Dear Land of the Free

Dear Land of the Free, I need help understanding a recent decision that you made to deny my Argentine boyfriend a visa to visit me.
You told me to study hard, so I did. You taught me to love diversity and new experiences, so I sought after them. You helped fund my study abroad last semester to Buenos Aires, Argentina, so I was able to go. You told me to try not to hang out with Americans much so that I could be deeper immersed in the Argentine language and culture, so I did. My second weekend there, I took a risk and went on a retreat with a local Argentine church. They needed a translator during the sermons because American missionaries were visiting, so I gladly helped out.
It was that weekend that I met my boyfriend. His dark, handsome features and colorful Ecuadorian hat caught my eye, and he quickly swept me off my feet with his hospitability, musical talent and eagerness to help me improve my pronunciation.
As our relationship grew over the semester, so did our plans for the future. He would visit me the first of April, we had decided, so that he could meet my family and get to see Chapel Hill in bloom. Then, I would be back in Argentina soon after exams so we wouldn’t have to go too long without seeing each other.
Plans changed after you denied him a visa at the beginning of February. Sure, he has all kinds of factors going against him. He is a recent college graduate, doesn’t live with his parents, works several jobs and has a girlfriend in the States, which apparently is code red for “likely to stay in the U.S. to form a life, so he can’t come in.”
I think your policies are contradictory and whoreish. What I understand from this situation is that it is okay for U.S. citizens to study and learn and become better human beings from their experiences in foreign cultures and bring back the knowledge and love we gained abroad to share with people at home. But we’re not going to be good hosts and allow the people who taught us abroad to visit and learn from us if there is the slightest possibility at all that they might want to form a life here. You sold me out, America. I feel like I used the beautiful country of Argentina, their universities, the church and all the kind people who helped me along the way. I thought I was getting involved in a cultural exchange, which to me, occurs when both sides win. As much as I’d like to think that Argentina greatly benefitted from hosting me, I don’t think it compares to the ways in which I benefitted from being there.
Next time, please make it clear to all people who want to pursue foreign travel or work that they should avoid all possibilities of falling in love while they are abroad—that is, if it’s the kind of love where you would want to see the person again.