Like a monstrous mouth, the frosted glass doors swooshed opened and closed. I could see their smiling faces on the other side, then swoosh, the automatic doors briskly swept their image away. As passengers emerged from the depths of customs interrogation and shuffled across the sensor, I could see them again, for split seconds, before the doors once again swallowed them.
Standing eagerly on the freedom side of the United States (US) Immigration sliding doors, stood my parents, smiling and waving as the minutes ticked by, trusting I would soon be in their arms. I, on the other hand, stood a young child supplanted in the sea of humans lined up at custom counters awaiting the litany of standard questions; like whether we harbored insidious bugs in fruit that may infiltrate and destroy the Hawaiian islands, whether we obscured any other untoward items, or carried a grandiose amount of cash or weapons.
As a child, my only folly, causing no harm to anyone except my muscles from lugging the weight around, was the fact that I braved an obscene amount of Australian treats like Violet Crumble, Jaffas, Flakes, and Smarties, a few family size jars of Vegemite, and some good ole chicken and regular flavored Twisties. Fortunately, none of these were cause of concern for customs.
My first US school photo in Hawaii in 1982. (Thanks mum for the sensational hair do! Your 7 year old granddaughter was not impressed. LOL)
Trouble At Customs
Being a minor, fortunately, I was not alone. Holding the hand of my Australian (Aussie) Aunty, we patiently ambled through the process. I was returning to Hawaii from a summer vacation visiting my Aussie family; aunt, uncle, cousins and my grandparents. Aunty, lovingly being my guardian on the long international trip, was also about to enjoy a little Hawaiian vacation visiting her sister, my mum. My mum, dad, and I had recently moved to the US. Aussie summer vacations were now my way of staying connected to the rest of my family.
Both of us held Aussie passports in hand. I am uncertain if I also had my resident alien (aka green card) yet or not. Either way, there was cause of alarm since I was a minor traveling with someone other than direct family bearing the same surname. To our customs officer something wasn't quite right, something potentially duplicitous, like child trafficking, was possibly going on here. Are you kidding me?
Detained for hours, we were interrogated and quarantined in rooms beyond my parents’ sight. My father spent a small fortune tipping the porter at the troublesome automatic door barrier sending messages in attempt to resolve the issue, whatever that was.
Not once did the customs agents communicate directly with my parents standing only feet away beyond the ominous sliding doors. Officials were ready to board me, a minor, on the next retuning flight to Australia. What a mess. Thanks to government official connections my father had, finally a call was made and we were released. Finally… freedom and family! What a relief! Thank you dad for having the right connections. And thank you Aunty for be my patient protector during the entire ordeal.
Moving On
With that excitement behind us, my mother moved forward with applying for US citizenship. At some point we had green cards as a stepping stone in the naturalization process. Back then in the 80's it was all paperwork. It was cumbersome. It took time. In addition, we had a unique circumstance to circumvent. We would need the approval and signature of my biological father.
1990 High School Graduation with my Parents
Family
The father at my mother's side was not that of my birth. He was, though, the amazing American my mum fell in love with in Australia, married in Hawaii, and our catalyst for moving to the US. He was the father that was truly my dad by heart; the one who was there to love me, raise me, and also discipline me when needed (as a teenager, Hawaii was simply full of endless adventures). He was the one who, during my 30th year, went to court with me and officially adopted me just because we wanted to show our love for each other, but that's another story.
My biological father, on the other hand, was a little too aloof for parenting responsibilities, had deserted our family unit early on, and evanesced into the world never to be seen again. We weren't sure if he was living in Australia, or if he went back to his roots in Austria. Getting his signature on these documents was utterly out of the question. Mobile phones didn't exist. Email didn't exist. Searching on the internet didn't exist. He was unreachable.
Naturalization
Considering our predicament, the naturalization paperwork process ensued for years to come with a remarkably cumbersome quantity of extra forms, hoops, loops, and fees beyond normal proceedings. It was a lengthy process that eluded me in my youth, yet my mother can recount details with profound clarity.
Stretching across the span of eight years, we endured this saga around our daily life. Paying lawyers in both Australia and the US, my mother persevered. Our entire lives were now American. In Hawaii, we were living, working, and I was going to school. My mother was eager to be legal and also earn the privilege to vote.
Apprehension crept in as my eighteenth birthday neared. As a minor I would be able to officially immigrate on paperwork under the wing of my mother. If I reached 18 years old before completing this task, I would have to begin the naturalization process as a new enrollment, separate from my mother’s efforts to date. Eeek! The hustle was on and we vigorously slid into homebase in the nick of time. Officially, we became US citizens on November 14, 1990, just 26 days before my 18th birthday. Thank you mum for your unshakable determination!
17 Years Old at High School Graduation in Hawaii
Hope For The Future
I am a US citizen! My life and loyalty reside here in the US, even though I have ties to Australia. I fell in love and married here. Our daughter was born here. Having the freedom to roam, I have called Hawaii, Washington, and now call Texas home.
Furthermore, I have the right to vote and have done so since the opportunity was legally afforded to me. It is an honor to be part of this great nation, to embrace all our differences, to support the constitution and the republic for which it stands, and to do my part in protecting what my mother worked so hard to afford us, our freedom and citizenship in this incredible land.
As an immigrant, I respect the legal process of immigration. Our family worked hard to prove ourselves and there were no hand outs upon citizenship. We have friends who have done the same. We pay our taxes. I’d like to see citizens’ money used to protect our borders and the process of properly immigrating into this bountiful land. My hope is that we work together as a melting pot nation of people to protect this country and its citizens, lest we see its demise. It's worth fighting for and protecting. Travel the world and see for yourself how good we have it here. Let's champion, not plunder, our great nation.
2023 My Family in Texas
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Your story is inspiring and empowering Brit-Simone, and is proof that passion and perseverance are great tools for creating remarkable outcomes. The United States of America is the greatest nation on planet Earth. In less than 250 years 330 million people from every country have come to its shores looking for a new life on this beautiful land to join together as Americans, citizens proud and free with a Constitution by the people, for the people, to protect us as we work together in peace, wellness and prosperity.
WOW Brit-Simone what a great article. And so apropos as millions of illegal aliens flood our country at non entry points along our thousands of miles of southern border, and now our northern border, enticed by the President and lots of freebies.
The United States of America is THE greatest nation ever with citizens from every country on the planet living peacefully (or were up until recently) together as Americans.
It was definitely worth the years, the effort, the money, the challenges, even going to naturalization classes to end up knowing more about the USA than most natural born citizens.
If we all become stewards of this great nation rather than leaving it to the few we can return to that amazing place for your daughter and generations to come.
Love your writings Brit-Simone 💖👍🇺🇸