Yaderlin Hiraldo Jimenez is the wife of missing Army Spec. Alex Jimenez, one of three US soldiers missing since May. The body of one of the soldiers was found shortly after their disappearance, but other than seeing an ID card, there has been no definite word on her husband.

Mrs. Jimenez entered this country illegally from the Dominican Republic in 2001.

She married Spec. Jimez in 2004, and he was trying to get a green card for her before he was deployed.

She had received notice to appear before a deportation hearing, but the judge put it aside and waited for the government to do the right thing.

Sen. John Kerry got involved by writing a letter to Homeland Security Secretary Chertoff a couple of weeks ago, and now she has been given a green card, meaning she will be able to stay here as long as she wants.

On Friday, Yaderlin walked into a Citizenship and Immigration Services office in Buffalo, New York. She left with a green card in her hand, guaranteeing she can stay in the U.S. for the rest of her life.

“She was moved to tears,” her lawyer Matthew Kolken, who went with her to the immigration office, told the Boston Sunday Globe.

“Her immigration problems have been solved in their entirety and now her focus is completely dedicated to her hope and desire that she’s going to see her husband again,” Kolken added.

The move came after U.S. Department of Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff said last month that his agency would “terminate” the deportation case against Yaderlin so she could stay in the country and apply for permanent resident status.

At the time, Chertoff said in a letter to Sen. John Kerry, D-Mass., that “the sacrifices made by our soldiers and their families deserve our greatest respect.”

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Kolken said Yaderlin hopes to apply for citizenship so she can eventually vote. She also hopes to attend college, he said.

“She commented about how much she loved this country,” Kolken said.

The insurgents claim her husband and his comrade are dead and buried. The least we can do is give his wife the legal status he sought for her before he left, and pray he is still alive and will come home to her.