BANJUL, THE GABMIA (WSAU) — A Wisconsin Rapids family is reconnecting after their husband and father was deported to his home country in West Africa.
USA Today Wisconsin Reports Katrina Jabbi and her three children have settled with their father Buba in The Gambia after he was unexpectedly deported in the spring of 2018.
Katrina says the country lacks some of the reliable services that are commonplace in America, such as hot water and electricity. Both services have periodic outages, meaning the family has had to make adjustments such as storing water and only shopping for food when it’s time to cook because it may otherwise spoil in the refrigerator.
Buba is working with other men who were deported to teach young professionals the skills they learned while in America to help prepare them for life in other countries, and encourage them to make a change in their homeland. Katrina has been working at a local nursery school.
Buba originally came to America in a temporary Visa to attend the 1996 Summer Olympics in Atlanta. He accidentally overstayed his Visa, and deportation procedures began. However, his home country was uncooperative with his paperwork, and in 2010 it was determined he would be allowed to stay in the US as long as he checked in annually with immigration officials and maintained employment.
Buba had done so faithfully until February 2018 when what was typically a short conversation with officials in Milwaukee turned into him being deported in mid-March. Shortly thereafter Katrina made the decision to move herself and the couple’s three children to Africa to keep the family together.
At the time of his deportation, Katrina was pregnant with their third child. She says the family’s goal is to re-establish themselves in the United States one day, but that could take years.
