The New Year Coming Up!

Every year, as far as I remember, I spend New Year with my family and my relatives. I loved the fact that all of us who have the similar face gather and joke around at my grandparents house.
However, from this year my New Year might be different. For the first time, I will spend my New Year and Holidays with my friends in Philadelphia. I am grateful that I have my "second"family in Philadelphia, but also, I feel some kind of invisible distance between my family, relatives and friends and me.
It was a ritual that I see my immediate friends whenever I go back to Japan. I let them know what date I was coming back. We were all excited about what we would talk about over coffee and dinner. My friend called every classmate in high school for me when I visited Japan last year. My best friend showed me "what's hot" spots and food in the fancy Department. I miss them and wish we could spend some time together this year too.
The reason why I chose not to go home is simple. It is the politics. From January elect-president Obama might change some of the immigration policy that might affect my status in the U.S. With my visa, I am allowed to go to any country and come back to the U.S., however, because of this turmoil in the world, the computer system that is responsible for keeping individual's visa status document might act improperly. Thus, there is a possibility that the re-entry to the U.S. might become harder for non-U.S. citizens.