The Visa apointment (Issac)

Now for those of you who have not yet had your appointment do not let this sway you please press on. I pray that they soon make the employees there treat immigrants with respect. I as have many other have petitioned to the government officials to see that this happens. I have no idea if that will go far but for what its worth here is our experience.
This is a section from Issacs letter and is his words.

The trip to the embassy was a 12 hour bus ride. I kissed everybody goodbye; since i was going to leave to go back to the united states from Cd Juarez. I was to cross to El Paso and catch a plane there to St Louis. We had the plane tickets ready.

I stayed at a pastor’s house there, which was a blessing for us. I got there October 29^th. I went to get a physical exam at one of the authorized clinics the following day. We spend so much money on that exam. Plus i had to get shots as well.

November 1st, I got up for the appointment. I was ready, at peace and determined to get this over with. I headed to the embassy. Once there, i got in line. It was a very, very long line, and everybody there was going to deal with visas and immigration. I got there at 7am.

It took forever to get in. I went from one waiting room to the next. Finally I came to a window where they took my fingerprints, and checked my paperwork. The pictures they asked for were not like the ones i had on me so i had to go outside and get some fresh pictures taken. I came back and i got another waiting number, only to go to another waiting room.

At last, i came to the final waiting room, where the immigration officer interviews the applicants.

After a long while they called me up to window “27”. I will never forget that window. I walked up to the officer and saluted him saying hi. He replied and said; “why do you talk to me? Do you know me?”

I apologized. He started the interview and i answered all of his questions.

He was upset at the fact that I was speaking to him in English and kept questioning why I spoke it so fluently. He then asked me how I entered the US and I told him exactly how it happened. When I finished, he basically said that I was lying. He commented that my English was so good and that no Mexican could learn English outside of the US. I answered saying that i wasn’t lying and that I was being serious. That’s when he lost it. He started yelling, screaming that i was wasting his time, that he had a lot to do and that I was a liar. I didn’t know what to do nor say. Then he proceeded to call security to escort me outside the building and wait there until he felt like talking to me again. I had no idea what was going on. The people that worked there witnessed me being escorted out of the room and told me that this guy was mean, but not to worry because he would have to call me back by the end of the night.

By this time it was about 5 o’clock pm. I hadn’t had anything to eat all day and had the worst headache ever. My knees were shaking. After 30 minutes or so, he sent another guard out to get me. The first thing he said to me was not to speak unless I’m spoken to and not to do anything else. Just be there and stand still. He took my fingerprints, gave me a receipt and told me to come back to pay the fingerprints fee. He then told me to come back the following Monday.

I went back to the pastor’s house and felt like I was falling to pieces. The whole weekend was so bizarre. On Monday I did what the officer told me to do. There I was again in front of him and waiting for him to call me up.

We started the whole interview all over again. He asked me about Amanda, about church, about how I learned English about when I came back to México on a voluntary departure. He then commented about the fact that i had been charged with a false claim in St Louis. He asked me again how I entered the US and I told him. Again, he insisted that i was lying. He himself decided to charge me with this same offense that had been dropped in a US court of law. He then said that there was no waiver available on earth for me because of this charge and that i was banned from ever entering the United States again. He did this all on his own speculation, with no proof and no witnesses. I was guilty until proven innocent.

I had to ask permission to say something, so i did. I then told him that we had brought this very same charge to a judge and had dropped it. I asked how he could charge me with the same thing again. He said he was under a different jurisdiction and there is nothing else that could be done.

I told my lawyer about that and she said that once they decide on something, nothing can be done, especially with a charge like that one.

My entire world felt apart. I felt my knees crumble and my spirit at its lowest point. This wasn’t supposed to happen. I was supposed to go home to my wife and daughter. It was supposed to be over.

I bitterly cried myself to sleep. We cancelled the flights. We cancelled our plans.

Just like that, our dreams were shattered.