Yesterday Jason and I took the boys to the park. I have never been to a park where mothers bring their children and converse with each other. That was a new experience for me. Somehow I missed that chapter with Savannah.
So I took the opportunity to eavesdrop. To be honest, the conversation and opinions were so freely and loudly given that I didn't really need to position myself. I listened to one mother who covered every topic on last night's evening news and the others near her were either enraptured by her commentary or just good at faking it.
Anyway she swiftly covered local politics: Huntsman, Republicans and then moved on to immigration.
Immigration is heavily debated. It's a WHITE HOT, VOLCANIC issue. I made the mistake of expressing my opinion with a neighbor recently who I had judged to be a quiet, unpolitical person, and boy I was wrong. She had an OPINION. So now I am more careful.
The Utah legislature has been attempting to write some kind of immigration manifesto for this state. After the attention that Arizona got, every state wants to be more careful but still wants to address the problem of illegal aliens in their states.
I understand that. I understand the need to address social problems that arise as a result of individuals coming and residing in this country illegally. I have read the LDS Church's statement on this matter. And I have read the article this morning in our local paper about a man getting deported.
What makes me think I am an authority to speak on this matter is my personal experience with The Department of Homeland Security/U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services or USCIS.
I have spoken with individuals in our local field office in Salt Lake City. I have been interviewed by their workers at U.S. Customs and Passport Control at several airports. I have spoken with many customer service workers around the country.
After navigating the labyrinth of U.S. Immigration and having ultimately a successful ending, this is my official position.
As a citizen of the United States of America, I have been treated so poorly and with absolutely no compassion, that if individuals seeking support or assistance from this bureaucratic organization are treated similarly, I do not blame them for becoming frustrated and giving up on their pursuits to remain here legally.
Whooo. That's it.
Here's the back story. During the course of our international adoption, the U.S. Embassy in Ethiopia did not keep our visa approval. The first step of international adoption is receiving approval from USCIS to bring children into the U.S. We were approved for two children. After our first adoption, the Embassy shipped all our paperwork to Warehouse 13 (jk!). I don't know where paperwork goes, but it is somewhere no one can go retrieve it. The Embassy informed us through our adoption agency that we should request USCIS to resend it.
That's where the problem started. Our local field office of Salt Lake would not do it. First they said it could be done, but they needed more paperwork. The paperwork got filed. Then it was not their responsibility. It took months of phone calls, other useless paperwork filed, fees, prayers, fasting and pleading. I called every customer service number I could find. At one point I was told I should hire an attorney. An attorney?
It took 5 months! 5 months to locate the one person. The one USCIS worker who said "I can do this". All she did was reprint our approval and send it to the visa database making it possible for the US Embassy in Ethiopia to print it out.
The travesty in this story is a child spent 5 months in a foster care center when he could have been with a family. When bureaucracy become so inflexible and unbending and the individual is lost, it is time to make some changes.
