I take immigration very seriously. You may not know this but I am first generation American on my dad’s side. My dad’s family is from Ireland and England. As of right now, the only people that live in the United States are my sister and I and our children. My cousin was also born in the US, but he has lived in England for a long time. My dad doesn’t even live in the United States anymore. The story about how they all ended up in America is really interesting.
My Grandpa Bill was a doctor of physiology in England. The United States government wanted our family to move to America because he was a brilliant physiologist. My family immigrated in the 1960’s. There was some kind of agreement where his family could live here and work here and have all the benefits of being American citizens. I didn’t know until much later, that my dad wasn’t actually an American Citizen. I found out when he had moved back to England. He had a social security number and could do everything but never had actual citizen status but was here legally. I am not totally sure honestly on all the details as he was just a kid when they moved here. From what I remember being told it was a very special deal and my Grandpa Bill was extremely smart and very accomplished.
Not all families have this kind of luck when it comes to immigration. A lot of immigration is out of necessity due to conditions of their countries or even safety. With the Corona Virus outbreak in China, I can see Chinese nationals wanting to leave. The United States is a land of hope and freedom to so many. The US has a lot to offer to people. While my family’s story is unique most people will need to get an immigration attorney like Jean Danhong Chen. Immigration attorneys help with getting green cards, citizenship, visa applications, naturalizations and deportation issues. I am a firm believer in having legal representation when you are dealing with something as important as your status in a country. You also have to do things a certain way for when you want to travel abroad so you can come back to the US. I can’t watch Lock Up Abroad on tv because I am afraid that will make me not want to travel.
On my mom’s side I know that my ancestors came over from Ireland on a boat. I know they didn’t have any special deals and an immigration lawyer would have been helpful for them because the Irish were not really liked back then. They had a reputation of being drunks and lazy and places would not even hire people because they were Irish. I’ve also known people who have gone through the whole immigration process themselves. One of them was from Korea. She moved here in sixth grade. She went through the whole citizenship process and is now a US citizen. It was really interesting to learn about the process from an actual person and not from a textbook or television. She even had the opportunity to have a legal American name, even though I always called her birth name and she didn’t mind.
I am very thankful that I was born in the United States and I don’t have to deal with those struggles. I feel for everyone who has to go through the immigration process for whatever reason they have.
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