Dildora Osborne first visited America when she was 17. Leaving her home in Uzbekistan, she traveled to Ohio to begin her 11-month experience as an American exchange student.
Now a 25-year-old junior at the University of Oregon, she describes her experience as good, but not the best.
Dealing with a language barrier, Dildora felt her services to her host family were to assist in chores around the house. She ended up learning to fend for herself.
Upon her return to Uzbekistan, Dildora noticed a foreign addition in her native country. With the hot spot Afghanistan to the south, the United States military set up a base in Uzbekistan. It was 2003 when Dildora returned. And she knew the base had been there a least a year before her return.
She began to work for the United States military base as an administrative specialist and often assisted with translation.
It was then her supervisor, impressed by her well-spoken English, who offered her the chance of a lifetime. Dildora’s supervisor asked if she would want to live in Seattle, Wash., with his wife while he was stationed in Uzbekistan. He also sweetened the deal by offering to pay for her college.
It was an offer Dildora could not pass.
The supervisor’s wife took Dildora in as a daughter while Dildora worked to obtain her associate’s degree.
Dildora got to redeem her previous experience in America. Although she adapted to an American lifestyle, however, she still was not legally considered an American citizen.
Then, serendipitously, she met her future husband, Kyle Osborne, at a conference in Nashville, Tenn. Although Kyle and Dildora came from two different parts of the world, they felt an immediate connection. While Dildora finished up school in Washington and Kyle did the same at a community college in Oregon, they spent a year long-distance dating before tying the knot. Despite the happiness and joy of the newlyweds, they still faced a major setback. Dildora was still not an American citizen, nor did she have her green card.
The Osbornes began their long, expensive, trying quest of filing for Dildora’s green card.
After the Osbornes married, Kyle took a 14-month job with a contractor in Iraq. Dildora worried and missed Kyle every day. But while Kyle was serving in Iraq, Dildora was in the midst of the battle for filing for a green card.
To make sure the marriage was legitimate, Dildora flew from Boise, Idaho to Portland, Ore., while Kyle had to fly to from Iraq to Portland just to attend a meeting with United States Immigration Officer for an interview. Aside from dishing out thousands of dollars, Dildora was forced to take a series of mandatory shots as a part of applying for her green card. Among them was the Gardasil vaccine for HPV.
“I got frustrated with the immunizations. I didn’t want the Gardasil shot. I don’t live that kind of lifestyle,” Dildora commented.
They only way Dildora could have opted out of taking the shot was to claim it interfered with her religious beliefs. Otherwise, her application could have been rejected, and failure to comply with the mandatory shots could result in possible deportation.
Dildora also has to be married to Kyle for three years. The Osbornes estimated they have spent roughly $5,000 on the process already.
Dildora is also on a one-strike rule. If she doesn’t complete certain paperwork in a certain window, she faces deportation.
While a bitter war rages between American citizens and illegal immigrants, many forget to notice the third soldier that gets muddled in the middle of the hot debate: the immigrants who come to America legally.
“Immigration is what this country was built on,” Kyle commented.
Unfortunately, even legal immigrants face harsh restrictions to become American citizens.
Dildora now pursues a major in international studies and Kyle works toward a major in human physiology. The experience has inspired her to do something that helps other immigrants obtain their rights as American citizens. Although her journey has been long, Dildora has always prioritized her education. Dildora’s parents always said, “Your first husband is your diploma.”
Dildora also wants to use her experience to educate others at the University about the trials legal immigrants face. “You come to the University to know the truth,” Dildora said.
Dildora’s green card is currently pending. A green card permits her to work and have most American rights, except the ability to vote. The Osbornes hope to one day fight for Dildora’s citizenship, but that is an entirely new battle.
[email protected]