She wants to write a margin note. Would you remember the Tuesday? But she doesn’t. The file will be reviewed. Her notes become evidence. So she writes only: See psychological impact of PTSD on temporal recall. She knows no one will look it up.
The period at the end of that sentence is the heaviest thing she has ever held. She stares at it. A tiny black circle. And inside that circle: deportation. Or detention. Or disappearance. She doesn’t know which. The SOR doesn’t say. The SOR never says. sor reader
"Therefore, the application is denied."
She picks up her red pen. Not to grade. To witness . She wants to write a margin note
She’s been at this desk for eleven years. Immigration. Appeals. The gray zone between law and mercy. She knows the weight of a single sheet. It can hold a life or end one. The file will be reviewed
Because a Statement of Reasons is never about reasons. It’s about the choice to stop looking.