A U.S. veteran who now works for Intel has told Newsweek of his agonizing wait to bring home his wife and their 7-year-old daughter due to prolonged delays in processing his spouse’s green card application.
Russell John Campbell, 57, a Navy veteran and longtime Intel Corp. communications professional, is living alone in Oregon while his wife, Wasithee Campbell, and daughter remain in Thailand, unable to join him amid a U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) backlog.
He has been waiting for nearly five months to hear anything, but could be holding out for 12 more months.
“It is just unconscionable for the U.S. government to treat a citizen and veteran this way,” Campbell told Newsweek in an exclusive interview.
“They just don’t care, and they are quite clear in saying so. It is disgusting and vile. This is not what I swore an oath to defend. This is just evil to keep a family apart like this for no reason,” he added.
Newsweek has contacted USCIS for comment via email.
Why It Matters
The case comes as USCIS faces a significant backlog of immigration cases, hitting a record 11.3 million pending applications. Immigration courts are overwhelmed, with a backlog exceeding 3.7 million cases, according to Syracuse University’s Transactional Records Access Clearinghouse. Asylum-seekers often wait years for decisions on their cases.
What To Know
Campbell, who served from 1985 to 1989 as an Aviation Electronics Technician at NAS North Island in San Diego, moved to Thailand in 2010 for an Intel role managing corporate and government affairs across the Asia-Pacific region.
Campbell married his wife on April 12, 2012, on the island of Koh Chang, Thailand. Their daughter was born on February 19, 2018, and is a U.S. citizen with a passport and Social Security number.
His wife first received a U.S. tourist visa in 2015, visiting the United States two to three times for business and family visits.
Wasithee was granted a green card in 2019; however, it was canceled by USCIS after the family relocated to Thailand due to employment opportunities for Campbell.
In March 2025, Campbell accepted a position back at Intel as Global Content Strategy Manager, moving to Hillsboro within weeks. On April 3, he filed a new I-130 petition for his wife’s green card. USCIS has told him that processing could take up to 17 months. Two humanitarian expedite requests—citing financial hardship, medical issues, and the impact on their U.S. citizen child—have been denied or ignored. He says he is still waiting to hear from the offices of Rep. Suzanne Bonamici and Sen. Jeff Merkley after writing to them.
Campbell’s wife suffers from abdominal ulcers and kidney stones, requiring treatment that would be covered under his U.S. health insurance. In Thailand, the cost is prohibitive, and she has no family nearby to help care for their daughter during recovery.
Meanwhile, their daughter faces both delayed school enrollment in Oregon and nightly emotional strain from being apart from her father.
“My daughter is my life,” Campbell said.
“I have an empty home, next to a park, waiting for my daughter to come play and make friends,” he added.
USCIS has provided no timeline beyond “up to 17 months,” which Campbell says makes it impossible to plan for housing, school, and medical care.
“Time passes, and we don’t get it back. Being apart from her is the greatest pain I’ve ever known, because it is just so senseless,” he said.
Campbell and his family have complied with all legal requirements throughout the immigration process. The delays in reuniting the family illustrate the challenges faced by American citizens and veterans whose families are subject to protracted immigration backlogs.
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