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Not all illegal immigrants are to blame for their illegal status. My husband, a man of German heritage who was born in Bolivia, has lived in the U.S. since he was a young child. He didn't learn until he was an adult that he was not a citizen. How can this be so?

My husband's parents lived in La Paz, Bolivia at the time of his birth. When he was a few years old, his mother and father divorced and his mother later re-married. She happened to marry an American citizen and they moved the family to the U.S. My husband's step-father adopted my husband and his siblings. They were raised in the U.S., attended American schools, and speak English with perfect fluency. At the time of their adoption, the lawyer that handled the affair failed to tell my husband's parents that the children needed to apply for their naturalization. He implied that the simple act of being adopted by an American automatically made them citizens. Since this lawyer, a "professional", said it was so, they didn't question him.

Now, at nearly 40 years of age, my husband is having to pay the exorbitant application fees to go through the lengthy process (six months or more) of becoming an American citizen. One of the questions in the application asks if he has ever claimed to be a U.S. citizen and why. His answer was simply, "Yes, because I thought I was one."

I do realize that my husband's case is the exception, not the rule, but I've learned that his situation occurs more often than most people realize. I also understand that the law is the law and we can't ask for special treatment. But it seems sad and ironic that my husband, a man who was educated in the American public school system since he was seven, will now have to take a test about who was the first president, how many stripes are on the American flag, and the like, in order to become what he has been in his heart all his life - a U.S. citizen.

Learn more about this author, Esmerelda Q. Culpepper.
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