Oscar is a newlywed and a stepdad…a love story

UPDATE: The paperwork for Oscar’s wife, Norma, and her three children to become permanent residents of the U.S. has been submitted!

It was more expensive and time-consuming than Oscar had imagined because the children didn’t get to just tag along with their mom — paperwork for each child had to be submitted too (and paid for).

It may take a year for the paperwork for the green card to go through, but once the INS receives the application, they’ll send Norma permits to work and travel outside El Paso. That will take about 6 weeks.

Their plans are to stay in El Paso so the children can finish this school year there, and then they’ll move in with Oscar in Austin.

Oscar is profoundly grateful for your donations that helped fund the immigration lawyer and help him support two households. His finances have been constrained, but it looks like everything will work out later this year. He’s made multiple trips and daily FaceTime calls to stay connected.

One other update: Oscar says he’s working hard and collaborating with Keith Paolino on getting a space so that Tribal Joy Ecstatic Dance can resume on an in-person, regular basis, with opportunities for other sweet community uses. So it looks like we’ll be dancing together before too long again, in South Austin!

Until the financial burden of supporting the two households eases, your further donations will be deeply appreciated.

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If you're an ecstatic dancer in Austin, you probably know Oscar Madera. He’s been a facilitator of ecstatic dance in Austin for over 25 years.

He got ecstatic dance going in Silver City, New Mexico, co-led a dance retreat in Costa Rica, and has recently been training DJs in the art of listening and putting together exquisite waves of dance music that keep us moving in community.

I believe he's something of a shaman, certainly a poet, Mayan astrologer, friend to many, and a most heartfelt human.

I want to share his love story.

He fell in love with and recently married Norma, a widow with three children, ages 14, 8, and 5. She’s the niece of his brother’s wife. His family has known her family her entire life.

Norma is a Mexican citizen from Juarez, across the Rio Grande from El Paso where Oscar grew up and has family.

Oscar would love to have Norma and her children move in with him in Austin, but it takes several months of meeting strict immigration requirements for her to qualify for a green card so that she and her children can join him in Austin.

Norma was hit hard after becoming widowed a couple of years ago when her late husband died of COVID. He had supported the family. It’s been a struggle for her to make ends meet since then.

When it all works out with immigration, she plans to train and work in the beauty business.

You may have heard Oscar talk about his mother, Mama Lupe, who died in February. He was born on her birthday and they had a very special bond.

Mama Lupe spoke clearly to him from the beyond on the day of her funeral that he needed to make a better life for himself.

He was already friends with Norma, and Mama Lupe's words drew him closer to her. He loves Norma's fighting spirit, which has kept her family together during hard times.

Oscar helped raise his daughter Alex, who recently graduated from Tufts University. He’s been single for a very long time. Now he has another chance to be a loving husband and help raise children to be good people.

Norma only has a tourist visa now, which means she can only cross the border for up to 72 hours at a time. Oscar has been making frequent trips to El Paso/Juarez so they can spend time together and work on meeting the INS requirements.

Big-hearted Oscar is trying to maintain his own Austin home (where his rent just went up $600 a month), plus he’s helping Norma and her kids stay housed and fed until she can get that desirable green card.

He estimates he needs about $9,000 for her immigration paperwork and to help cover the expenses of two households (in addition to his employment income) for 3-4 months until Norma gets her green card, and she and her children can move into his home in Austin.

If you can give any amount, large or small, to help this family get to the other side of this situation, please donate.

Also, if you share this on your FB page, Twitter/X, What's App, Instagram, TikTok, etc., it's more likely to be successful. That's an important way to help.

Thank you!!!