The Consequences

Tonight is pretty much guaranteed to be horrible and there’s not much I can do about it. Tomorrow is the next big appointment for Alberto with immigration and anxious does not begin to describe how I’m feeling right now. I’ve tried to push this from my mind all weekend, and thankfully we had a family get together that helped me do just that. I was never able to go and get that pedicure with Lizzy that I was counting on for relaxation, but I’ve gotten pretty good at handling mild anxiety these last few years. I swear I wasn’t a basket case like I am now even 4 years ago.

Noemi in CDJ contacted me around 10pm to tell me that Alberto had called her husband Agustin from the bus station. Agustin left immediately to go get Alberto from the bus station because it is not safe to be out after dark in Ciudad Juarez. If you need an example of just how dangerous CDJ is consider this: on March 13, 2010 the spouse of a consulate worker was killed while his two young children in the vehicle at the time were wounded, only minutes later an employee of the consulate was shot and killed along with her husband while their infant wailed in the backseat. If you consider the first victim was a Mexican National, you cannot simply say this was a demonstration of violence against Americans. I’m afraid for the safety of my husband, and more than a little angry that the USCIS thinks nothing of causing me this extreme level of anxiety.

Maybe this isn’t a good time to think about what started this whole mess, but honestly I can’t think of anything else to talk about.  Alberto is the youngest of six children and his parent’s names are Gisela and Cesar. In order of birth you have Rosa, Yesica, Aide, Cesar, David, and Alberto. Cesar, having the same first name as his father, has the nickname of Caña and from here forward I will refer to him by that nickname only. Cesar is an alcoholic and doesn’t see a problem with his affection for the bottle. This infatuation has created its own problem in that Cesar pushes alcohol towards his sons. In regards to Alberto and David, this created little to no problem, however Caña is not a man you would ever want to be in the same room with when he has been drinking. There are things that I have seen as a direct result of the Cesar/Caña/alcohol triangle that I will never be able to forget. Alberto is the youngest child.  He is very quiet and strong. He doesn’t particularly like to talk, and will not say 5 words when only 1 would suffice. He has never been threatening toward me or his family in any way. I would even go so far as to say that he is incapable of violence unless he is defending himself or someone he loves from bodily harm. So Alberto is essentially the polar opposite of Caña.

For a few years Alberto had been in the habit of accompanying his father and brothers whenever possible to keep them out of trouble. More often than not this had Alberto out at all hours of the night which is never a good thing when your significant other has Nyctophobia*. On this particular night I had tried to get Alberto to come home with me to no avail as Cesar and Caña had no intention of staying home that evening. In the morning when there was still no sign of Alberto, I began calling everyone that was present to try and locate him. I had to pick him up from his cousin’s house and on the way home I got part of the story. After his cousin called me the next day to relate what her husband told her, I demanded that Alberto tell me everything.

Caña was the first to be arrested for what happened that night. He was detained for 36 hours and released.  A week or two later on November 27th Alberto was arrested for the same incident, even though his involvement was limited to attempting to stop the fight and getting everyone to leave. Alberto is incapable of lying as well as violence, so when the authorities at the jail inquired as to whether he had a wife or children Alberto replied that he did not. He was asked that same set of questions several times the day he was arrested and when the answer never changed the sheriff called Immigration and Customs Enforcement. After the 36 hours expired, Alberto was handed over into the loving embrace of the ICE detention and removal branch. By this point I had not ate or slept since I was told he had been arrested. On November 30, 2007 scant hours after he’d been in the custody of ICE, I paid the $7500 immigration bond and he was released into my custody.

At this point we were unsure what we were going to do. The process was so long and expensive that it seemed beyond our capabilities. Well, that decision was made for us when the pregnancy test I took as a precaution was positive. I felt like the floor fell away beneath my feet, I was terrified! I was being responsible and we were using contraceptives. How could this possibly be happening to us, and right now of all times! I couldn’t even speak about what I had discovered, so I hid the test and went to work that day without saying a word about it. I sent a text message to Alberto because I am just that much of a chicken. Abortion was not an option for us because a child is not a mistake, but this child was sure one hell of a surprise. We were married on December 20, 2007 during my lunch break at the courthouse. How’s that for romantic? I wonder what Ashley will think when I tell her when she’s an adult… I know it cracks me up to this day.

Ciao

* Nyctophobia is a phobia characterized by a severe fear of the darkness. It is triggered by the brain’s disfigured perception of what would or could happen when in a dark environment.
“Nyctophobia” Wikipedia. 9 April 2011 <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nyctophobia/>.