The Cubans are coming....

A little over a week ago today my cousin along with his wife and kids arrived from Cuba. Now, this is a new experience for me as an adult since the last time someone from Cuba arrived was 21 years ago. Let's take a trip back in time.

In 1994 my uncle Conrado, aunt Ileana and cousin Ana arrived one unexpected June night. A year later my uncle Jorge, aunt Fanni and cousin Luisa along with my grandfather arrived. Having always known I had family in Cuba it was nice to put names to faces. My mom still had two other brothers left with their kids. As the years went on my cousins, sister and I grew up together, shared many happy moments, a few difficult ones, all in all it was an amazing childhood. For 21 years we were a square, four different corners all connected not only because we were related but also by the bonds we created.

When we received word that my cousin, his wife and daughters were eligible to leave Cuba and come to the USA, we of course were excited for them. They were able to give their daughters a better life. The same opportunity my cousins were given at a young age. The family dynamic was about to take another change. 

Never having met them before, I was excited to finally meet another member of the family. My cousin Michel is two years younger than I am making him the second born grandchild. On the day of arrival a few of us went to he airport to wait their arrival. The first encounter was sweet; we hugged and cried. It was nice to finally meet all of them in person after spending six years looking at pictures.  We all left the airport and went over to my mom's where the rest of the family was meeting up. The whole weekend was filled with lots of visitors, laugh, good food and of course great company. 

While talking about their experience on their first plane ride over and the four hours spent in Immigration, we learned that once their paperwork was processed they weren't given any instructions on what was their next step. They, just like the rest of us, were in the dark as to what needed to be done next. So that following Monday I took them to the Social Security Office thinking that is the next logical step in their process. After spending a little over an hour we learned that their SS Application was filled out and filed when they arrived and nothing else needed to be done for the time being. 

Although this was great news, I soon realized the flaws in the system. If you're a new immigrant arriving for the first time to permanently stay, I would like to think that someone upon your arrival would have the courtesy to inform you of the steps that they took with your documentation and what you as an individual had to do next. As I said before, the last time someone from Cuba came I was 11 years old and the process was, according to my parents, very different.

So here we are a week later, still waiting on their Social Security cards and Green Cards to arrive, and anxiously anticipating what the next step in the process would be. Hopefully there aren’t anymore that they can begin their new lives in the Land of the Free because of the Brave.

Jackie