Biometrics

Tomorrow Brendan and I will embark on an adventure to the Latham office of the Department of Homeland Security to have our biometrics taken.  This is another check on the list of things one must do in order to adopt internationally (perhaps domestically as well, but I am unfamiliar with that process), and it means we'll be one step closer to having our daughter come home.  In fact, it's the last thing WE have to do, but we'll have to wait for other parties to complete their jobs.

What are biometrics, you ask?  Although it sounds somewhat interesting and exciting, it is really a fancy word for fingerprints.  The fingerprints are used for a background check in which they make sure we have no history of felony or child abuse.  Once we're cleared and approved USCIS (US Citizenship and Immigration Services) will issue a visa for Emma, which she'll use to enter this country.

Sitting in the DHS office is an interesting experience.  The last time we went (for Harry's visa) was eye opening.  We walked through metal detectors to get in the door, and then an officer used a wand (much like at the airport) to go over our bodies in more detail.  The officer wore a gun.  They're not messing around...serious faces, direct orders, and uncomfortable chairs abound.  We sat near the window, facing the rest of the room, and people watched for the hour it took them to call our names.  We saw people of all nationalities and languages, all with different reasons for waiting in the same room, the same stiff-backed chairs.  And once again it struck me as odd that many people in the world claim we're different based on race, or skin color, or any other bit of minutia they feel supports their opinion, when in fact we were a group of humans sitting in the late morning sunshine of a dirty window, waiting for bureaucracy to decide when and if our families can unite, or become legal citizens, or immigrate.  And for the first time in my life I felt a little taste of what it must be like to come to this country as an immigrant, to jump through the proverbial hoops in order to carve out an existence in the hopes that it will be a better life than whatever you left.  How scary to be faced with armed men, metal detectors, and stern faces.  How brave one must be to take that leap of faith.

I look forward to seeing the palette of faces and nationalities tomorrow, and to checking off another item on our list.  And to being one step closer to our daughter whose image haunts my dreams.