Israeli pot agronomist working in Nevada ordered out of US

Esther Abta believes her husband’s green card denial was an honest mistake.

“I have to say that this is part of God’s plan and this has only been an opportunity to increase my emunah,” the 36-year-old orthodox Jewish woman said recently at a Las Vegas coffee shop, using the Hebrew word for “faith.”

Mistake or not, Abta’s Israeli husband, Shimon, is now living with family back in his homeland after being deemed a drug trafficker for his work as an agronomist observing Nevada’s medical marijuana industry. And her emunah is being further tested as she waits to see if U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services will grant him re-entry to the U.S.

Shimon said he feels like a victim caught between federal law, which classifies marijuana as an illegal Schedule 1 drug, and Nevada law, which has legalized the drug for medicinal and recreational use.

Read more: https://www.reviewjournal.com/local/local-las-vegas/israeli-pot-agronomist-working-in-nevada-ordered-out-of-us/