A brotherhood that tested every piece of my soul in combat never prepared me for the pain of having my family stuck in limbo.
My name is Jesse Preston. I spent 14 years on Active Duty in the U.S. Army, Airborne and Air Assault qualified. I served three combat tours in Iraq between 2003 and 2010, and a tour in South Korea in 2007. I bled, sacrificed, and gave over a decade of my life in service to the United States because I believed in honor, loyalty, and standing up for what is right.
Now, I am fighting the hardest battle of my life—and it isn’t on a battlefield. It’s for my own family.
Since November 2023, I have been living abroad because I refuse to abandon my wife, Miheret Beksissa, and our baby daughter, Jessica. Imagine if I had listened to the system and waited back home in America alone, staring at an empty nursery, thousands of miles away from my infant child and the woman God gave me to protect. A combat veteran doesn’t leave his family behind.
We did everything right. We followed every single law. We poured our hard-earned money—over $4,000 just to begin the I-130 and DS-260 with our lawyer, paid every required government fee, and paid another $1,500 for our daughter’s CRBA and U.S. passport. Jessica is a U.S. citizen. Miheret was approved for her immigrant visa through our marriage.
Our journey started in January 2024, and we were so close to coming home. But because immigrant visas for Ethiopians were paused under the current administration policy, our life is on hold. The process is dragging out indefinitely, leaving us stranded in uncertainty.
We are devout, faithful Christians who just want to raise our daughter in the country I wore the uniform to defend. Every day, I look at my daughter and my wife, and my heart breaks knowing that the very system I served is keeping us from starting our life together on American soil.
Please, brothers and sisters, pray for us. Pray that the doors are opened, that red tape is cut, and that our family can finally go home to America together. If this touches your heart, please share our story.
Pray for us!
My name is Jesse Preston. I spent 14 years on Active Duty in the U.S. Army, Airborne and Air Assault qualified. I served three combat tours in Iraq between 2003 and 2010, and a tour in South Korea in 2007. I bled, sacrificed, and gave over a decade of my life in service to the United States because I believed in honor, loyalty, and standing up for what is right.
Now, I am fighting the hardest battle of my life—and it isn’t on a battlefield. It’s for my own family.
Since November 2023, I have been living abroad because I refuse to abandon my wife, Miheret Beksissa, and our baby daughter, Jessica. Imagine if I had listened to the system and waited back home in America alone, staring at an empty nursery, thousands of miles away from my infant child and the woman God gave me to protect. A combat veteran doesn’t leave his family behind.
We did everything right. We followed every single law. We poured our hard-earned money—over $4,000 just to begin the I-130 and DS-260 with our lawyer, paid every required government fee, and paid another $1,500 for our daughter’s CRBA and U.S. passport. Jessica is a U.S. citizen. Miheret was approved for her immigrant visa through our marriage.
Our journey started in January 2024, and we were so close to coming home. But because immigrant visas for Ethiopians were paused under the current administration policy, our life is on hold. The process is dragging out indefinitely, leaving us stranded in uncertainty.
We are devout, faithful Christians who just want to raise our daughter in the country I wore the uniform to defend. Every day, I look at my daughter and my wife, and my heart breaks knowing that the very system I served is keeping us from starting our life together on American soil.
Please, brothers and sisters, pray for us. Pray that the doors are opened, that red tape is cut, and that our family can finally go home to America together. If this touches your heart, please share our story.
Pray for us!
A brotherhood that tested every piece of my soul in combat never prepared me for the pain of having my family stuck in limbo.
My name is Jesse Preston. I spent 14 years on Active Duty in the U.S. Army, Airborne and Air Assault qualified. I served three combat tours in Iraq between 2003 and 2010, and a tour in South Korea in 2007. I bled, sacrificed, and gave over a decade of my life in service to the United States because I believed in honor, loyalty, and standing up for what is right.
Now, I am fighting the hardest battle of my life—and it isn’t on a battlefield. It’s for my own family.
Since November 2023, I have been living abroad because I refuse to abandon my wife, Miheret Beksissa, and our baby daughter, Jessica. Imagine if I had listened to the system and waited back home in America alone, staring at an empty nursery, thousands of miles away from my infant child and the woman God gave me to protect. A combat veteran doesn’t leave his family behind.
We did everything right. We followed every single law. We poured our hard-earned money—over $4,000 just to begin the I-130 and DS-260 with our lawyer, paid every required government fee, and paid another $1,500 for our daughter’s CRBA and U.S. passport. Jessica is a U.S. citizen. Miheret was approved for her immigrant visa through our marriage.
Our journey started in January 2024, and we were so close to coming home. But because immigrant visas for Ethiopians were paused under the current administration policy, our life is on hold. The process is dragging out indefinitely, leaving us stranded in uncertainty.
We are devout, faithful Christians who just want to raise our daughter in the country I wore the uniform to defend. Every day, I look at my daughter and my wife, and my heart breaks knowing that the very system I served is keeping us from starting our life together on American soil.
Please, brothers and sisters, pray for us. Pray that the doors are opened, that red tape is cut, and that our family can finally go home to America together. If this touches your heart, please share our story.
Pray for us!
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