Even though I try to pay attention to what she’s saying, it’s hard to keep track. She’s speaking too quickly, and I’m not sure I even understand exactly what she’s talking about. It isn’t until Judge Meyer turns to look directly at Pa that I straighten my back and make sure not to miss a single word.

“Mr. Garcia, I will be asking you some questions now. Your legal counsel has stated that you do not need an interpreter. Is that correct?”

“Y-yes, Your Honor,” Pa answers. I never really notice an accent when my parents speak English. To me, the way they speak sounds natural—it’s the way they’ve always sounded. But now that he’s in front of the judge, I feel my stomach drop a little. I worry about how heavy Pa’s accent actually is. I worry that it’ll make the judge see him as foreign, that it’ll make her automatically assume that he doesn’t belong here.

“Please state your full name,” the judge says.

“Ernesto Armando Garcia, Your Honor.”

“What is your country of birth?”

“Mexico, Your Honor.”

“How old are you?”

“Forty-one years old, Your Honor.”

“How old were you when you first came to the United States?”

“Seventeen years old, Your Honor.”

“Have you been here ever since?”

“Yes, Your Honor.”

I’m pretty sure he doesn’t have to say “Your Honor” every single time he speaks to the judge, but still, he does it. It’s just who Pa is. He’d be uncomfortable if he felt as though he was being disrespectful. The questions that follow are pretty standard—the judge asks what his address is, whether he’s been working, how many years of education he’s completed. And then she asks if he’s legally married.

“No, Your Honor,” Pa says. It takes me a second to remember the time my parents explained to me that a priest at the Church of Nuestra Señora de Guadalupe unofficially married them, but they never signed legal documents. They were too scared to go to city hall, so they decided to have only a religious ceremony.

The judge then asks if he has children, and Pa starts talking about us. “I have two kids, Your Honor—a son, Mateo, who is here today, and a seven-year-old daughter.”