I hold a U.S. green card. During the pandemic, I returned to Hong Kong with my pregnant wife. To care for her and our newborn daughter, I ended up staying for over a year and a half. Worried about losing my green card, I rushed back to the U.S. in November last year—but only stayed for ten days before returning again to Hong Kong.
I knew that under President Trump’s administration, green card policies had become much stricter. To keep my status, I had to return to the U.S. before early May this year. But just as I was preparing to buy a ticket, the travel agent informed me that my passport was only two months from expiring. I immediately began the renewal process, and right then, my wife suddenly experienced heavy uterine bleeding. A hospital exam found a shadow in her uterus, and she needed immediate surgery.
I simply couldn’t leave.
Three days ago, I finally made the difficult decision to ask my aunt to buy me a plane ticket back to the U.S. By then, I had overstayed the permitted time by more than two weeks. My entire family was deeply worried.
There have been many reports of green cards being revoked or travelers being denied entry at the airport for no apparent reason. I knew that if an immigration officer wanted to confiscate my green card, they would have had more than enough reason.
Right before I left, my aunt immediately offered two blessing lights for me at Bodhi Meditation San Francisco. Then, just yesterday morning while chanting, she suddenly had a thought:
“I want to dedicate merit to Andy by supporting the temple’s Buddha hall construction.”
She knew I was facing too many obstacles this year, and that two blessing lights alone might not be enough. At such a crucial moment, when my green card fate hung in the balance, we needed the blessings of the Buddhas.
So my aunt made an offering on my behalf to the “Temple-Wide Lighting Offering Project“, part of the temple’s construction effort. She told me the teacher even rang a gong and chanted special blessings just for me:
“May you be blessed by the Buddhas and enter the U.S. safely and smoothly.”
Before and after my flight from Hong Kong, I stayed in close contact with my aunt:
“I’ve landed…”
“Now entering immigration…”
“I’ve been taken into a small room…”
She said receiving each message felt like waiting for a verdict—her heart filled with anxiety.
A few minutes later, an immigration officer walked in, handed me back my passport and green card, and simply said:
“You’re good. You can go home now.”
That one sentence—“Go home”—lifted the weight from my heart.
I immediately shared the good news with my aunt. She said excitedly,
“This is the power of making a merit offering to build the Buddha hall. Without a doubt, the Buddhas and Bodhisattvas were protecting you!”
The door that seemed about to close—the Buddhas cleared the way and reopened it. Merit created with one step; blessings followed with the next. The spiritual power of helping build a Buddhist temple manifested instantly and miraculously.
I am deeply grateful to the all-powerful Buddhas and Bodhisattvas. Grateful to Bodhi Meditation San Francisco for giving me a chance to plant seeds of merit.