Comfort In Masses

[Kr1186 3]

I wish I had been a part of this forum much sooner. First off, I would like to extend well wishes to everyone here...we are all under the same (quite awful) predicament of sitting around, waiting to hear good news. And though its certainly not easy, I like to think that there's comfort hearing about other experiences. We're all in the same boat after all, we may as well make the most of it. So here I am, and I'll tell you an abridged version to how I ended up here.

I have been in the US for 20 years. I came here with my parents and older brother under the pretense that a path to green card and ultimately, citizenship was available. But after a string of bad luck with a lawyers, one ran away with our money and the other investigated for fraud with taxes...my family's path to green card came to a screeching halt. All of the cases that lawyer held were quickly investigated. We were not a part of anything suspicious and were not committed for any wrong doings, however a judge felt that we could have been and therefore, ordered deportation. We were simply at the wrong place at the wrong time and For 15 years my parents fought hard to appeal this decision. The judge ended up retiring before my parents were given their green cards. It was a hard, ongoing and exhausting battle with immigration. We would live our lives normally until every so often when we would be asked to appear in court, nerves and all. My brother ended up aging out, and he was sent his own deportation orders to which we appealed and won. At some point, the uscis branches would tell us that they have lost some of our paperwork from a previous petition from my death era employer, a backup petition we had that has managed to get lost in the sauce.

Recently, I had interviewed with a uscis officer with my parents, only to be told after the fact that my green card would be denied since I had aged out (by 20 days). Frustration is an understatement.

But I don't ever forget how lucky I am.My parents are the epitome of the American dream. They worked hard, saved their pennies and put us first. My brother and I both graduated from a 4 year college without any loans. Since we had work permits, they paid international fees...nearly doubled the instate rate. I am a licensed registered nurse. My parents have spent atleast a hundred thousand dollars in lawyer fees, maybe more. It is safe to say that It has not been easy, but I try not to lose hope.

I filed for daca after being denied a greencard. I filed march 2013, performed biometrics in April and just recently received an approval im this march, approx one year later. My brother filed his daca dec 2012 and received it in may 2013. It's a waiting game.

I don't know how long it will take to receive my work permit, I am hoping soon because I cannot stand not being able to work. But then again, it could be worse.

I am so happy to see an alternate route to include all immigrants; those who wouldn't have had a chance to ever obtain a legal working permit, driving or receiving an education. I'm thrilled to see immigrants being given those same rights, not having to pay out of state fees would've benefited my family so much. This dream act may have stared out as a dream, but I am proud to see it play out in reality.

So to those waiting...stay hopeful! We are all in this together.