“You can no longer claim legal residency under the petition filed by your grandmother. You are over 21 now and aged-out under the I-130,” said my latest attorney. I didn’t quite understand what he meant, the fear and confusion hidden in my nervous laughter.
“You are joking, right? They didn’t give me an F-1 visa to study here because my parents had filed for permanent residency and now you are telling me that I can’t get the permanent residency for which my visa was initially rejected?”
He shrugged, like it was no big deal. “You luckily have a 245-I and can get a Green Card in several years once your parents file for you again. Or you can just get married to a U.S. citizen,” he offered.
“What? I have already waited in-line a decade and marriage doesn’t help me—I am gay,” I answered, gyrating at the reminder of how another set of discriminatory laws worked against me.
“You can always get a marriage of convenience?” he offered without any emotion.
My case illustrates that even following immigration laws and the dictates of attorneys, in order to become legal, can render one ‘illegal’ in America. My name is Prerna, I am a 24-year-old Indo-Fijian-American lesbian, and ironically, had my student visa not been rejected 7 years ago, I would have left after my studies, but my family is here and leaving at any point would mean a 10-year ban – I might not even get to see the funeral of my U.S. citizen grandmother, take care of my ailing parent, and be around to see my only niece grow up.
My American dreams are deferred. I can’t support myself so I am forced to depend on a family that is in denial about my sexuality. I received a graduate degree last year with a 4.00 GPA but that just hangs from my wall as a piece of paper. I can’t drive, can’t work legally and certainly cannot provide for a relationship due to my ‘illegal’ status. Why would I want to burden someone I love with my handicap?
In the meantime, I’ll be out fighting Prop H8 in California – fighting for a right that I never had but realizing that an injury to one is an injury to all.
I blog for A Dream Deferred and The Sanctuary.
Comment or Email: prerna@dreamactivist.org
