The Manual: A Refugee's Education in Bureaucracy and Corruption

A black, single mother flees life-threatening circumstances in her home country. She settles in Utah in USA where she would raise her children as well as obtain education in order to take care of her family. As required by US immigration law, she secures a sponsor to pay for her education and some living expenses while residing in the US. She loses this sponsor when Weber State University damages her student files. These files are her legal basis to be in the US. The University does not deny that they damaged the files, but despite her numerous efforts, they refuse to fix the files. The sponsor withdraws and she becomes financially stranded. She can find another country to go to and leave her children in the US until she has built a life there, or stay in the country she chose and demand that the University do the right thing. She files a lawsuit in the local Utah court against Weber State University to correct her student files, including issue the diploma for her studies completed in Fall 2004.