Visa Ban Leaves Maryland Family Waiting for Reunion
A Maryland family is facing prolonged separation after a mother who traveled to Guatemala for the final stage of her U.S. immigration process was unable to return home because of a sweeping visa-processing suspension.
Lorenza Temaj Jiguan, 34, has remained in Guatemala since May after traveling there from Maryland for an immigrant visa interview. She had expected the trip to be temporary and believed she had completed the requirements necessary to return to her family in the United States.
Instead, she has been separated from her husband and two children for months.
The case highlights how changes in U.S. immigration policy can affect people who have already spent years navigating the legal immigration system and have received government approvals for key parts of their cases.
A Long Immigration Process Took an Unexpected Turn
Temaj entered the United States without authorization in 2009 as a teenager. She later built a family in Maryland and married Samuel Wilbanks, a U.S. citizen, in 2013.
The couple spent years pursuing legal residency for Temaj. Wilbanks filed a petition for her green card, and the initial petition was approved in 2015.
Because Temaj had entered the country illegally, however, she was required to leave the United States and complete an immigrant visa interview at the U.S. Embassy in Guatemala before she could obtain permanent residency.
The family believed they were finally approaching the end of that lengthy process.
In January 2025, Temaj received a waiver from the U.S. government that, according to the family, indicated she could return to the United States after completing the required process in Guatemala. Her immigrant visa application was filed later that year.
The Visa Suspension Changed the Family’s Plans
The situation changed after the Trump administration introduced a broad suspension of visa processing for citizens of 75 countries, including Guatemala.
The administration said the policy was intended to address concerns about applicants who might become dependent on public assistance.
Temaj's case became caught in the suspension despite the family's belief that she had already satisfied the necessary requirements and obtained a government waiver.
When she and Wilbanks traveled to Guatemala in May, they expected the visit to lead to her return to Maryland.
Instead, after her interview at the U.S. Embassy in Guatemala City, she was told that she was ineligible for the visa. The family says the consular officer did not identify problems with the application itself but provided paperwork stating that she had been found ineligible.
Children Are Growing Up Without Their Mother
The separation has had a direct effect on Temaj's children.
Her 10-year-old daughter, Ariana, was preparing for fifth grade when the new school year began without her mother at home. During a video call, Ariana told Temaj that she missed her.
Her 13-year-old son, Jack, has also struggled with his mother's absence.
The family's daily routine has changed dramatically. Wilbanks has taken over responsibilities that Temaj previously handled, including preparing meals, taking care of the children and walking the family dog.
The family's home near the Chesapeake Bay, which they had purchased together, has become a reminder of the person missing from their household.
Temaj is also separated from her aging mother-in-law, whom she had hoped to help care for.
A Family That Had Already Followed the Process
The case is particularly complicated because the family had successfully navigated other parts of the immigration system.
Temaj's daughter from a previous relationship, Karen, was also born in Guatemala. Her immigrant visa was approved in late 2024, and she joined the family in Maryland in early 2025.
For Temaj, the remaining requirement was the consular process associated with her own immigration history.
The family says they relied on instructions from U.S. officials and advice from immigration attorneys when deciding to travel to Guatemala.
That makes the subsequent delay especially painful. What was supposed to be the final step toward permanent residency instead resulted in an extended separation.
Court Challenge Adds Another Layer to the Dispute
The visa-processing freeze has also become the subject of legal challenges.
A federal judge in New York recently ruled that the suspension failed to comply with antidiscrimination protections. Despite that ruling, the administration has not immediately restored normal visa processing and has sought to continue the pause.
For families such as the Wilbanks family, the legal dispute has real and immediate consequences.
Every additional week without a decision means another week in which children remain separated from a parent and spouses remain apart.
The Human Cost of Immigration Policy
Temaj's case illustrates the human consequences that can emerge when immigration policies change while individual applications are already underway.
For policymakers, visa restrictions involve questions of national security, immigration enforcement and government resources. For families, however, those policies can determine whether parents can return home, whether children can live with both parents and whether years of immigration paperwork ultimately lead to reunification.
Temaj's family had expected the U.S. immigration system to provide a path toward legal permanent residency after years of applications, petitions, fees and interviews.
Instead, she remains in Guatemala, thousands of miles from her Maryland home.
Waiting for a Way Back Home
As the months pass, everyday reminders of Temaj's absence continue to accumulate.
Her plants are drying by the window. The family dog still expects her to take him outside. Her children continue going to school while communicating with their mother through intermittent video calls.
For Ariana, the hope is simple: that her mother will come home.
The family's experience has turned what was supposed to be the final stage of an immigration journey into an uncertain wait, demonstrating how immigration policy decisions can reach far beyond paperwork and government offices.
For Temaj and her family, the issue is no longer simply obtaining a visa. It is about restoring a family life that was interrupted when a journey intended to bring her closer to permanent residency instead left her stranded outside the country she had called home for years.
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