I saw this movie years ago, in which Andie MacDowell made her debut to me; I thought she was very pretty and couldn't figure out how she could fall for the ugly Gerard Depardieu with his crooked nose, but it turned out to be a good show, and illustrates some of the problems immigrants have.
I meet a lot of people as a teacher at SLCC. They come from many different backgrounds. I know this because one of the assignments to create a Musical Heritage PowerPoint reveals their ethnicities. A student I had this past semester was found to be from Uruguay. He and his father and brother left Uruguay looking for something better in the US. It is hard for me to understand why anyone would travel to a different country with the hopes that things would be better. It seems that building a new life would be far more expense and mystery than what you would face if you stayed. Surely, these people must be guided.
Marcelo was a nice student, respectful, and not afraid to approach me. On a couple different occasions he stayed after class just to chat. I found out that he and his family have been in the US for 14-15 years. They left Uruguay because employment conditions were very difficult. His father, who had a college degree, was not able to produce enough money to buy basic necessities. Unfortunately, that degree has been useless in the US.
Marcelo remembers his father applying for a passport and visa at the immigration office. He had to prove that he and his sons would be returning. His father did not sell his house. Instead, he gave it to some relatives, who, he proved to the officials, would be taking care of it while he was "visiting" America.
They lived as illegal aliens for eight years. Marcelo feared officials in all corners of life: school, work, government. He recalls being afraid of being found out and being sent back. His father emphasized being a good student, a good employee, and a good person so that no one would look into their background. Finally, they saved enough money to go before the immigration officials to request citizenship. They hired an immigration attorney - the cost was $7500. That was a discounted price because Marcelo and his brother were minors. Normally, it would have been $10,000. It was not a requirement to have an attorney, but the attorney knew the ins and outs of the law, so the chance of a successful outcome was better. They received their "permanent resident" cards, which expire after ten years.
As a "permanent resident," Marcelo served an LDS mission. He is now pursuing an education and looking forward to possibly getting married to a girl he is presently dating. The term paper he submitted to fulfill one of the requirements of the class was the best I had read from someone who had English as his second language. It was well researched and engaging. The grammar was well done; he received one of the higher scores in my classes. Apparently, he had taken AP English in high school. He speaks pretty good English, but I can tell he keeps up with his Spanish. Asked whether Marcelo thought the US should drop the immigration laws, he said, "No, that process needs to be done, but the cost is the problem."
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