The weight of my passport
8/Oct/2008Every time I cross a border I show a passport that is not fully mine. The passport tries to help me; in a corner it briefly mentions my “place of birth”. And my name, of course, catches everyone’s attention for its origin lies not in the English language. But that does me no justice in this continent, where I should be considered a Latin American “brother”. The origin of the passport trumps all that and I become just another gringo.
Identity issues are not the only negatives associated with bearers of this passport. I am required a visa in Bolivia and Brazil; I am not exactly received with open arms by Chavez and Morales; I am barred from visiting a certain Caribbean island, a neighbor to my homeland and, historically, a sister nation. By the transitive property, I often become a persona non grata, and the weight of carrying this passport increases.
In October of 2008 I have discovered yet another off-putting situation. The other bearers of this passport are receiving their ballots this month, a head start to this November election. It’s an ex-pat party: the hitchhiker who went south from Recife and voted in Salvador, the old roommates from Buenos Aires, the new friends in Recife. All of them received their absentee ballots or voted at the embassy. Friends, acquaintances, strangers: all American citizens.
But, somehow, I am different than them. I cannot vote. Though I am weighed down by the negatives of carrying the same passport, I do not have the same rights. Why? The last address I registered with the IRS (and the American government in general) is in Puerto Rico, my home (non) state. And Puerto Ricans, though US citizens in paper, are second class citizens in practice. Therefore, I am not allowed to vote in the presidential elections, unless I move and prove that my current legal residence lies in of the (actual) 50 states.
I carry the weight of this passport because I have no option. There is no Puerto Rican passport; I am a second class citizen with no alternative.
[...] Yesterday, October 12th was the Day of Indigenous Resistance or also known as the Day of the United People. But today is celebrated as Christopher Columbus day at my university and government offices. And while Judges and legislatures rest and think about Christopher Columbus, they won’t be taking a moment to think about my united people. Who for example still do not have the right to vote even though they are forced to be governed by the laws created by the same people who have never heard of the Day of Indigenous Resistance. I have a very close friend who is an American Citizen, governed by American Laws, who is prohibited, disenfranchised by “his government” from participating in the federal election. He wrote about it here. [...]
[...] Yesterday, October 12th was the Day of Indigenous Resistance or also known as the Day olf the United People. But today is celebrated as Christopher Columbus day at my university and government offices. And while Judges and legislatures rest and think about Christopher Columbus, they won’t be taking a moment to think about my united people. Who for example still do not have the right to vote even though they are forced to be governed by the laws created by the same people who have never heard of the Day of Indigenous Resistance. I have a very close friend who is an American Citizen, governed by American Laws, who is prohibited, disenfranchised by “his government” from participating in the federal election. He wrote about it here. [...]