> I don't really know where to go after I graduate from high school this
> June..I'm just kind of ..lost. Any help/advice/info will be appreciated.
Sorry to read about your situation. I have heard of a couple of cases in the past where parents put their kids into a similar situation.
How did your mom obtain permanent residency ? Through marriage to someone who is not your dad ?
It is my understanding that you should have been able to obtain your own green-card along with your mother as long as you where underage when her petition was filed, but I am certainly not an expert on this. What you need is a good immigration attorney to look into your options. You might be able to even obtain a green-card under the 'follow-to-join' provisions based on your mothers GC.
There are immigrant advocacy organizations who would be able to either give you legal advice or hook you up with an immigration attorney willing to help you out at low cost or 'pro-bono' (for free). Often the catholic diocese or Lutheran Social services and other church organizations will sponsor such organizations. For example:
http://www.austindiocese.org/ccctx/immigrantconcerns.htm
(this doesn't mean that I know or endorse this particular organization, but you get the idea, look around in your area)
Whatever you do, do NOT do the following:
- pretend to be a US citizen on ANY work/school/university/drivers-license application. At this point, you might still have options to obtain permanent residency, however if the immigration service catches you pretending to be a US citizen, all hope is lost (and you will be permanently banned from the US). If your mom did this in the past, while you where underage, you have some sort of immunity from this, but if YOU do it now there will be no reprieve.
- break any sort of criminal law in any way. don't touch drugs, drive the speed limit, keep your brake-lights working, stay away from anyone with gang affiliations etc.
