Except for those of you I see in person, few know that the Mystery Guest Blogger and I have been involved in bringing two Vietnamese to the United States. Neither have I posted to this blog about my mother’s application for Medicaid.
First – the tale of Oanh. (Say Juan as you would in Spanish) She holds a doctorate from New Zealand, completed a Fulbright fellowship at Yale last year, and holds an important position at the University of Huê where we used to teach. Both of Oanh’s children are studying in the US. When I found there was a teaching position open at the university I retired from, I told her. A lot of people put a lot of time and effort into getting Oanh here for the fall term. After letters of acceptance – after letters of resignation in Việt Nam – after plans made to fly here – after all that, she is told she cannot come because two years have not passed since she was Yale.
This was not a tenure track job – this was not permanent. Oanh is fiercely proud of being Vietnamese and has no desire to stay here. She’s not taking anybody’s job – none of the usual redneck tirades about foreigners taking our jobs – none of that applies here.
But – remember - the American government is doing everything it can for you.
Now, Mom. I have spent the last two years spending down what little money my mother had left. When she first went into a nursing home, her bills were paid from what was left of her money. The money ran out in January, and in early February, I filed for Medicaid for her. It is now mid-July. You guessed it – no Medicaid. Each month, when Mom’s Social Security check comes in, I give it to her nursing home. That covers about ¼ of the cost – and the pharmacy is getting nothing.
Five months – nothing. In the mean time, the Good Samaritan nursing home goes deeper in debt – about $12,000 at present.
But – remember – your government is doing everything it can for you.
Finally, the story of Trang. She was one of my students when we taught in Việt Nam. She used to hang around our apartment and she’d sometimes show the two or us around her beloved Huê. She graduated at the same time we came home, then went to work in Saigon. Its now two years later, and we have worked hard to get her admitted into a graduate program here in the US. She’s a smart kid who wants to teach English at the University of Huê. She was accepted to graduate school here, and everything done except get her student visa.
The interview at the US consulate took 1 ½ minutes. That’s all. Then it was determined that she didn’t have enough ties to be sure she would return to Việt Nam when her studies were over. At a time when foreign students are a prime source of income for cash-strapped American universities, she is told she’s not welcome in America. My business friends tell me of a similar problem getting Chinese businessmen visas to come to the US at a time when our economy could use some good investment money. It seems that our “leaders” can find enough money to build a fence along the border, but not enough money to adequately staff our consulates overseas so that interviews can take longer than 1 ½ minutes.
Oooops - I forgot. Each interview costs $131.00. Sounds like a good money-making business to generate some income, eh? Kinda like a speed trap.
But – remember – your government is doing everything it can for you. Just ask the people of New Orleans or the people of Iraq.
