“In 1990, my parents brought our family across the Mexican/American border. I was two years old. The subsequent thirty-two years of my life were marked by a condition of 'illegality,' which concluded only after a painstaking legal process that granted me U.S. permanent residency on May 26, 2022. Despite my newfound legal status, I still do not identify myself as American. It’s not that the culture feels unfamiliar or that I lack language proficiency. Rather, my reluctance to embrace an American identity stems from my conviction that the United States has denied me the humanity I deserve. This harsh realization surfaced prominently during my journey toward legality.

In this three-part blogs series, I delve into the complexity of adjusting legal status for immigrants without initial lawful entry, based on my personal experiences with the U.S. consulate in Ciudad Juarez, Mexico. My experiences show how the process of obtaining legal status in the United States, specifically via the U.S. consulate in Ciudad Juárez, Mexico, acts as a significant form of punishment and subjugation, amplifying the burden of 'illegality.'"

Continue reading: https://contexts.org/blog/navigating-the-path-to-legal-status-part-one/

Part of a three-part series. Read in full:

Part 1: https://contexts.org/blog/navigating-the-path-to-legal-status-part-one/
Part 2: https://contexts.org/blog/navigating-the-path-to-legal-status-part-two/
Part 3: https://contexts.org/blog/navigating-the-path-to-legal-status-part-three/