I want to tell my story!
Everyone has heard about asylum seekers being held in detention facilities and immigration raids on undocumented workers in the United States. We’ve seen photos of children crying and being separated from their parents. Illegal immigrants are being deported.
But, have you ever heard a story about an undocumented American worker in Mexico? Well, now that I have my Mexican citizenship (and can’t be deported unless I commit a crime, which I don’t plan to do soon), I can tell mine. I was an undocumented American worker in Mexico and I want to tell my story about what Mexico did to me!
How I Got “Undocumented” (not “Illegal”)
Like most foreign immigrants living abroad, I became “undocumented” when I overstayed my Temporary Residency & Work Visa. I say “undocumented” because in Mexico this is a civil offense, not a crime. I heard a young Mexican kid in the US cry as his father was taken away, “My Daddy is not a criminal.”
According to surveys by the PEW Research Center in the USA, most unauthorized immigrants are in that situation because they have overstayed their temporary residency, work, or study visas. Mexicans have historically been the largest group of unauthorized immigrants in the USA, but now, the largest numbers are from Asia and Central America.
In my case, my late husband and I formed a Mexican corporation to buy and operate a hotel that we were purchasing on a land contract from an American owner. The corporation employed us, and this is how we got our Temporary Residency & Work Visas. We had to submit the company’s financial statements every year to the Immigration Department to renew our visas. Well, we ended up walking away from the deal because she did not have a clear title and a bunch of lawsuits pursued. Bottom line – we closed the company which resulted in us losing our visas! We were “undocumented!” – But, not criminals.
The Community’s Response
We had a popular hotel, so when we left, the word got out fast. We rented a small house in town and started planning our new future. We had lost a sizable investment. The local Mexican community embraced us and offered to help. Women came and washed my clothes. Men sent their boys to cut the lawn. People sent meals, meat, flowers – I will NEVER forget the love shown to us. No one ever told me to “Go back home!”
Companies Recruited and Hired Us
I read about the poultry company in Mississippi that recruited and hired over 600 undocumented / ”illegal” Mexican workers who were then seized for possible deportation. Nothing happened to the company, it was just the workers who suffered.
Well, I live in a tourist destination and businesses needed help with their international customers. We had English skills, computer skills, and had operated a hotel and restaurants. We wrote some vocational bi-lingual training manuals for hotels and restaurants and got hired to train their staffs.
Operating “Undercover”
Imagine if you had to hide and live in fear of being deported. Well, we had to operate “undercover” but we did so without fear. It was a matter of having the proper documents to generate invoices, to open a bank account and to cash checks, all of which could not be done without a Temporary Residency & Work Visa. We had to pay a friend who had the necessary documents to send invoices to our customers and to collect their checks. Then we’d pick him up, take him to the bank to cash them, and pay his commission. There were times when he was away and we waited weeks to cash checks and to get cash. And, of course, his commission kept rising.
Immigration is Here – Hide!
I was teaching a class in a hotel when the Human Resource Manager came in to get me. “The Immigration Department is here.” We hid in the hallways until they left. Many hotels hire Cubans and South Americans, especially for guest entertainment. If caught without current visas, both the employee and employer face fines and the foreigner cannot return to work until proper papers are obtained. “We’ve got to get your papers,” she said.
The HR Manager helped me to write a contract for services, referred me to other hotels, and helped me to get more business – enough to re-qualify for a Temporary Residency & Work Visa. Then, it was the hard part – we had to turn ourselves into the Immigration Department and re-apply.
Turning Ourselves In – Getting Deported
My heart was thumping when we went to the Immigration Department to “turn ourselves in.” We had an appointment with the Director. My husband kept squeezing my hand and telling me that everything would be OK.
After reviewing our situation, the Director told us that we needed to go back home and start the application process for a Temporary Residency & Work Visa all over again. Our punishment was that we lost the time (5 years) that we had accumulated toward obtaining permanent residency. We had to leave the country for 48 hours before we could return, so, we went to California to visit friends for the weekend.
If Mexicans overstay their visas or cross the border “illegally” they must return home and cannot apply or reapply for a US Visa for 10 years! They have to leave their homes, their belongings, and their families, some of whom are American-born.
What Did Mexico Do to Me?
When I was an undocumented immigrant, the people helped me. The government assisted me. They treated me with respect and human dignity – like all foreign immigrants, regardless of their situations deserve. And, they gave me a pathway to citizenship. I am proud to be a dual citizen of the United States and of Mexico.
References:
Gustavo López and Jynnah Radford. Facts on U.S. Immigrants, 2015: Statistical portrait of the foreign-born population in the United States. May 3, 2017. The PEW Hispanic Research Center http://www.pewresearch.org/
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