Lt Col Scott Anderson is a highly decorated active duty Air Force Officer who proudly and diligently serves our country daily. Over his 30 plus years career in the military, he has accomplished two overseas assignments and is currently assigned to the Pentagon in Washington D.C. More to his accomplished professional life, he is a father of 2 daughters and a son as well as a grandfather of 5 granddaughters. Lt Col Anderson’s considers his greatest life purpose as protecting his family and our country with all he has. This purpose has converged with his life experiences, prompting him to agitate the need for changes to federal immigration law to protect U.S. citizens from mistreatment and abuse of their rights, as shall be shown in this declaration.
As mentioned prior, Lt Col Anderson has 3 over achieving children. One works at the University of Wyoming, the other runs the City of Cheyenne’s Latchkey program while the other is a Children’s Pastor, overseeing children of the church from birth to 18 years old and teaching them of God’s love and grace. He constantly keeps in touch with them as they live in Wyoming and ensures that he encourages them to follow their hearts while also trying to positively impact their lives.
This love and admiration for his children also transcends to his granddaughters and when he’s not serving at the Pentagon in the evenings, he’s face timing with those sweet girls and reading bedtime stories.
This exceptional family would not have been possible without Lt Col Anderson’s first wife of 20 years whom he is still great friends with. Although things did not work out between them, he is eternally grateful for the immense gifts that they were able to bring forth.
Scott then married Inge, a marriage which unfortunately only lasted 2 years and 8 months. Currently, Scott is married an absolutely amazing woman who is supportive of his battle with this case and while they do not have children together, they raise two golden doodles together, enjoy their days taking them on walks, wine tasting and enjoying their friends and family.
Other than being a family man, Scott is also an exceptional cook who has used his talent to mentor at risk youth and young adults in the culinary world, which has earned him recognition as the Mentor of the Year by the State of Wyoming and received two Department of Defense volunteer service medals for his work. Also, his love for cooking won him the Pentagon Holiday Baking Championship 3 years in a row; a skill which has been passed to his kids and granddaughters.
Whereas Scott Anderson has found himself in very difficult circumstances brought about by the instant case, he does not belittle the love he once felt for Inge, who was an immigrant at the time they were getting married. Motivated by love, he worked tirelessly to ensure that she got an easy immigration transition, providing everything and never pushing her to work. However, when she showed interest in getting a job, he, as a loving husband, hired a job coach for her who helped her reimage her resume and LinkedIn profile to ensure that she sailed through in her job-hunting process.
These efforts quickly bore fruit as Inge easily found work for the reasons that she’s exceptionally smart and out-going and had heeded the job coach’s advice. Scott continued to exert himself to ensure that Inge’s life was as comfortable as could be by doing things such as researching and paying two companies to convert Inge’s Dutch college transcripts to American standards, buying Inge a car (a Fiat with a stick shift that is very European to make it feel familiar) regardless of the fact that they lived right next door to the metro train which is very convenient.
Scott also made the effort to trade Inge’s Fiat for a brand new one the following year in order to grow her credit in the USA as he was genuinely interested in her financial wellbeing.
Due to the cultural differences, Inge didn’t necessarily care for Thanksgiving and so Scott graciously gave up this day and created an “Immigrant’s Day” where he cooked all of her favorite Dutch comfort food from the Netherlands. Instead of turkey, stuffing and pumpkin pie it was worstenbroodjes, bitterballen and oliebollen which is a Dutch donut. He also ensured that she enjoyed Sinterklas which is a holiday similar to Christmas by importing and buying traditional Dutch candy and gifts, all these to ensure that she was happy and that the transition process did not wear her out.
In fact, to make this transition more enjoyable, Lt Col Anderson built 5 flower beds and planted over 1,000 tulips in their yard for Inge and would faithfully attend Dutch celebrations like Queens Day and Sinterklas with Inge at the Netherlands Embassy so she could stay connected with a familiar society. It’s easy to see he was in love with Inge and was willing to do anything to help make her transition easier and enjoyable. Lt Col Anderson could go on and on how important she was to him but things weren’t always a bed of tulips.
There was great turmoil in the relationship just a few months in the relationship which would not be cured by multiple vacations to Hawaii or trips to the Netherlands to see Inge’s family. Recognizing this, Scott reached out to friends in the military who established counselling for both of them as he really wanted this marriage to thrive.
Their marriage would improve significantly and then tumble like a rollercoaster. Scott simply refused to give up and set-up marriage counseling not with one but with four different therapists for them, while also undergoing counseling so he could continually improve himself. He did not mind making double the effort. He also registered them for multiple weekend marriage seminars where they focused on improving their relationship. He fought tirelessly without giving up until he had no other choice and finds himself here, battling the instant court case.
The case was filed in the United States 9th District Court, Western District of Washington in Seattle, Case # 17-CV-00891 RSL Inge Anderson v. United States of America et al. The desire that Lt Col Anderson and his legal team have as defendants is to establish precedence in federal court which will prompt changes in the law to ensure that American citizens are protected against immigrant laws which expose legal loopholes, causing a lot of agony for them. This history making federal court case will hopefully change the unreasonable laws which time and again have been used to the detriment of citizens in our country every day.
Such a law is the U.S. Code: Title 8 – ALIENS AND NATIONALITY: 8 U.S. Code Chapter 12 – IMMIGRATION AND NATIONALITY 8 CFR part 213A AFFIDAVIT OF SUPPORT ON BEHALF OF IMMIGRANTS which has constantly been exploited by immigrants against their American sponsors regularly. The law currently allows an immigrant rights to sue their sponsor for financial support without having to mitigate any damages. This essentially translates to the fact that an immigrant can sue a citizen to support them for the rest of their lives, while such immigrant does not make the effort to get a job or contribute meaningfully to society.
A reading of the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) on the I-864 reveals how truly unconscionable it is as the law only supports the immigrant, with no relief for the sponsor. This law is in dire need of updating and Lt Col Anderson is ready to submit in favour of such update.
In November of 2010, Lt in a whirlwind romance, Scott had fallen for Inge, a charming, sophisticated, well-educated teacher from an affluent, well-connected foreign family. In order for his fiancée to immigrate to this country so that they could begin their life together, U.S. immigration law required and demanded Lt Col Anderson to sign the I-864 Affidavit of Support, which obligates an immigrant’s U.S. citizen sponsor to support him or her at 125% of the poverty line until the immigrant chooses to work in the United States for a total of approximately ten years, becomes a citizen, or leaves the country. Based on USCIS policy, his Fiancée would have been denied her visa and entry to the US if he refused to sign the I-864 and he wouldn’t have been able to get married. His hands were figuratively tied and he signed the 1-864 out of love and in good faith.
Unfortunately, getting swept up in a whirlwind often means crashing down, and by mid-2014, Lt Col Anderson’s marriage was irretrievably broken. The dream quickly turned into nightmare when the charming, well-educated former teacher turned against him and began viciously mistreating him. It became clear that a divorce was imminent. This strong, war-time hero literally ran in fear away from his own home to save himself, abandoning everything.
After 2 years winding through the legal system the divorce finally came through in April 2016 where Inge walked away with healthy support payments and an extremely nice settlement, although she and Scott had only been married for less than 3 years. This was an extremely difficult period for Scott Anderson and although he struggled a lot, he was grateful that the nightmare was over. Far from truth. Inge filed numerous complaints against Lt Col Anderson with his Generals and commanding officers, the Inspector General’s Office and even sent letters to Congress with the hopes of stripping Lt Col Anderson of his clearance and his career. These investigations showed that Lt Col Anderson was acting with dignity and uncovered nothing but allegations. This was however indicative of the extreme lengths that Inge would go to ensure that Lt Col Anderson was left on his knees with nothing to his name.
In connection with the couple’s divorce, Lt Col Anderson agreed to provide Inge a significant settlement and support payments, as well as to support in good faith and in any way he could his ex-wife’s agreement and intention to seek U.S. citizenship and release him from the I-864 support obligations, which survive the divorce of an immigrant and his or her sponsoring citizen spouse. All these in spite of the suffering that she had caused Scott.
During trial, Inge provided multiple pieces of evidence and testimony, formerly undisclosed, that supported our res judicata claim. In a conversation with Lt Col Anderson’s attorney, Inge claimed she had a right to sue pro se for the I-864 during divorce making it very clear she was aware of the laws. Additionally, she submitted attorney fee claims showing that the day before she signed the Marital Agreement agreeing to the settlements, that she had over 26 hours of legal counsel regarding the I-864 which clearly identified Inge and Scott’s intent regarding the Marital Agreement, specifically agreeing to the release of liability and hold harmless for everything in the future which included the I-864.
Final regulations for the I-864 were published on July 21, 2006. Affidavits of Support on Behalf of Immigrants, 71 Fed. Reg. No. 119 35732 (June 21, 2006 Rules and Regulations). These regulations state that an adult immigrant such as Plaintiff may waive her I-864 support rights through marriage or divorce-related contractual agreements. See did. at 35740. Bottom page left paragraph.
Even though the Marital Agreement didn’t specifically spell out I-864 Affidavit of Support, the evidence of intent is clear which provides legal obligations. Inge agreed to: HOLD HARMLESS FROM LIABILITY. “Each of the parties hereto shall hold the other harmless from any and all liability of every kind on his or her specific obligations under the Agreement and shall indemnify the other for any expense he or she may necessarily incur in connection therewith”.
In 2017 Scott’s nightmare reappeared. In violation of their marital agreement, Inge neither sought U.S. employment, U.S. citizenship, nor departed the country, instead, she filed suit against him pursuant to the I-864 seeking upwards of a half of a million dollars more.
She has, however, proven she has the ability to work since their divorce having earned another degree here in the US, worked as a full time employee for the Washington State Attorney General’s Office which she withheld from the defendant and the courts and is currently representing herself in federal court pro se. Lt Col Anderson has been fighting in court for almost 4 years due to his ex-wife and loopholes in our US Immigration Laws. He fled the marriage he had worked tirelessly for because of the continued abuse and now we allow the abuse to continue through legal loopholes which immigrants have continuously navigated and which have left American citizens suffering one time too many.
Although Lt Col Anderson intends to continue vigorously defending his rights in court, because the I-864 provides a clear avenue by which a permanent resident immigrant can indefinitely secure a guaranteed minimum income unavailable even to natural born U.S. citizens, without ever contributing to their own support in any way, he believes it is necessary to take his fight further and advocate for legal change.
Congress amended the Immigration and Nationality Act (“INA”) in 1996 to add the I-864 as a requirement for the issuance of U.S. citizen-sponsored visas. Although Congress intended that the I-864 “should be in effect until the sponsored alien (a) has worked for a reasonable period in this country, paying taxes and making a positive economic contribution, or (b) becomes a citizen, whichever occurs first,” practical experience over the past 13 years has demonstrated that it fails to account for the very real possibility that a sponsored immigrant may indefinitely choose to avoid both options.
In other words, despite the fact that according to the legislative history of the 1996 amendment, Congress designed the I-864 “to increase the likelihood that aliens will be self-sufficient, in accordance with the nation’s longstanding policy,” current immigration law does nothing to prevent an immigrant from remaining financially dependent on a citizen sponsor for as long as they are both alive, without any requirement whatsoever that the immigrant ever seek employment or citizenship. The adoption of the I-864-related provisions has therefore opened up a significant loophole in U.S. immigration law allowing sponsored immigrants to avoid self-sufficiency indefinitely.
The I-864 instructions are 17 pages long in total. The word “Contract” is provided 12 times within those 17 pages. It is very clear that the federal government intended this to be a contract and as such should fall under contract law. Lt Col Anderson was not given the ability provided to other defendants that are sued under contract laws; such as fraud. Additionally, Washington State Supreme Court states that there is a responsibility for individuals to mitigate damages under contract law. The I-864 and the ruling has stripped Lt Col Anderson’s ability to defend himself against this wrongful contract. Additionally, it is clear that Inge Anderson released Lt Col Anderson from the I-864 when she agreed to the Marital Agreement years after the I-864 was signed, accepted cash payments and settlements and signed a hold harmless/release of liability.
Whereas the 1-864 may have been meant to protect vulnerable immigrants from abuse or financial mistreatment by their American spouses, it has been demonstrated time and again that these American spouses are the ones who end up being vulnerable and financially incapacitated, losing everything that they have worked for almost all their lives. This horror has to end for Lt Col Anderson and we implore upon this court to uphold justice.
