History Living Journal: Sixth Activity: My family's U.S. immigration history.

My family's immigration history to the US did not date back in the 1700s or 1800s. It is fairly recent. My family immigrated from the Philippines not because of any political reason but in search of a better life than my country can offer. Sounds familiar? Oh wait... isn't that the reason why the early settlers came here? well.. America trully is the land of opportunity.

My family's history has a very humble beginning. My dad is the 10th child out of 13 siblings. His dad was a war veteran during the Philippine/Spanish war. He fought along side the Americans who was helping to liberate Philippines from the Spanish. My grandfather has 50 percent spanish blood but my grandmother is 100 percent filipino.

This is the portrait of my grandparents

Now my family: There are 10 children in my family (8 girls and 2 boys).My dad had a successful business in logging industry in the Philippines back in the 80's but a terrible car accident in 1989 left him virtually bankrupt. The doctors who treated him want to amputate his right leg but he insist on keeping it despite the cost. He sold his business and a lot of his properties to cover the hospital expenses because there is no such thing as health insurance in my country. He did not mind all of that as long as he get to keep his leg, and he did after 8 surgeries later.

This is a picture of my mom and dad. They moved back to the Philippines in 2005 and decided to stay there for good.

How did my family immigrated from the philippines to United States?
Esther is the first family member to immigrate here. She acquired her US citizen status through marriage. He married a 19yr old man from Bronx, NY when she was only 18. They had a grand wedding in the Phillipines at my parents expense because at 19 yrs old, he barely have enough money to buy a ticket to the philippines so my dad shoulder the cost. In my culture, especially in my religion, there is no such thing as living together without marriage. My dad did not approve of her fiance's plan to bring her to the US without marrying her first. His plan is to file fiance visa for her because he does not have the money to pay for a wedding in the Philippines. My dad arrange and paid for the wedding. Another thing to remember about my culture, the man is responsible for ALL the expenses in the wedding but my dad is understanding of his situation. To make the long story short, the wedding happened, she immigrated to the U.S. and arrived in Bronx, NY in 1986. They have a daughter together but they got married at such a young age that the marriage ended in divorce in 1990. My sister petitioned my mom for an immigrant visa in 1990 and she arrived in Bronx, NY in 1991.

This is Esther and her children

I was the third one in my family to immigrate in the US. Like my sister Esther, I also aquired my US citizenship through marriage. I married my husband, Charlie, of 20 years back in Oct of 1991 in the Philippines. I arrived in Houston in May of 1992. My husband and I have 2 children together 18 and 15.

This is a picture of my family

My sister Joyce arrived in Dallas, TX in 1994. She also acquired her US citizenship status through marriage. Her and her husband been married for 15 yrs and have two kids together 16yr old and 6yrs old.

This is Joyce and her 3 children.

The fourth to immigrate is my dad. I petitioned him for an immigrant visa on 1997 and arrived in Houston a year after. Since my mom lived with my sister Esther in New York, my dad moved to New York to live with my mom and my sister. They then moved to Massachussettes in year 2000.

This is my mom and dad with our other sister in the Philippines
They decide to stay there for good.

The last one to immigrate in my family is our youngest sister, Leocel. My mom petitioned her in 1995. She arrived in Massachussettes in 2003.