Ck this column (with minor changes) first published Sept. 13, 2005: Whats in a name? Sometimes, red tape By EMMA PEREZ-TREVINO For a while there, I thought I might not be able to have all my paperwork ready for dispatch to the Hurricane Katrina relief effort. The bump in the road came from a most unlikely place -- my name. Is it Emma Perez-Trevino, or Emma Perez, or Emma Trevino, or Emma P.T. Salinas or Emma Salinas? Perez is my fathers last name. Trevino is my mothers and Salinas is my late husbands. Coincidentally, Trevino also is one of my fathers last names and through the years, it was hyphenated with Perez as one. I, like fellow Mexico natives, have a thing about last names. We are very proud of them. They also tell the Dona Juanitas that you might meet in your hometown who your parents and grandparents are, or were. Im not suggesting that people of other nationalities are not proud of their last name, but we do tend to wear all of them on our sleeves, besides our hearts. Ive never had any problems in the years I have lived as Emma Perez-Trevino and later Emma Perez-Trevino de Salinas or the Emma P.T. Salinas. Neither have my church, my schools, employers and financial institutions I bank with. Noticing that my Texas drivers license expires on my birthday Sept. 15, I thought I would renew it before I was deployed with the American Red Cross South Texas Chapter. At the Texas Department of Public Safety, I was told, Theres an alarm on it, as the blood drained from my face. It seems, the clerk said, that the name on my drivers license, Emma Perez-T Salinas does not match the name on my Social Security number. We sent you a notice three years ago, she said. Wheres your Social Security card? Its more likely that Ill find the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow than find the card with the nine-digit number assigned to me more than 40 years ago. So off it was to the Social Security Office, where I quickly came up on the computer as Emma Perez Trevino. So, how would you like your name to read? I was asked. Well, what about Emma Salinas, I proposed. This, only because my daughter, who tries to keep me in line with an array of governmental paperwork, said that the Internal Revenue Service also is confused over my name and Emma Salinas keeps it simple. Okay, lets see your marriage certificate, I was told. I need proof that you married and are a Salinas, Apparently, I should have changed the name on the card when I married. I am a U.S. citizen, but resided in Mexico eons ago. I was married in Mexico and my late husband had the certificate of our 1971 marriage. I dont have it. And it could be days, weeks or months before I find it in some bureaucratic office in Mexico. Its also more likely that I hit the lottery first. So, what about Emma Perez-Trevino? OK. So off it was again to the TDPS office, now equipped with the required paperwork. Its $24 maam, the clerk said for the drivers license renewal. Can I pay with a check? Sure. Oh, but you cant. Your check says Emma P.T. Salinas and youre Emma Perez-Trevino, not Emma P.T. Salinas, the clerk said, while I begged off welling-eyes in frustration. Off to the bank I went. Does that mean that you have to change your name legally? my daughter wondered. How the heck do I know at this time? How can I change my name to a name that Ive had since birth? That battle will simply have to wait. DPS clerks attempted to explain that for several years now, the government wants the names of persons to be the same on all their documentation. Its to prevent identity theft, a DPS clerk said. Could have fooled me. My Salinas is gone. It seems to me that the government succeeded in stealing an important part of my identity that day.
Posted on: Sat, 22 Mar 2014 05:40:05 +0000
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