Bush’s War on Terror: Watch Out For the Little Old Ladies!

My wife and I recently had a beautiful baby girl, born in May to not much fanfare since her family lives as far away as the Fujian Province of mainland China. My wife’s mother, wanting to visit her youngest daughter and newest grandchild, planned to apply for a tourist visa to come to the US and lend a temporary hand with the baby. Think your average US citizen won’t have to deal with the Bush Administration’s War on Terror beyond the airport screening shakedown? Think again.

A strange administration policy that permits Middle East terrorists into the country under the guise of flight school students, but refuses entry to 75-year old grandmothers from China. The following is a true, absurd story without exaggeration.

Overjoyed that my wife’s mother has expressed interest in coming to the US to visit, we filled out all the necessary paperwork and supplied her with several personal notarized documents as required. This, we later found out, added a bizarre dimension to the charade she would soon be a party to.

The US consulate for her region of China is in Guangzhou, a 15-hour bus trip from her home. She enlisted one of her daughters and son-in-law to accompany her on the trip. Her appointment is scheduled; she has documents that, in essence, say that my wife and I will be financially responsible for her during her visit and that we guarantee the US government she will not end up on welfare roles. Bank statements, salary information, and home ownership documents were required to prove the point.

At her allotted time, she was given a full one minute interview whereby the consulate employee questioned her in Mandarin. Her daughter told the employee that Mom doesn’t speak nor understand Mandarin - only the dialect of their native area - but that she would translate for her Mother. The consulate employee informed her that no translation would be permitted, and summarily dismissed Mom with her visa request rejected. Adding further indignity, a 1,000 Yuan ($125) charge was levied for the appointment. According to Mom, the consulate employee never requested nor would review the documents we went to great lengths to provide.

Back here in the States my wife and I looked forward to the good news that a visa would be approved. We were more than optimistic given the strength of the paperwork supplied to the consulate. Needless to say, when word came down that her application had been denied, and that she was given only a 60-second interview, we felt as if we had been violated; taken by a con artist – and we had. His name is George Walker Bush.

Family and friends here in the States were incredulous that such a solid application had been denied. What was the US government afraid of? She had no plans on immigrating here. If she had, we would’ve applied for it years ago since my wife is a US citizen. A liberal democrat friend suggested writing to our congressional representative. She said, “They need to know this.”

Being one who has no faith in government and absolutely loathes politics, I didn’t want to waste my time, but my wife wanted to explore all avenues. I sent a brief description of the situation to our representative, Anna Eshoo, via e-mail, and honestly did not expect to see anything more than a form “thank you for your interest in our government” response. Two weeks later and much to my amazement I received an e-mail from Ms. Eshoo’s local chief-of-staff.

Ms. Eshoo would contact the Consulate General in Guangzhou on our behalf! The response requested Mom’s name, passport number, and the location of her original interview. Also requested was a written statement indicating why we believe she’ll return to China upon the expiration of the visa. This was a no brainer: Mom has lived in the same village in Fujian her entire life, where her three other children, seven of her nine grandchildren, and two great-grandchildren reside. She owns property and assists with her son’s business. Since she speaks absolutely no Mandarin, she cannot communicate with any Chinese here who don’t speak her dialect. She has no ability to neither read nor understand our local Chinese newspapers and TV programming. As evidence by the ridiculous amount of paperwork we provided to the consulate (which they never looked at) we obey the law. The day her visa expires is the day she returns to China, if not sooner.

Needless to say we were excited. Ms Eshoo would pull some strings per se, meaning she would be the voice of reason with the Consulate General. Her chief’s e-mail stated that Ms. Eshoo would personally make contact with him. Three weeks later, it was clear Ms. Eshoo’s office did nothing more than forward the information I provided verbatim back to the Consulate for a spin through the B.S. wheel. It’s amazing we weren’t sent a bill for 1,000 Yuan!

Representative Eshoo’s office forwarded to us a brief note from William J. Martin, Chief, Consular Section, who indicated that Mom was rejected because (ready for this one?) she couldn’t demonstrate social and economic ties to China that would guarantee her return. IS HE KIDDING? Social and Economic ties? How about living in the same village for 75 years? How about owning property? How about being surrounded by four generations of relatives, many living on the same street! What she couldn’t do was demonstrate any of this since they spoke to her in a language she didn’t understand and refused her a translator.

A follow-up e-mail to Ms. Eshoo’s office pointing out the ridiculous statement made by Mr. Martin yielded a short snotty e-mail from her chief indicating that if it were up to Ms. Eshoo a visa would be approved.

I learned a hard lesson, although I blame myself for letting my guard down and thus, being naïve. Unless your request for help to a Congressperson includes a check for the maximum allowable campaign donation, you’ll get nothing more than false hope and lip service. Even with a donation, there probably is no guarantee of genuine help and interest unless you know someone who knows someone.

Nothing more needs to be said on this subject except the following: The US Government welcomed - with open arms - Mohammed Atta but rejected an old lady from China. One’s objective was killing thousands of citizens, which was accomplished; the other simply wanted to visit her daughter and newborn grandchild. Refresh my memory – who was issued a visa?