“The American Dream”
By: Claudia Rea
“The opinions expressed in the following commentary are solely those of the author and do not purport to be those of The Fogle Law Firm.”
Ever since I moved to the U.S. I’ve always had a personal conflict with the phrase “The American Dream”. With all honesty, my journey in the U.S. has been a lot of things but not a dream. Throughout ups and downs, sometimes the only thing that kept me going was the conviction that my destiny was to help others. I made it my life’s mission to be an asset to the immigrant community and positively impact as many lives as possible. I was fortunate enough to have had access to a high-quality education in Mexico where I graduated from Law school. I was also fortunate to be able to fulfill my life’s mission through my job as a paralegal for different Immigration Law Firms in New York and New Orleans. My previous experience in other law firms provided me with the opportunity to find my new home with The Fogle Law Firm in Atlanta, one of the most successful immigration law firms in the U.S.
For most immigrants, the pursuit of “The American Dream” comes with a great price. Each of us have different motivations to be here, all of them valuable, beautiful and powerful. As powerful as these motivations can be, they always come with the pain of separation that only an immigrant can relate to. We might come from different parts of the world and under different circumstances, but we all share the same feeling of nostalgic for what we left behind.
It has been five years since I came to the U.S. and I am still going through an immigration process. This is the other side of “The American Dream” that nobody talks about. The U.S. has one of, if not the most, complicated immigration systems in the world. The forms, applications, petitions, motions, appeals, and the constant scrutinizing process that every immigrant must be part of, is absolutely draining.
As if it wasn’t hard enough, now we must add the collective paranoia in the immigrant community that has increased since Trump’s presidency. Being an Immigrant in Trump’s era is more draining and heartbreaking than all the immigration processes combine. While most of us are seeking a better life, and to fulfill our long-dreamed of missions, we have to battle with the social misconception of what it means to be an immigrant in the U.S. Our best resource as immigrants is unity and knowledge. The more we educate ourselves about the immigration world, the more we can help to educate others. Knowledge is power.
I don’t know what the future holds but I do know that I am here to stay and will continue to support my beautiful and inclusive immigrant community. Because in the end it really doesn’t matter where you were born because once you move to the U.S. we all become an immigrant. We are here to stay and will continue to fight for “The American Dream” that everyone deserves to have. I encourage anybody that needs help with their immigration process to contact The Fogle Law Firm. I’m so proud to say that my new boss, Glenn Fogle, is not just one of the top immigration attorneys in the country but shares our passion to continue our fight to achieve “The American Dream.”