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AU: And then later on, after I came back to the States and after we were married and I not having any family over here, and I thought, "Well, I'd like to go out and work." And because I had my civil service status and I was on a conditional career at that time, that I didn't have to start from all over. So I went to the, you know, the personnel office and submitted my application form, and right then, they said, "Do you know that immigration is looking for a girl like you?" I said... well, they wanted some, they're looking for somebody who can speak bilingual, was bilingual. And they said, "Why don't you go and talk to them." So I went and they were right upstairs on the third floor in that old, it's the U.S. Court House there on Broadway and Main, Fifth and Main. So the civil service office was downstairs on the first floor, and so I went up on the third floor, and I talked, another district director talked to me, but I didn't hear anything from him for a few weeks. And in the meantime, civil service office was sending me to different places also, you know, for interview. And so then, these, one day, the immigration, the district director says, well, you know, he says, "We sent out this inquiry to your former boss, and we haven't heard from him." And so by then, what they're trying to do is contact him at, in Japan, at the air base in Japan. But he was, he was then lieutenant general, and he was in Pentagon. So I told him he was in Pentagon, and they called him, I guess, by telephone. And they called, immigration called me right away, and he says, "Can you come down?" So then, I talked to district director. He says, "I talked to your boss and he said, 'If you don't hire her, you're stupid."" And so he says, "Can you come to work on Monday?"

But his, so then I was working for immigration. And I guess I couldn't have found a better job because I think it was meant for me, not only by being able to speak and then be able to understand both cultures that I think I was able to help more people. And of course, you know, there were a lot of Isseis and then the people from Japan that came through. And the Japanese consulate started sending people down, and people would come and ask, he says, "Is Mrs. Ueno here?" you know, and then I would say, "Oh, yes." I would say, "Yes I am." "Oh, you are, I need help." And I would look at them, I don't know who they are, and I says, "How do you know me?" "Oh, the Japanese consul said, 'Go, go see Mrs. Ueno, ask her, she'll help you.'" [Laughs] But it was nice because I felt like, well, you know, at least, this is my payback time. I'm paying back people who need help if I can do, you know, anything, and I think I crossed through a lot of paths with a lot of people that really, people that I would never have met had I not worked there. And all the people that come there are coming because they have problems.

SG: Are there any specific experiences that kind of stand out for you in terms of the kind of work or help you did?

AU: Well, yeah. Well, there's so many things and so many funny things too, you know, like people say, "Why don't you write a book?" and it's so funny. But there's some people even, I know that there was, there's some old people that, people are afraid to come to Immigration. They feel like, I guess the Issei people especially, they feel like they're going somewhere like they're going to a court or something. They are so afraid, and I said, "Don't be afraid, come in," you know. And of course, a lot of things they don't understand because it's very complicated. But there's things that when they ask us, gee, you can't do it that way, but there's a way of going around that and some, take some other law and take that into consideration, and then do it that way. So I would guide them to that way and say, "Why don't we do it this way? You can do it this way, you know, and let's do it this way." And then like the forms that they can't, it's hard for them to fill out, and I said, "Never mind, give it to me, and I'll do it for you." And so there were some other people said, "Well, you're not supposed to be standing there and doing it for them," you know. I know, I know. But it was nice. And like some old people come in like, sometimes, you get, oh, this fellow, and they tell you these stories like even this fellow from Switzerland, he used to be, he lived in Canada, but he couldn't be in Canada too long, but he was not a Canadian. He came to United States, and he, as a visitor, he liked it, and he stayed six months. But he's, he couldn't stay much longer, so he went back to Canada, then he would come down again, and after, and he would stay six months again. So then, you know, an extension. Says, well, you know, we'll give you an extension, and so we give an extension for another six months. And then he'd say, "I know I can't live here," but he says, "and I don't want to lie, but," you know, he says, "I don't want to stay in Canada, I don't want to live there. But what can I do?" Well, I said, "You have to go back." But I said, "If you're going to go back within thirty days because this is the maximum of your extension I can give you." But I says, "If you're going to go back within thirty days, I'll give you satisfactory departure. I'll give you additional thirty days without doing anything, just put it on." And then I said, "And then you can turn around and you'd stay there for a week or two, whatever, and then come in again, okay, and it's going to be all new." You know, there's even, they're so honest and, I said, "What harm can they do?" you know, this is elderly people.

But, and I was involved with foreign students, so I had, I was the, in charge of all the foreign students in the United States, yes, in the United States, but for the Portland office. I was a foreign student officer, so we used to have a seminar with all the college foreign student advisers. And if you had gone to Portland State University for any topic, you'd probably know Dr. Zunuzi. We're very good friends because we're both involved very much in foreign students and because any time there is a seminar, he said, "Well, I want you to be on the board, and I want you to come," and we used to go. And one time when I couldn't, they said, "Well, no you can't, we'll send somebody else," and Dr. Zunuzi and the rest of the foreign student advisers of the colleges said, "We don't want anybody else but Mrs. Ueno." You can send three inspectors, and we would say, no. So you can talk to him, and he can tell you that we still communicate with each other. But I used to always tell them, you know, whatever I can do as long as I, we don't break the law. We don't want to break the law, but there's always a way to go around. But don't come to me after you had done something wrong and say please fix it, you know. Before you do something, come and talk to me, and we'll try to solve it the best we can. And he says, I used to tell them, my square is not just a square, you know. It has little curves in it. But I enjoyed dealing with foreign students, although sometimes I used to scold them when they come to, you know, especially, I would say, "Well, you know, you're here to study. You're not here to fool around and have good time." You know that lot of Japanese students and they have, they used to come, they didn't lack money, I guess. They used to run around in cars and have a good time, but, and then they used to kind of flunk in their grades, and then they would come to me, and they would say, so they used to get some scolding from me. [Laughs] But it was nice. I think I was able to help them.

<End Segment 12> - Copyright © 2003 Oregon Nikkei Endowment and Densho. All Rights Reserved.