TOhis BE or NOT TO BE

I understand the frustration of tax paying US citizens, how many times have I heard that on the news or read it on the paper, people are tired of illegal immigrants who don't pay taxes and take advantage of the government benefits. Why won't they just become legal?



It is the purpose of my blog to express in a respectful way, the views of the so called illegal immigrants.



I came into this country with a tourist visa, it wasn't really my intention to stay, I loved my country, and yes, I won't lie, the are many wrong things with it, we had a very corrupt government for many years, the current President is still trying to clean out all the scorn that made it's way into official positions, I didn't have the best clothes or the latest gadgets, but I wasn't starving either, I got and education and could make a descent living for my self.



Nevertheless, I stayed, I was pregnant when I got here, and by the time I was supposed to be on my way, I was already too far into my pregnancy to risk going all the way back. So I gave birth to my first "Anchor Baby" , a term which most of the media (Glen Beck being one of them) uses to refer to the children of illegal immigrants born on USA soil. (I will cover the Anchor Baby topic on another entry). I didn't apply for residency then, because I was going to go back to Mexico, and I did, and I would've done it earlier if it hadn't been a risk to my pregnancy.



While I was in Mexico, Jose (the father of my baby), whose father had applied for his legal residency about 10 years back, got a call from immigration, they had an answer for him, he traveled to Ciudad Juarez in Mexico and was granted permanent residency in the US. He had to go back to the US within the next 30 days, so he did. All of a sudden I found myself, at 20 yrs. old, with a fatherless newborn. Jose (my baby's father) went back to the states, got a job, and would send money every month, he missed the first 8 months of our baby's life, it was then, that I decided I should join him, we needed to be together, as a family. I applied for another tourist visa, and since I wasn't going to work I wasn't doing anything Illegal. Then I got pregnant again, 40 weeks later I had my second baby (yeah another one of those anchor babies), and it was then that I decided I really did want to live here, and I should apply for my legal residency. I did so in February '03.



It's now 2008, it's been five years since I filed my application, I haven't done anything illegal on the meantime, I haven't run through a red light, or drove under the influence, or any of those things illegal aliens are best known for. Because I'm on a legalization process, it would be illegal for me to work, so I don't. We live on my husband's moderate income. And it's really hard to afford a family of four with one income, my husband usually works more than two jobs so we can make ends meet. Because I don't want to do anything illegal I have to struggle daily knowing I could be out there with the rest of the "criminals" working to put food on my kids table.

About illegals getting government help or benefits, I cannot speak for anyone but for myself, my family doesn't get any kind of government funded help, we pay our bills and our taxes like everyone else.

I was Illegal for a period of time, from when my tourist visa expired to the time we had enough money to file my application, the legalization process keeps getting more expensive but it doesn't get any faster.



So I understand what being illegal means, and I also understand the importance of trying to become legal. But I certainly understand the question that many immigrants face daily in this country To Be or Not to Be. For many to be illegal means being able to work and try to make a better living for their families, for many others like me to be legal (or on the process of it) means to watch your family struggle and know that there's a long wait before you can do anything about it.