Originally Posted by WillIam399

My father was a PR in Texas, when my grandma brought me over to the States (legally as a visitor) to live with him when I was 7 years old in 1994. My dad applied for my PR immediately. Everything was in placed, I got all the documents and my very own SSN. When I turned 10, my father left me with my American citizen relatives, while he went back to Thailand (that was the last time I saw him). Since my father never came back to the states, he lost his PR status.

When I tried to apply for a driver's license in High School, I couldn't. My American citizen relatives explained to me that the only step left in my PR was an interview with the neutralization department, which required a biological parent. I was estranged from both my parents, because they left me, so there was no way I could proceed.

I was so mad at everybody in my family, who kept this secret from me. I was angry at my dad, my American Citizen relatives who knew from the very beginning when my dad left and what that meant for my life. Growing up in the States, my home, and to be denied equal opportunities like my peers, and working hard to show that I am worth something and then to be repeatedly turned down and not accepted was hard.

I'm now 23 years old, attending UT at Austin, studying Music/ Nutritional Sciences/ Pre-Dental. It's been 16 years since I saw my mom, 13 years since I've seen or spoken to my dad. The only family members that I somewhat feel that I can trust and be safe is my American citizen brother, one of my uncle from Thailand, school, one of my college professor, and a few truly best friends. Other than these people and things, I keep my thoughts and feelings bottled up and most of the time "just deal with it and suck it up". I said this many times, counselors helped, especially when I was getting suicidal thoughts