the visa Thursday night, and they are working out details for a return trip.
“We don’t have a return date yet,” she wrote in an email. “Ben is trying to change tickets and pack up the house.”
On Oct. 12, 2009, a Kenyan magistrate gave the Wolfes legal custody of Eden.
The three came to their Indianapolis home in December that year after receiving a visitor visa from the United States. Their son Andrew was born in February 2010.
The family was in Indianapolis from December 2009 to April 2011, when they went back to Kenya. In March 2010, Eden was diagnosed with latent tuberculosis, so the Wolfes applied for an extended visitor visa.
When the Wolfes began to make preparations to return to Indiana for the birth of their next child, Eden’s travel visa was denied.
In response, Rob Campbell, Eden’s grandfather, started a national petition on Change.org to pressure the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services to expedite Eden’s return by Christmas. They collected 35,568 signatures online.
“This is a clear example of Change.org’s platform serving its purpose. To empower anyone, anywhere to take action on the issues they care about,” said Gabriela Garcia, an organizer at Change.org.
“What Rob Campbell was able to achieve in just a matter of weeks demonstrates how possible it is for everyday people to make a difference.”
Comments