Hiatus

Im stepping away for a while. I hope to have had some relevance in the posts i made. But enough has been said for now.

I'll be back.


Thanks for the support to all.



- Gabriel an Undocumented American Youth.

"Oh"

The reason behind the Hermitage:


Jan. 2007 - Dinner at Pasta Pomodoro. time unknown.

"....i am undocumented"

she looks uncomfortable. Fiddles with her food. mutters "oh" with out looking at me.

1.5 years fizzle before me and she disappears in front of my eyes.

Current Events

Just a summary of the weeks happenings:

Some say that tuesday the 13th is bad luck. Maybe. I used to be much more superstitious than i am now. It rained on tuesday all day. I woke up with a fever. thought "damn i should have gotten the flu shot". My single wisdom tooth was rocking the entire left side of my face. had to call in sick for work. Went back to sleep. Later that morning, i got up and with some dayquil and coffee worked on some much needed homework assignments. reading chapters on TCP/IP while organizing a phone conference call. call went ok, regardless. impulsive night.

Wesneday was not so good. Not enough sleep. Not enough restraint. Not enough peace.

Thursday was the anxiety attack. But with a bike ride, some stress was released. Went to the SCU Napolitano demonstratoin, were i ran into my buddy Ju. Met up with an activist friend and her group and marched. The adrenaline ran high. Left the action early to go to a midterm, which turned out to be canceled. met up with another activist and had coffee with her. Got home late and read Thoreau's "Life Without Principle" for the hundredth time. sleep

Friday after work i went to walmart, and found an LED rear bike light and a small biking backpack for my water bottles. Found my way to a Pollo Loco (where i once applied for a job) and once done got to the apartment. changed and got on the bike. It was a bike party friday. went alone but ran into someone i knew and rode with him and his buddies. 30 miles, 4 hours, 4000 riders. epic. walked around downtown. 3 am lights out

Saturday. not much going on. its been hot. Dreamactivist conference call, call with Ana about petition, movie with the sister, and a long walk. Now its time for bed

Word

Surreal World

I could not take it anymore. The pressure had built up through out the weeks, months, years. I sat at work, staring at the broken laptops in front of me. Hardware and screws and the automatic screwdriver spread out on the bench.

The flood gates were opened this year. All that raw emotion that had been suppressed is now pushing back, clamoring to be heard, to be let out into the light of day. To be acknowledged.

I kept thinking about how surreal it all is. It’d been tossing and turning in my head. I don’t feel any different, I don’t look very much different, and yet. After how many years does one cease to become a foreigner?

Then it starts, the parade of stories I’ve come to hear. Ed studying to work in the medical field is a line cook. Cintia with her two science degrees works at a pizza joint. Fernando, with a degree in music is a bus boy. Mina a with psychology degree that cant work other than fast food. Ju’s sister, who dropped out and works two restaurant jobs so that her brother can go to college. Gladys a high school senior who is top of her class and fears she won’t be able to go further. Mark. Maria. Kemi. Gina, Phiash. Herta, Aldo, Mohammed, Miguel, Fermin, Carlo, Gilbert, Beleza, Emmanuel, Seung, Claudia, Jose, Ana, Alejandra, Prena, Erik, Daniel. Gabriel, an engineer, who fixes laptops, wraps pallets and makes boxes. And it does not end.

It was too much. My trance was broken by the sounds of my supervisor speaking Mandarin to another employee. Chest heaving, hands with screws and tools, the sound of the trucks at the loading dock, fluorescent lights, beeps, smell of wet cardboard making its way into my nostrils, the ringing phones. It’s too much. It’s not real is it?

11:22am. I got up. Headed for the exit and walked out. The gray day greeted me.

I don’t know what I am going to do. I will probably be back to work tomorrow. Maybe I won’t. Don’t know if I’ll have the job. I really don’t care. I just wanted some air. Some time to re-think this fucked up reality.

Faithfully Remain

"how long can you pray? and still not see a change? I...I....faithfully remain"

Get in line. then wait 30 more years

My parents filed a family petition, in which my Aunt, the sister of my father, and a US citizen was sponsoring my father. My mother is being petitioned by her brother. Both included me and Gina in the petition as derivatives. this was in 2001. I was 19. Gina 13. We recently were told that the application would probably be done in 3-4 years. maybe sooner.

Which means it took, 12 years to process. which means Gina and I turned 21. in 2002 the Child Status Protection Act was passed. Here's some info on it:

The Child Status Protection Act (CSPA) was signed into law on August 6, 2002. CSPA was enacted to address the problem of minor children losing their eligibility for immigration benefits because they had aged-out or turned 21 years old as a result of processing delays on the part of the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services or the Department of State. US embassy

There had been on ongoing Class action lawsuit, stating that the government was not following the CSPA laws by maintaining my application age of 19.

Today, I got this news:

A federal judge has ruled that adult children who turn 21 while waiting for family-sponsored green cards have to wait anew once they "age out" of their parents' applications.

U.S. District Judge James Selna ruled in Los Angeles against a group of immigrants with green cards who sued the federal government, arguing a 2002 law means grown children should be allowed into the country when their parents file new paperwork on their behalf.

Friday's final ruling means the plaintiffs' children who became adults while waiting for processing must start the application process from the beginning. - Washington Post

So. My parents got in the famous line. My sister and I got in line with them. The government took 12 years to process our applications. We passed the golden age of 21. And now we find out that, nope. Get in the BACK of the line again, and wait. wait for another 13, heck 18, no 20 years.

Thanks for the ruling.