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For those of you who did not know it, Homeland Security not only takes care of keeping the United States safe from terrorist organizations and such other security measures, but the department also has the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services department under its wing.
So, why am I bringing this up to you? To let you all know how much paper-work that one has to endure, plus the cost if you have ever lost your birth certificate, and/or identification card, and are a U.S. citizen who was born overseas and adopted by parents with one being a U.S. citizen and the other a foreigner.
It also does not help if this part of the government bureaucracy is so big, making it hard to navigate.
I was born in Germany in the early 60’s, and somehow ended up in an orphanage when I was months old, from what I understand. I was adopted by my real mothers sister and an American G.I. after the two were married, from what I understand. After my fathers tour was over, we came to the United States.
From what I understand, I have been in the states since I was 2 years of age, and my mother was naturalized in the early 70’s in the state of Kentucky. I remember that event since I was at the proceedings.
Fast forward now to 2009.
I moved down to Florida and discover that I no longer have my birth certificate with me. It moved somewhere else, I guess. In many, if not all states, you need that piece of paper to get a driver license or a state i.d. card. Did I mention that the birth certificate that I did have at one time was in German?
Anyway, I go through all of the government agencies in order to try to get a new b’certificate and shelled out quite a bit of money to the Immigration and Naturalization Service for the proper forms. Then there was also money paid to the appropriate consulate for even more forms to fill out.
What have I received in return? Nothing. Nada. Zilch. It would appear that some of the information that I gave was incorrect.
After doing much Goggling on the Internet, looking for a different way to get the stuff that I need, I was lead to Form N-600 Application for Certificate of Citizenship at the lowly cost of only $600. $600! Has our government lost their fucking minds? Who in the hell has that kind of money to spend for a sheet of paper, especially if they are not making the kind of money needed, to just throw it out for something like this? A barely make enough money to live on and that is with much help from others.
Give me a break, will you? I happen to be working out of a “ day-labor “ pool, when they have work, because I can’t get an i.d. to apply for any type of regular employment. My i.d. and S.S.N. were already on file at this place, or I would have been shit out of luck with work.
These places only pay their workers the minimum wage ( $7.31 per hour ) and I am supposed to pay our government $600 to get proof that I belong here? WTF?
The government needs some kind of organization at the federal level, or even the state level, which could help people get their papers at an either free or a very reduced cost.
It does not help either that much of the information that is needed is material that I have no way of knowing without some help from either the military and maybe the I.N.S. itself.
Want to hear something really shameful? I managed to get my voter registration card from the state of Florida, without any problems at all, but I can’t vote because I have no i.d. What kind of shit is that? I applied for and receive SNAP benefits ( food stamps ) and have never stepped into the state agency that oversees the program. I did it online at a friends house.
At the same time, I am a type-1 diabetic who has to buy my insulin from friends, when I have the cash, because I cannot get on any of the county health programs because I have no current state identification. The programs which the state of Florida have available thanks to President Obama’s healthcare overhaul, would be very beneficial to me if I could only get into one of them. Once again. No birth certificate, no i.d., no healthcare coverage.
It is no fun being a diabetic and having to be concerned with whether or not you will have the cash in hand to buy your Insulin when the current vial either runs our or reaches its throw-away date. That date is 28 days after you begin using the vial. The Insulin breaks down and loses its potency, and it can make one very ill. Laboratory manufactured junk at a high price.
At $107 per vial ( Lantus ) here in Tampa, that is out of reach for someone who may manage to get only 20 to 40 hours of work per month, if lucky. Most of that would comes under the table. With the Thanksgiving/Christmas/New Years Holidays, work has come to a standstill for me. Not one day of work since November 13, 2011.
I have been using my dwindling vial of Insulin, which will be gone by December 20, for what is already a week past the 28 day discard date.
If you do not see any posting at this site after the 20th, it is because the government killed me with their outrageous paper-work and with their high fees. ( To be Continued ? )
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