Fourteen years ago, the University of Idaho recruited Katarzyna Dziewanowska from Poland to conduct research on plant breeding. She was so valuable that the university helped her negotiate the complex and intimidating U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. The FBI granted her special clearance to help fight biological agents, such as the plague.

“She’s a damn good scientist,” says Patricia Hartzell, professor of biology and biochemistry and former dean of Dziewanowska’s department. “She’s really good.”

But none of that matters to an immigration bureaucracy more concerned with the letter – if not the spirit – of the law and the proper way to pose for a photograph. So the 64-year-old scientist could be rounded up any day and deported. Never mind that she has a husband and son here.

It shouldn’t be this way. Dziewanowska is precisely the type of person we should encourage to come to the United States, but unless someone in power intercedes on her behalf, she will be treated as if she swam or dashed across the border in the dark of night.

The rules win. Everyone loses.

UI wanted her and has benefited from her work. In turn, it helped her with an application for permanent residency. In the interim, she was granted the status of outstanding researcher. But now the university says her immigration status is her responsibility. She says the university gave her bad advice, which contributed to her failure to gain residency.

What’s especially galling is how persnickety details have circled back to claim Dziewanowska’s job. While her application for residency underwent lengthy consideration, she was forced to apply for temporary work permits. Her first one was granted. The second one was held up because she submitted a photo in profile. When she submitted a head-on shot, the application was rejected because of the glare reflected in a lens of her glasses.

Meanwhile, her first permit expired, but she kept working. She says the UI told her she had a grace period, but it appears as if UI read the rules wrong. When she submitted a no-glare photo, her temporary permit was approved. However, immigration officials ultimately rejected her permanent residency application because she had worked without a permit.

In short, had she submitted a head-on, no-glare photo the first time, she might have been granted permanent residency. That’s lunacy.

Immigration officials defend the decision by saying that someone of Dziewanowska’s intellect should have been able to follow the rules. That’s an easy judgment for those who don’t have to wade through a foreign bureaucracy under the ostensible guidance of an employer.

She made a good-faith effort. She meant no harm in failing to meet the exact letter of the law. She has conducted valuable research aimed at providing important information to the U.S. government.

It would be heartless and embarrassing to send her packing now.