Immigrant, wife just trying 'to live in the present' in light of obstacles

INCLINE VILLAGE - Melanie Payne celebrated her second wedding anniversary last month alone. Her husband, Ali Amiri, sat in a U.S. Immigration and Customs detention center.

The former Incline Village residents were separated in October, when Amiri was imprisoned in a Marysville, Calif., jail.

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement threatened to deport him to Iran, as officials questioned the validity of the couple's marriage and turned down Amiri's request for a stay of deportation.

After spending 90 days in detention, Amiri was released Jan. 12 - four days after he and Payne would have celebrated their second wedding anniversary. Amiri's uncle posted his $40,000 bail.

"Oh, I could not believe it. It was like a miracle happened," Amiri said when told he was being released.

But the sweetness of being reunited was tainted by the release conditions. He is required to check in with immigration every month until he has travel papers, Payne explained.

"We have to just try to live in the present," she said.

He has been waiting four months for his travel papers from Iran. For Amiri to stay, his deportation order has to be canceled, Payne added. Officials are striving to find an alternate nation to accept him so he won't have to return to Iran, where he is likely to be imprisoned.

He left Iran in 1996 before completing mandatory military service, and he entered the United States from Mexico with a passport that was revoked because it had been issued by an unauthorized official. Amiri's immigration paperwork might be lacking, but he said he has committed no crimes.

"It's not what you do, it's where you're from," he said.

He said he realizes the U.S. had to tighten its immigration procedures after 9/11, and he doesn't blame officials for doing their job.

"They have to protect the country," he said. "My deportation guy was nice. He tried really hard to get me out."

After initially suspecting the couple had married only to keep Amiri in the United States, officials finally decided in favor of Amiri and Payne's marriage.

"They want to know how strong you are," Amiri said.

He's aware that many do marry to avoid deportation, but said if that was what he wanted to do, he could have married long ago.

"I wanted to find someone I wanted to spend my life with," Amiri said.

Now working in Reno at a service station owned by his uncle, Amiri has been given a valid driver's license and work permit. They are good for only six months, however, and it costs $120 to renew the work permit, he said.

"It's a business," Amiri added.

He said he came to this country for the freedom but his experience has made him question whether it exists.

"I think it's gone," he said. "Government has a lot of power over people's lives."