First published by Stiletto Gang on July 4, 2023.
I was 25 years old, the mother of a precious three-year-old son, and I did not hold a college degree when I crossed the southern border to live in the US. I was leaving a really bad marriage in Mexico and starting a new life for my son and myself in the US.
I held dual Mexican and American citizenship because I had been born in Texas. My parents lived in rural Mexico, an area without doctors, clinics, or hospitals, so my mother came to the US to deliver me and my siblings. My parents returned home a week after my birth.
Despite being born in Texas, I had never lived in the US. For this reason, I could not automatically bring my son to live here.
So why did I persist and get my three-year-old son accepted as a legal immigrant?
Opportunity!
The decision to leave my country of origin was heart wrenching. Yet I recognized that it would have been nearly impossible for me to find a job in Mexico to support us. Even more challenging would have been to hold a job and to attend a university at the same time.
US immigration laws that were on the books at that time were fully enforced. Consequently, I signed documents stating that my son and I would be deported if I accepted any public housing, food assistance, or any other type of government assistance. For five years I had to keep Immigration informed on where I lived and where I worked because my young son was an immigrant. At the end of five years, my son was granted US citizenship.
As much as I love my Mexican heritage, traditions, culture, and the nation’s amazing history, I have never regretted moving to this country. The first ten years were extremely difficult, yet I’ve seen my son grow into a fine man, I’ve acquired an education, I became both a CPA and a certified management accountant, and I worked in international finance for a major multinational corporation. In addition, my international finance career gave me the benefit of travelling the globe. After two decades in international finance, I took an early retirement. And now I have a really fun job - I write fiction.
If I had to do it again, would I?
Absolutely! There’s no other country in the world that provides the opportunities that are available here if we choose to work toward achieving something. I love this country!
HAPPY 4TH OF JULY!! LET'S GRAB A HOTDOG!