Leo Legora and Gabriella Cornejo Legora—and the school division that’s been sponsoring them—have exhausted all legal avenues for them to remain in the community that’s been their home for more than a decade.

Leo, originally from Mar del Plata, Argentina, came to Virginia in 2005 and landed a job teaching Spanish with the Culpeper County school system just before school opened that year.

“I was thrown to the lions,” he said, laughing.

Gaby arrived in 2008 to teach for Loudoun County schools in Purcellville. She’d previously taught English for 13 years in Santiago, Chile.

Loudoun’s policy at the time was to rotate international teachers, so Gaby came to Culpeper under a “Cultural Ambassador,” or J-1 visa, as did Leo, through a program called Visiting International Faculty, which placed educators in North Carolina, South Carolina and Virginia.

The two Spanish teachers became friends.

“Eventually, we became more than friends,” said Gaby.

They married.

In 2008, Culpeper schools again needed language teachers. The county’s second high school was opening and Leo transferred to Eastern View High School. Gaby was offered a position at Culpeper County High School.

In 2010, she became the head of the language department. Leo had been involved with the Eastern View soccer program since it started and became the head coach.

Because their jobs were stable and they loved their new home, the couple began the arduous process to remain in the United States.

When their three-year J-1 visas expired, they were allowed to remain in the U.S. under HB-1 visas, the most common permit for international workers, renewed annually, but only for a lifetime total of six years.

They set their sights on obtaining a “PERM”—a nickname for Permanent Labor Certification,the first step in obtaining the coveted “green card”—that would allow them both to remain in the United States indefinitely and clear the way to obtaining American citizenship.

STARTING A FAMILY

Meanwhile, the couple suffered some terrible blows. Anxious to start a family, they suffered several miscarriages and stillbirths. Each loss devastated them, but they maintained hope.

Colleagues and friends reached out to support the two teachers in their times of grief.

“In those worst moments, people respond. A parent of one of my former students brought us a quilt. Where do you get that? In Culpeper,” said Gaby. “Our friends, they are the unsung heroes of our everyday lives.”

The pair wanted to be able to give something back to a child in need and fill the holes in their own aching hearts. They researched adoption and they completed all of the paperwork, training and vetting to become foster parents.

While doing short-term fostering, Gaby got some news she wasn’t expecting—again, she was pregnant.

Victoria Milagros, meaning “victory” and “miracles,” turns 6 in September. She likes to proudly announce that she’s in first grade at “Owell” Elementary School, dropping off the Y.

The December following Victoria’s first birthday, the couple received an emergency 1 a.m. call from Child Protective Services asking if they could take a little girl immediately on an emergency basis.

“She was 5 weeks old. We didn’t know anything about her. We didn’t know how long she was going to be with us. And she had some health issues,” said Gaby. “I tried hard not to get too attached, but Leo, he went all in.”

The infant’s biological mother failed to meet a judge’s conditions and the court terminated her parental rights. Her biological father waived his parental rights.

The couple bought a modest home in a subdivision near Ira Hoffman Lane.

“We’re not rich,” said Gaby, “but this is home.”

About two years after the baby girl showed up at their house in the middle of the night, the Legoras officially became her parents. The international adoption was approved in October 2014.

Anna turns 5 in November.

“She, too, was a miracle in slow motion,” said Gaby. “We lived on hope that she was going to stay with us.

Both of the couple’s children are American citizens.

‘Hostages to a dream’

In 2012, the Legoras applied for a PERM with Culpeper County Public Schools as the sponsor. According to Shaina Silvers, an immigration attorney for both CCPS and the Legoras, the U.S. Department of Labor challenged their application.

As part of the process, the applicant’s employer must advertise the position to see if a minimally qualified American applies for the job. In the case of the Legoras, one qualified applicant could knock them both out of the PERM process because they both hold the same position in the school division.

The school division and the Legoras immediately filed a “motion to reconsider,” essentially an appeal that thrust the couple into legal limbo for four years as the processing time dragged on.

Each year, they maintained their legal status through the H1-B visas, with the six-year clock ticking.

With their cases on appeal for more than a year, extensions were available. As long as the feds didn’t hand down a decision, they could continue to renew the H1-B, said Silvers.

The visas cost many thousands of dollars over the years.

When the Labor Department finally rejected the Legoras’ appeal, the school system and the couple filed another application for a PERM. The school division, again, posted the required advertisement for their positions.

“It’s unusual,” said Silvers, “for an employer to try again for an employee’s PERM, especially a school division. This is the second time they’ve done this in an attempt to sponsor these teachers.”

According to CCPS Human Resources Director Michelle Metzgar, there was only one applicant, who was deemed unqualified.

“In January, I was hoping to get an approval,” said Silvers. “We had this on merit. Instead, we were audited.”

Auditing adds about four months to the processing time, the lawyer explained.

With the remaining time on the H1-B visas dwindling, the school system and the Legoras received notice July 20 from the Labor Department that their labor certifications were denied because the department did not receive the requested audit response.

According to Silvers, Culpeper schools and the Legoras, the audit paperwork was sent by FedEx to Atlanta for processing.

“We sent everything that they asked for,” said Metzgar. “I think it’s a huge ineffectiveness in our system that this is happening.”

“It was devastating news to everyone,” said Silvers. “They can’t extend the H1-B any more at this point. It’s been very excruciating.”

The Legoras’ only recourse is another motion to reconsider, but current processing times for appeals stand at 212 days—beyond the time they would be able to legally remain in the country.

“At that point, CCPS decided there’s virtually no point in appealing,” Silvers said. “They need to start looking for someone to fill those positions.”

Still, the lawyer filed a request to adjust their statuses—they’re allowed to remain in Culpeper while the request is pending under a stay authorized by the Attorney General’s Office.

The adjusted status would allow them only to finish out the fall semester and give them time to sell their home, pack their things and leave by the end of December, before they become “out of status,” or illegal.

“I’ve pulled every rabbit out of the hat that I could think of,” said Silvers, who has represented both teachers since they moved to Culpeper. “I’m so very sad for them.”

Over the years, Silvers also considered other visa categories the couple might apply under, including the EB-1 category and the National Interest Waiver.

“I looked into it. EB-1 is essentially for geniuses. That’s what Einstein would have used. There’ve been a number of applicants, teachers, try the National Interest Waiver. But it’s almost impossible to prove the scope of their impact; it’s hard to prove their reach beyond their own communities, as established by a few precedent decisions. Teachers haven’t really been successful in that category.”

Asked if there’s anything left to do, any paperwork to file on behalf of the Legoras, Silvers paused.

“No.”

The shockwaves still rock the Legoras. Leo tries to remain stoic, while Gaby shows her emotions in private while putting on a brave face every day in front of her students and colleagues.

“Most people don’t know,” she said. “I smile, I tell jokes. I have to teach. They don’t know I have a broken heart. When I’m there, I’m 100 percent teaching.”

“I don’t know what we’re going to tell the girls when we have to start packing up their beds, all of their toys,” Gaby added.

Facing the future

Both Legoras suspect the current political climate may play a role in their situation.

And they both fear that the current administration’s proposed merit system for immigrants would render them unable to earn enough points to return to the United States—primarily because of their ages. Under the plan, no points would be awarded for persons older than 50. Right now, he’s 48 and she’s 50. Accumulating points in other categories—with the exception of English proficiency—could prove difficult, as well.

As it currently stands, they can leave the country and reapply for entry, with an employer sponsor, after a year. There’s no guarantee that Culpeper will have one, much less two, teaching positions available in October 2019, their first opportunity to return to the states.

“They’re part of our country, our county,” said Metzgar, the school division’s HR director. “It’s so disappointing that the system is failing them. We’d really love to keep them. We have a lot invested and we have a lot to lose.

“And from an HR perspective, losing two Spanish teachers in the middle of the year is going to be hard.”

Gaby worries about many things—her daughters, her husband and what’s next for their family—and the students they’ll leave behind in Culpeper.

They’ve decided they’ll go to Chile, for a number of reasons, including employment potential, where some British schools can pay relatively well. Chile’s also closer in external relations with the U.S. And it’s a hub for Latin America, with many immigrants.

“In many ways, it’s like being here,” said Gaby.

Even though they’ve been advised that the door is closed to staying in America, the Legoras cling to hope. Last week, they contacted another immigration lawyer for a second opinion and they’ve written to U.S. Rep. Dave Brat and Sens. Mark Warner and Tim Kaine.

A representative from Brat’s office said their request was recently received, but the congressman hasn’t yet had a chance to review it and determine if his office can be of assistance. An aide for Kaine sent an email stating the matter would be forwarded to the senator’s casework director.

An attempt to reach a spokesperson for the U.S. Department of Labor in Atlanta was unsuccessful.

Leo is alternately resigned and passionate about their situation.

They’ve followed the laws, he said. They’ve paid taxes. They purchased a home and adopted a child. They’re invested in their community, the community that openly invested in them.

“Our only crime is that we’ve been legal for 13 years,” he said.