Full disclosure, I started writing this post back in November of 2019 but then life threw a total curveball and I took time to focus on my health. As I recover, I realized how much I enjoyed writing about my feelings, my opinions, and actually taking time to reflect on my past and my current state. So 8 months later, I have finally finished this entry- here you go 🙂
In a previous post, I spoke about how I would get confused about whether or not I am in American-Indian or Indian-American. The one thing that I have never been confused about though is that I am, by birthright, an American citizen.
I vaguely remember attending my parent’s citizenship ceremony when I was younger, but I do remember how big of a deal it was. Somewhere at home, there is a picture of my parents, my sibling, and I waving tiny American flags in honor of their citizenship.
In high school, I remember taking a quiz on Buzzfeed seeing if I could pass the US Citizenship test. While I am happy to report that I was able to pass the test, it was amazing to see what people who were not natural-born citizens had to do and learn to become a United States Citizen. In a 2018 survey of 1000 US adults, only an alarming 36% of natural-born United States Citizens could pass the test.
My husband was born in raised in India. At the age of 17, he left India and attended school in Australia. After spending 6 years in Australia, he eventually immigrated to the United States. While he was one of just a few of his friends to get out of India on a student visa, several other people that he knows did not have the same luck as he did. Many of his friends have made their way to the US after seeking asylum. I never knew much about asylum until it became a topic of conversation between the two of us.
A few months ago, I decided to watch “Namaste England,” and while I thought that the movie was going to be sappy and dumb, I realized that there is a lot of truth to the story. While the end was the predictable happy ending that we see in most Bollywood movies, the storyline showing the trials and tribulations that the characters to get to escape their harsh reality in India seemed to be very in sync with the people I have spoken to who have sought asylum in the US.
You see, Namaste England was a story about a married woman who badly wishes to move to England for a better life. She decides to divorce her current husband and marry a British citizen (that guy knows that she is only in the marriage to obtain UK residency so there is that too). To do something for her family, she risks her actual marriage. Her husband then follows her to the UK, but he does this by being smuggled in through various modes of transportation. Sometimes a shipping container, sometimes in the back of a truck, etc. In one scene, he and the other people traveling with him are told to put plastic bags over their heads so that a truck checkpoint does not pick up any oxygen being picked up from the trailer. Once they clear the checkpoint, it is revealed that one of the older guys had passed as a result of not being able to breathe. While I am not 100% sure if this technology is real, or if such an event occurs, there is some truth to this scene. Being smuggled into the country to seek asylum is extremely risky and life-threatening, but for many, the risk is worth the chance of a better life than the one that they are living in India.
In 2016, I met a guy who I will refer to as Sri. Sri is from a small town in India. He has a wife and two children. Sri decided that he wanted to provide his wife and children a better life so he decided to come to the United States. After his tourist visa application was denied, his only choice was to be brought to the United States via smuggling. Sri traveled by land and water, through Central America and in the wee hours of the night, crossed the border between the United States and Mexico. Sri was caught in the act and put into a detention center where he spent several months as his case for asylum was being looked into.
What you see on television when they talk about how terrible some of the detention centers are- that is not “fake news,” no, that is real life. Sri informed the immigration offices that he was seeking asylum from his home country. The price tag of the journey and lawyer for his immigration cost Sri close to $20,000.
In the past three years, Sri has become a green card holder and thus is a legal resident of the United States. He has a good job and sends most of his money back home to India. It has been almost 4 years since Sri has been able to see his wife or kids, outside of video calling. That is the price he has had to pay to live the American dream for his family. While he is now able to apply for this wife and kids to come here, the journey has been a hard and lonely one.
The same year, a met another gentleman from India who had been in the states for a few years. We had booked a limo for a party, and Mirza was our limo driver. Mirza had a wife and child here that lived in a neighboring state. He had decided to move as the limo business was more in demand in his new state of residence We became social friends with Mirza after our initial meeting. One day, Mirza invited us over to his house and his wife and child were in town. It was great to meet his wife and child. His wife was white but she had embraced the Indian culture and even spoke some Hindi. A few months later, Mirza invited us over to celebrate his wife’s birthday. When we walked in, Mirza introduced us to his wife and kid. However, this time, his wife was Indian as was his child. I was completely caught off guard at this moment and I knew Mirza picked up on this. Mirza then explained to us that the lady whose birthday it was was his wife from India. They both had agreed that they wanted to move to the states to raise their child so they came up with a plan. Mirza would divorce his wife in India, travel to the US and marry someone here. Everything seemed to be all fine and dandy, he had even met someone who was okay with having a contract marriage. But then things changed. The lady he married stated that she needed to have a baby by him or she would tell the government everything. As he and his wife from back home were desperate to move to states, Mirza obliged. After all of this, she now refuses to file for divorce.
Towards the end of 2019, 39 people were found dead inside a truck in the United Kingdom. It is believed that the 39 people were all victims of human trafficking, engaging in such risky efforts because anything for them was better than their current conditions.
All of this has made me realize the value of an American passport and the freedom and rights it has given me. It has made me appreciate the struggles my parents and their parents went through to set a life here. Not everyone has had it this easy; they have put themselves in life or death situations to gain residency in this country. While there may be some political issues going on that I may or may not agree with, one thing that I can agree to is that I am lucky to have been born in this country and hold a US passport. It has provided me with privileges and protection that many do not have.
As a final reminder, being a US Citizen comes with ensuring the we complete our civic duties and I do sure hope that you all perform your duty come November 3, 2020.
