Andi Lucas choked up when she talked about the two trees she planted at her Denver home of five years. They were about as tall as she was when she bought them. Now the one she affectionately calls “Peachy McPeach Face” is close to 20 feet tall.
Lucas, a 41-year-old Australian citizen, has lived and worked in Colorado legally for the past decade. She’s gone through a lot in that time, losing her home in Australia to a fire only to have her condo in Boulder destroyed a few months later in the 2013 floods. She found a lump in her breast that same year.
But she also has a lot of good memories — running two successful businesses, purchasing and remodeling her dream home and making friends she adores.
Now that’s all been turned upside down as Lucas prepares to “self-deport” after being notified by federal immigration officials that they are denying her visa renewal later this year — despite having approved such applications five times previously.
“I’ve come and created a really lovely life for myself here and I can’t imagine losing it,” Lucas said, holding back tears.
Lucas’ case isn’t unique.
Colorado immigration attorneys have noted an increase in employment immigration cases since President Donald Trump took office, with Citizenship and Immigration Services scrutinizing and asking for more evidence for visa applications that the office previously had approved. The federal agency acknowledged an increase in denials and requests for evidence in some employment visa applications, citing a presidential directive and “the agency’s commitment to protect the integrity of the immigration system.”
Colorado Springs immigration attorney Jeff Joseph said he’s seeing the effects of the increased scrutiny, with clients who have been approved for visas multiple times getting denied as well as longer wait times because cases are so backlogged.
He called the decisions arbitrary and capricious, and said the agency is now taking a “very narrow” view of some specialty work visas.
“We have several cases pending in federal court right now,” said Joseph, who does not represent Lucas. “Companies are sick of the delays and sick of the denials, so they’re willing to take cases to court.”
“Intent to deny”
Lucas immigrated to the U.S. after meeting an American in Australia who offered her a job developing a camera business called Dinkum Systems. She decided to take a chance, left her home in Tasmania and moved to Boulder, where she lived for four years before moving to Denver six years ago.
Eventually, the company was bought, so last year, Lucas and her friend and colleague Susan Engquist cofounded NSP Development. The company does property development and business consultation.
So when Lucas received a letter from U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services late last year titled “Intent to Deny,” she was distraught. The letter gave her until Dec. 31 to submit “evidence” that she qualified for her specialty occupation E-3 visa or she could face deportation. Her visa is reserved for Australian professionals.
But there was another problem: When Lucas received the letter, she was in Australia visiting family as she does every year around Christmas. She couldn’t fly back to Denver until the issue was resolved out of fear she’d be arrested for noncompliance, even though her current visa was still valid through November 2019.
The letter she received, dated Nov. 28, 2018, said Lucas did not submit evidence that her specialty occupation requires “highly specialized knowledge.” She denies that claim, but submitted the information.
There was no phone number or email listed on the letter she received. She tried to get an appointment at the U.S. consulate in Melbourne, but was denied because her case was under review.
Finally, after months of waiting for — and not receiving — an answer about her status, she applied for a 90-day tourist visa, flew back to the U.S. and began to pack. She decided she had to get on with her life.
“The line everyone tries to use is, ‘Why don’t people immigrate legally?’ Well, I followed the process to the letter and didn’t have one single breach with five successful renewals. What should I have done differently?” she asked.
An uphill battle
Lucas wanted to fight the visa rejection, but after talking to a lawyer she learned she could pay $20,000 in legal fees and still have no guarantee. She acknowledged her situation isn’t at all comparable to the asylum seekers congregating at the United States’ southern border — she knew she could go back to Tasmania and not fear for her life.
“After 10 years very happily living and working legally in Colorado, I am now being forced to leave thanks entirely to the current Trump-led anti-migrant policies, and the sheer incompetence of this administration where departments who used to process the paperwork of workers like myself haven’t been staffed,” she wrote in a post on NextDoor announcing her recent “Massive Deportation Garage Sale.” She called the sentiment and policies racist and disgraceful.
Deborah Cannon, a U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services spokeswoman for the Colorado, Utah, Wyoming, Montana and Idaho region, said the agency doesn’t comment on specific cases.
In an emailed statement, agency spokeswoman Jessica Collins said the Trump administration provided “guiding principles in the effort to strengthen employment-based visa programs and protect American workers.”
“As part of our efforts to fulfill President Trump’s ‘Buy American and Hire American’ executive order, USCIS has made a series of reforms designed to protect U.S. workers, increase our confidence in the eligibility of those who receive benefits, cut down on frivolous petitions, and improve the integrity and efficiency of the immigration petition process,” Collins said in the statement.
The agency tries to get all the information in the initial request, but sometimes questions come up, according to its statement. “Increasing our confidence in the eligibility of those who receive benefits is a priority for USCIS,” officials said.
The office did not respond to questions about staffing levels.
In the last few years, the Joseph Law Firm in Colorado has taken employment immigration cases to federal court, which it previously hadn’t. Joseph attributes that to the Trump administration and the “Buy American, Hire American” policy.
There’s been no change at the legislative level, however, to justify the denials, he said. Changing the way Citizenship and Immigration Services adjudicates cases, he alleged, is a violation of the law.
In the cases the law firm has taken to court, the court has ruled in its favor.
“It’s unfortunate because it’s a user-paid program,” Joseph said of the visas. “(Employers) pay for the benefits.” The program isn’t funded by Congressional appropriations.
The visas aren’t taking jobs away from Americans, Joseph said, a common refrain from proponents of limiting them. They’re provided in job categories that the American workforce doesn’t compete.
That’s what Lucas stressed — her companies created jobs for American workers that didn’t exist before.
“We did everything we could”
On July 28, Lucas’ house displayed a “GARAGE SALE, EVERYTHING MUST GO” sign outside. In the backyard, friends sat around tables with various items from kitchen gadgets to shot glasses and books sprawled on a table that also was for sale. A hula hoop was perched against a tree.
For hours, Lucas couldn’t make it outside — it was too emotional, seeing everything she owned, her dear friends packing and selling.
She couldn’t part with a few items, including a bar from a recording studio in Nederland that she got second-hand before it was destroyed as well as a longhorn cattle skull.
“They’re quirky little things that remind me of my time here,” she said, sitting on a chair in her living room, sporting a tank top with the Colorado flag on it.
Engquist, her friend and visa sponsor, bought the house back from Lucas, and as she sat in the yard reminiscing, she said her heart was breaking for Lucas.
“She’s a rule follower,” Engquist said. “That’s why we click. We play by the rules. We think paying taxes is the right thing to do. We did everything we could to make sure she could continue her life in Denver.”
After a couple hours of the garage sale, Lucas started walking toward the back door.
“I’m ready to come out,” she said through tears.
This story was updated at 10 a.m., Aug. 12 to correct the name of Andi Lucas’ former company in Denver.
