Please help re-unite this Mother and her son

I've blogged twice before about this mother and son separated by our idiotic immigration bureaucracy. Read here and here. Finally Christian DeGraw has gotten his visa enabling him to be re-united with Mom, Step-Dad, and newborn sibling.

The only problem is money, the Vattiats have spent thousands to get this far and need help to buy two plane tickets, one round-trip for an adult and a one-way for Christian to fly here to the US. If you have the means, please contribute. What a great gift would it be to have this family re-united for Christmas. Checks can be sent to-

Contributions to the Christian DeGraw Immigration Fund may be made at any SunTrust Bank in South Florida or mailed to: SunTrust, 4500 PGA Blvd., Palm Beach Gardens, FL 33418.

Open Post- Don Surber, Bright & Early, Basil's Blog, Big Dog, California Conservative, Jo's Cafe, Cao's Blog, Stop The ACLU, Political Teen, Stuck on Stupid, Bacon Bits, Outside the Beltway, Choose Life, Bright & Early

*****

A young American citizen who has never set foot on U.S. soil may soon join his mother, baby brother and adoptive-father-to-be in Wellington for the holidays.

Christian DeGraw, 5, needs a plane ticket from Manila to West Palm Beach and one for an adult to accompany him to be reunited with his mother, Diana DeGraw Vattiat.

Family friends and co-workers have set up a special account through SunTrust Banks called the Christian DeGraw Immigration Fund to get him here.

One of the first to contribute was a Jupiter man who also has a 5-year-old son.

"I was thinking about how blessed we are and how good it is to have your family around you at the holidays," said the donor, who asked to remain anonymous. "We just wanted to share a little at Thanksgiving and hope their family can be reunited in time for Christmas."

Christian's mother, Diana DeGraw Vattiat, 24, was single and 18 when she decided to leave the Philippines. She was born on a U.S. military base there, to a U.S. serviceman who married her mother, a Filipino.

When she finished high school, she realized there were no jobs and no opportunities for more education.

Her mother urged her to use her American citizenship and move to the U.S. to make a better life for her son.

Christian was 4 months old when Diana left him in her mother's care. Arriving in Florida, she got a job at a Publix and began saving money to bring her baby to live with her.

That was almost five years ago. During her ordeal with immigration, officials cited post-Sept. 11 restrictions and refused numerous applications to get her son a passport and a visa.

Finally, Bill Strassberger, an official with U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services in Washington, himself a father, read about them and intervened.

A week ago the news came: Christian's passport and visa had been issued.

"It was fabulous news," Vattiat said. "Then it dawned on me how broke we are."

Contributions to the Christian DeGraw Immigration Fund may be made at any SunTrust Bank in South Florida or mailed to: SunTrust, 4500 PGA Blvd., Palm Beach Gardens, FL 33418.