My Fate in Someone Else's Hands


  • Photographer
    Edyta Kielian
  • Prize
    Official Selection
  • Date of Photograph
    2020/2021

Very little about our lives is constant or totally certain, and while we have control over many things, we can’t control everything that happens to us...

Story

I left Tarnow, Poland and arrived in Chicago in 1995. I have chosen this country and I love living here. This is my home; my children were born here. America is the home I wanted for them.
I truly respect and appreciate this country; however immigration is not just a geographical change, it also involves change in all aspects of life, including social, cultural, environmental, and behavioral. This causes several traumatic events that negatively impact the mental well-being of immigrants. Nobody’s future is certain, but immigrants face extra uncertainties due to the hazy half-and-half status we hold between our home and adopted countries.
I have met hundreds of immigrants, and I can say with absolute certainty that no two immigrants have experienced being an immigrant in the same way. This is even true within my own family.
I have applied for permanent residence three times and been refused twice. I have scrupulously followed every immigration regulation, paid all my taxes, filed all the papers I had to file, and have not so much as received a parking ticket. I have experienced these fears and frustrations. They leave you feeling like your life is not your own, that you are not living life at all but rather living a series of arbitrary immigration rules. The feeling of helplessness is with you always.
But one day, it finally happened. I have been waiting for over 20 years, but I am no longer an undocumented immigrant.
My biggest dream has come true, but many of my friends are still waiting ...

For this photographic project, I invited people who had or still have the status of undocumented immigrants. Also, the phrases are from official documents or words spoken by these individuals.

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