Winning the Amanda Award: my story

As some of you know, I won the Amanda’s Award in 2018, which was the first ever Amanda Award, honoring Mom Amanda Giannini and her story and fight with breast cancer. This year, I was honored to present the 2019 award to Vanessa, PWA of Manassas Assembly #13 and newly installed Grand Worthy Associate Advisor. I realized I didn’t really specify much about my story, so I wanted to give a brief overview; to spread more awareness.

My story isn’t one of illness, or stress. It goes even further. I moved to the United States when I was 1 and ½ because my parents wanted me to have a good life. I’m like all others; but one thing that differentiates me from others is that I do not have a Green Card.

There is quite a bit of confusion over Green Cards. If you do not have a Green Card, that simply means you are not allowed to apply for a citizenship yet, but it does NOT mean that you are illegal.

I will give you all a short overview on all this. The USCIS grants 1,000,000 Green Cards per year, 140,000 of which goes to employment-based visas. That number is divided by 5 for 5 subcategories, and 7% of that is given to each country. Every country gets 7%, even countries as small as Vatican City, with a population of only 500, gets about 2,000 – 3,000 families Green Cards per year, and once the year finishes, those Visas expire, unused.

If I was born in a different country, I would have gotten a Green Card faster. If I was born in Nepal, which is only two days of a drive away from the city I was born in, I would have had a Green Card by now.

A misconception that occurs often is that “people with Green Cards steal jobs”, when in reality, the people who come here make jobs, and aid in people getting promoted. My dad is extremely dedicated at his job, and has created so many new positions in his workforce and helped others rise positions.

The problem is getting worse as I get older. I only have 6, about 7 years to go. After I turn 21, there is no certainty in anything.

Some people might think, “Oh, doesn’t DACA sponsor you?” For people like me, it does not. DACA only supports illegal immigrants, which I support, but it is a bit unfair, as us legal kids are left behind. We pay taxes, we have gone to school here since we were little, I don’t even remember life before I moved to Virginia.

There are many groups rallying for this cause, such as the Republican Hindu Coalition and SIIA (Skilled Immigrants of America),  and I am a part of SIIA’s H4 Dreamers campaign to speak out for kids just like me, to help the movement to inform Congress about us and to let us not be left behind.