FORT WAYNE, Ind. (WISH) — Rebekah Hubley has won her fight to gain citizenship for her adopted son Jonas, who she adopted in 2010 from Haiti.

He is blind and has cerebral palsy.

Hubley had been fighting to keep him in the country after U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services wrongly denied his application to become a citizen in the fall and said he needed to voluntarily leave the country, or face deportation.

The Hubley family told I-Team 8 its victory is bittersweet, and they won’t truly celebrate until they get Jonas’s citizenship documents in the mail. “Surprisingly there has not been tears since and I think we’re all still a little bit in shock,” Hubley said.

Once the shock wears off, the family says it’ll focus on how the decision will enrich Jonas’s life.
“For Jonas, his citizenship is a passport to benefits that will give his life more freedom. We can give him everything that he needs, but these will just be additional benefits to enhance the quality of life for a kid who’s trapped inside a developmentally and physically disabled body,” Hubley said.

This decision is bittersweet because the family knows how lucky it is that Jonas’s story went viral, compared to other families dealing with similar issues that don’t have the resources to get results.

“We took on the U.S. government and we won, rightfully so, but that oftentimes does not happen,” Hubley said.

Their attorney, Kelly Dempsey, says this problem is widespread. “Very pervasive. It is the bulk of my career over the last 15 years is helping families who have faced similar unfair circumstances.”

Dempsey characterizes the victory as a miracle. “It took a viral social media story, the intervention of countless news outlets, the White House, two members of Congress, a senator, and law firms around the country in order to save this one child. It should never require that amount of resources for any family for the U.S. government to do the right thing.”

That’s why Hubley has already requested to speak in front of Congress: to use Jonas’s story as a catalyst for change. “His story will move the masses to make changes for all these other kids,” Hubley said.