BY BONNIE DELANEY
TOMS RIVER BUREAU

BERKELEY — Andrea MacArthur is beginning to see light at the end of the tunnel in her quest to become an American citizen — but the past few days have been a roller coaster for the 19-year-old Ocean County College student.

Recently, she was unable to renew her driver's license because she lacked the proper credentials from the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services department.

Buoyed by support she received from those who read a story about her plight on Tuesday, it was only one day later she received a message from her employer that she should not return to work until she has the proper documentation.

Last month, MacArthur had celebrated the first anniversary of her part-time job at Kohl's in Toms River.

"She called me up crying after she received that message," said MacArthur's mother, Gail Carnevale, 40, of Berkeley.

So, Carnevale did what any other mother would do.

She took the day off from her own job and she and her daughter drove to the immigration offices in Newark, arriving hours before the office opened Thursday morning.

"I talked to my contact with immigration in Washington, D.C. and learned that the Newark office occasionally takes walk-ins," Carnevale said.

When the office opened, Carnevale and MacArthur explained their problem to the person at the reception desk, who told them no one was seen without an appointment and the office no longer stamped passports.

"So, we sat there and finally the head of security told us we couldn't wait there. He told us to wait in the cafeteria and to make our phone calls there," Carnevale said.

Carnevale said she then put calls in to the Washington, D.C., immigration office as well as the office of Rep. H. James Saxton, R-N.J.

Saxton had helped her become a citizen and his aides were trying to help MacArthur.

As Carnevale was waiting for her calls to be returned, she noticed numerous lawyers talking to clients and she walked up to one to ask for help.

"I didn't know what else to do. I was ready to hire someone right there if I could," she said.

After she was turned away by two lawyers, a third lawyer agreed to walk her over to the immigration case worker who was handling her case.

"She told me she knew him (the case worker) and she would introduce me," Carnevale said. "She (the lawyer) helped us out of the goodness of her heart."

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