When I was younger and did a lot of reading, I used to wonder what it would be like to actually be a character in one of the books I read. Since Mom was an English teacher who made sure I felt comfortable discussing "uncomfortable" topics openly with her & Dad, I had read 1984 and Animal Farm and Brave New World and Farenheit 451 and other "mature" books by the time I was 10, so I had some pretty wild ideas of what character I might have been, or what I might have done in some rather unpleasant plot lines.
I just never thought I'd actually live to be a character in a dystopian science fiction novel... or that it would be the bastard child of The Handmaid's Tale and 1984, with the "Horst Wessel Lied" as its soundtrack.
Looking at what people are posting in adoption-related commentaries, online forums, and social media groups, I'm seeing a steadily-growing number of people in situations like my family's desperately looking for trustworthy information about domestic readoption, how to get proof of citizenship for their kids, how to deal with local and/or federal workers who don't like the idea of someone being born outside the US being considered the actual legal dependent of someone born inside the US, and so on.
It's not "downright scary," it's frakking terrifying.
Miriam is a competitive dancer who is an integral part of the studio she dances for & takes classes at. She represents her birth culture through dance (through a different dance studio) by performing a variety of dances from various Chinese ethnicities. She is a member of her high school's orchestra, pep band, Student Wellness Committee, student newspaper (at least for the 1st half of the year, there was no room in her school schedule the 2nd half), and several other clubs. She has been a Student Ambassador, speaking with middle school students about what to expect in high school and discussing student needs & problems with County-level committees. She's been in one of the schools 2 annual musical productions (and would've been in the 2nd if it didn't get in the way of the pre-scheduled dance competitions she pledged she would participate in) and was a dance captain for the production, will be one of only 2 or 3 (total) non-pom or cheerleader dancers in the school's big annual musical review (for the 2nd year in a row), and is carrying a better-than-decent GPA that includes two Advanced Placement classes that actually count as college credits.
And now we're finding ourselves having to sit down and discuss possibilities so heinous that I honestly did not think were possible until mid-2024 because nothing in the preceding paragraph seems to matter at all to those in positions of power. She's Jewish. She's Asian. She's an immigrant. She's planning on becoming a veterinarian... And the first two points are potentially dangerous (much more so than when some 6th grade dweeb told her she was responsible for Covid just before the lockdowns began), the 3rd point could actually see someone try to "send her back where she came from," and the last point is something that members of Congress have stated they don't think is the right thing for a female of the species to be doing.
We've all sat down & planned out which papers we're going to get copies of, when & how to get her an updated passport... and how quickly we can get our passports renewed and where we might be able to go if someone decides deportation or holding camps are the right answer for non-Anglo immigrants in this White Christian country.
Do I sound crazy? I certainly thought so, a few years ago. But now it's an everyday waking nightmare. If you have enough different news sources (that can be verified by others, not just Left or Right propaganda sources), you'll already know about people being detained by ICE just for speaking a language that isn't English; pulled from their homes for deportation even while following all the rules and having their citizenship papers being processed; accused of stealing jobs from "worthwhile" citizens just because they're female and/or not Caucasian; and all kinds of other "fun stuff" that's at least supported, if not actually done, by what is supposed to be our government.
It's getting downright scary out there... and we're trying to figure out how to protect Miriam, and a lot of other people like her.
Wish us luck. We're gonna need it.
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