I dragged myself over to my neighbor Gina’s house this morning so she could do my hair, and she asked me about something we talked about the last time I was there, which reminded me that I never posted it on the blog. It really freaked me out so it’s definitely blogworthy.
A couple of months ago I was working at home and there was a loud knock at the front door. I opened the door to find a government-issue Taurus in the driveway and two special agents from the Department of Homeland Security. I was struck dumb. I couldn’t think clearly. They started asking me questions about a family friend who came to visit months before. I couldn’t remember his name or what month he was here. When I found my voice again I asked the agents what time it was and said that the school bus was due at 3:30 and that they could come with me if they wanted to. I guess you don’t stop being a mom (or being hospitable) even when you’re struck dumb.
Once the blood started circulating to my brain again I answered all of their questions. The kid is a college student in Canada. Yes, that’s him in the photo. He is the son of my sister-in-law’s brother-in-law. He was here for a week or two during his school break and then he went back to school. When? I don’t know…it was cold out. Must have been winter. All he did when he was here was use his computer, watch TV, sleep, and eat. They asked some questions about Ben too. I’ve always thought that if you’re honest and law-abiding you’ll be fine, but I’ve lost some faith in our judicial system in the last couple of years. And you never know, Ben could be a secret agent.
The agents wrote everything down in their official notebooks, gave me their cards, and asked me to call them with the kid’s address and phone number. I immediately called Ben and tracked down the info, and then called the agent back. I asked him if I had done something wrong by inviting the kid to come for a visit and he said, “If I thought you did something wrong it would have gone down a lot different at your house.” That statement leaves a lot to the imagination.
We finally heard from the kid a couple of weeks ago and the issue was that when he returned to Canada he was supposed to turn in a white card at Immigration. Apparently he didn’t do that, so they came looking for him. He took it to the embassy and he’s all set, but I’m still amazed that the Department of Homeland Security has the resources to go looking for a college kid who didn’t turn in a card. Maybe it was just because he’s a young Muslim man. In the old days everyone used to come here on tourist visas, overstay their visa and then figure out how to get legal. Times have changed.
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