Home again

Hi everyone, I'm happy to tell you that I'm writing from Mexico, I love the US, it's a place a called home for a very long time, but at this point in my life I felt I needed to go back to my roots, to be able to regain an identity that seemed to be fading away.

I've been in my hometown for about two weeks now, and I must say, it feels really weird, everything is so different, yet the same, the town has grown so much, there's new schools, stores and so on on every corner, and overpasses everywhere. But the people is the same, the tight bonds shared with family and friends are as strong as ever, unweakened by time, if anything, stronger even.

It was so strange walking into my parents house, althoug it has been remodeled and has additions and what not, it was like I had been there yesterday and nothing was new, the same smells and sounds were still there, it almost broght tears to my eyes when I went in what used to be my room, now with a huge closet I wish had been there in my teenage years, hahaha.

My children love being around so many cousins, aunts, uncles, grandparents and friends, for them language is not a barrier, they are happy just to play with whomever is visiting at the moment and enjoy every bit of it.

I'm still on the quest of becoming an American, but this time it will be on different terms, and even if takes 20 more years, I know one day I'll hold in my hands the "green card" I've so longed for.

Economy

Like many other Americans, my husband and I have been struggling to make ends meet, from the rising prices at the grocery store to the skyrocketing price of gas it just seems harder than ever to stretch our dollar. So we were really excited to hear about the rebate checks the government was planning to send out to stimulate the economy and help out during this recession ( not a word George Bush chose to use on his speech last week), we didn't have big plans for this money, we weren't gonna go on vacation, or buying a new TV, not even new clothes, we were gonna simply catch up on bills and put the rest in the bank for using later for paying more bills and groceries.

After filing for it (jointly) we waited, and waited and waited, finally my husband called IRS last week and was told something we could not believe, we did not qualify for it, because I don't have a social security number yet, my husband was sure this must be a mistake, he thought maybe the person he spoke to on the phone was misinformed or confused or simply stupid, how could this be, my husband is a legal resident, has been for more than six years, our two children are American citizens, and I have been on the immigration process for more than five years, this had to be a mistake.

Well, it wasn't a mistake, it's true, according to a news article on yahoo (link below) the IRS made it a rule that nobody with a foreign spouse without a social security number would qualify for this rebate, in order to prevent "illegals" to get the money, I guess fearing they would spend it on their own country instead of the US.

I understand the reasoning behind this rule, and it really wouldn't be fair for the money to go to other countries when it's meant to somehow restore the economy of the USA, but at the same time, I think is unfair that many hard working legal immigrants like my husband cannot benefit from something like this when it's not his fault (or mine) that the legalization process takes so long. We like everybody else, live in the US, spend our money here, and pay taxes here, maybe IRS should've thought this through a little better.

As you can read in the news article, not only "Mexicans" will be affected by this, but many "All American" military man and woman, who put their life at risk everyday for our country will suffer the consequences as well if their spouses are like me on the long immigration process.

Maybe I don't deserve $600 dls. even if I was going to spend them here, but I think my husband who works hard every day to put a roof over my head, and my children, who are just like any other American children, deserve what every one else is getting.

http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/ap/ap_on_bi_ge/storytext/tax_rebates_left_out/27431478/SIG=10kt0t3ql/*http://www.irs.gov


http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080511/ap_on_bi_ge/tax_rebates_left_out

Anchor Babies

People have babies for many reasons, because they are in love, because they want to feel loved, because it was the right time, because it was the next step, because their biologic clock is tick, tick, ticking away. But according to some of the media, illegal immigrants have babies with just one reason in mind, to obtain legal citizenship. Babies born in the US from ilegal parents are refered to as anchor babies.



Well, I must have missed the memo, because after two intense 24 hr. labors, two painful epidurals, hours of pushing, couple gallons of blood, a six pound girl and an eight pound boy, I wasn't granted such thing.



I've been on the immigration waiting line for 5 yrs. and after many sleepless nights, thousands of dollars on baby diapers and needless to say Hospital Bills!! I keep waiting, so if there's such thing as Automatic Legalization just for having a baby in the US, I must say I feel duped, because if that was the only reason to have children I would've stopped after one painful delivery!



The only way to obtain legal citizenship through your children is to wait till they become of legal age (like driving and voting age) and for them to apply for you and sponsor you, and of course that would at least take a couple years.



Having children, as anybody that has them knows, is very expensive and it's a lifetime commitment, so I wonder who would be stupid enough to want to have children for a green card, facts remain, people will keep having babies for many different reasons, I just will have to disagree when anyone says that legalization is one of them.