Pinay fulfills dream of becoming US lawyer

GRETEL Tiongson-Ness migrated to the "Garden State" of New Jersey, USA at the tender age of 15. During the mid-60s, Gretel's paternal grandfather, Dr. Antonio Tiongson, a specialist in hematology, together with her grandmother, Cornelia, a pediatrician, petitioned her father, Danilo, his wife, Grace, and all of their four children (which included Gretel, the eldest of the siblings) to migrate to America. Gretel recalls, "I transferred from Assumption in Makati after my junior year where I was in boarding school living next door to the nuns." Her parents had to make the decision to sell their business. "We had a flourishing palaisdaan in Lingayen and Binmaley, Pangasinan as well as sugarcane and rice plantations in Baculong, Tarlac," she adds. Law school Gretel says that when her entire family took the risk and left their comfortable haven in Tarlac, she already knew she wanted to be a lawyer, "I attended Holy Spirit in Tarlac during my elementary years. Then, my parents decided to transfer me to boarding school at Assumption in Makati. When our immigrant papers finally came through, I had to finish my last year of high school in New Jersey before I pursued college at Rutgers University finishing pre-law. I then went to law school at Albany Law School in New York." After passing the bar in New York, Gretel worked at the Newark INS (Immigration and Naturalization) Asylum Office in New Jersey as an asylum officer where she adjudicated applications for political asylum from various countries, including the Philippines.Though she planned to work for the government for only one year, Gretel stayed an extra year since she enjoyed her work as an asylum officer. In 1996, she was assigned to work at the INS Office in Guam to interview Kurdish refugees from Iraq and it was there that she met her husband, Brian Ness, an INS Detention Enforcement Officer at the time. He came from the Portland, Oregon INS Office. After less than two years, Gretel and Brian got married in a simple civil ceremony in August 1997. In the name of love, Gretel agreed to move to Portland, Oregon to be with Brian. "Close family and friends thought I was crazy to quit a good paying secure job and move across the country just like that!" she recalls. But Gretel trusted her instincts, backed by her solid upbringing, to guide her in her decision. "Brian and I share the same core values when it comes to family as well as our goals in life. So even though we may be night and day in everything else, our values are what keep us strong as a family." Gretel says that when she first came to Portland, transferring to the INS there was not an attractive option since it was not comparable to her position in the New Jersey office. So she took the bar exam in Oregon, passed it and worked with a small immigration firm for three years before she moved to Parker, Bush and Lane in 2001. She now works with six other immigration lawyers. For Gretel, the bottom line is service. She is there to serve the immigrant, to hopefully give the immigrant a leg up, a positive new start in life in America. She knows the travails that immigrants go through having gone through the immigration process herself. "I figured since my family and I went through the long wait for our papers, went to the consular interview at the US embassy, and then filed for our US citizenships, specializing in immigration law would be an easy transition, especially since I also speak fluent Tagalog. Immigration law is such a special area not only because of its complexity but also because of the very positive and personal nature of it. Sa simula pa lang, very positive na since you are contributing directly to the start of a new life of an immigrant in America." Time for family Gretel says that the firm is very family-oriented, so she is able to still spend quality time with her family. Although a self-proclaimed workaholic, Gretel places foremost value to family time with her little children. "I am blessed and lucky to be in a profession that I love and to have found a very supportive work environment. This may sound weird but I love waking up in the morning and going to work. Indeed, my firm is almost like a second family to me. Everybody is supportive of each other. My other partners, Rich Parker, James Lane, Les Bush, and Tilman Hasche, are wonderful and very considerate when it comes to family issues." She says that there is nothing worse that having to wake up in the morning and work day in day out in a job you absolutely detest. Advice for immigrants As an immigration lawyer, Gretel has some advice for Filipinos wanting to migrate to the US. After 9-11, Gretel says everything has become so strict when it comes to immigration. "Napakahigpit na. For example, before they would just routinely run a security check on the alien applicant. Now, INS runs a security check on the US Citizen or green card holder petitioning the immigrant as well." She says there has definitely been a wave of anti-immigrant sentiment in the types of laws recently passed by Congress, especially with the notion that foreigners are taking jobs away from US workers. "The fight against terrorism must be balanced with the protection of individual rights. One's patriotism should not be pitted against one's desire to uphold the rights protected by our Constitution. Although well-intentioned, the laws coming out of our government have definitely had an anti-foreigner flavor to them." Gretel mentions that she has found it useful to chat with Pinoy clients first before officially asking them to come to the office and pay the firm's initial consultation fee. "Normally, after you get through the long history of most Pinoys, I find that an immigration benefit may not be immediately available to them at the present time. Sayang naman na magbayad pa sila ng consultation fee only for me to tell them that nothing can be done at the present time." Questions The other thing she has found is that there is a lot of misinformation within the Filipino community. "Everybody knows someone who appears to have the exact same case as theirs and was able to get an immigration benefit. Ang hindi nila alam and which of course most kababayans will not readily share is the fact that the case is really more complicated than it sounds and the negative aspects to it were not shared." So Gretel warns that if something sounds too good to be true, ask a lot of questions and ask for written proof. Unfortunately, she says, "Kung minsan kapwa Pilipino pa ang nanloloko." For Gretel, life as a US immigrant lawyer has its rewards, one of which is being able to help her fellow Filipinos achieve their dreams to work in the land of endless opportunities. [ First published by Philippine Daily Inquirer Copyright © 2003 www.inq7.net ]