Jack Barrios, a 25-year-old U.S. Army vet who served in Iraq, said he didn't know what he and his two children - Mathew, 3, and Allana, 6 months - would do if his wife is deported to Guatemala.
Choking back tears, Esther Quintanilla, also a mother of two kids, reported that her Salvadoran-born husband, Adonis, has been locked up in an immigration detention center for 14 months.
UC Riverside student and citizen Suhang Desai, 22, said his older 24-year-old brother, Saga, still lives with their foreign-born parents because he has a serious illness and relies on his father's health insurance for treatment. But after 28 years of living in the United States, his parents now face deportation and the "real possibility that our family will be ripped apart."
Fernando Segovia, a senior at South East High School, explained that the life he knew came to a "screeching halt" earlier this year when his mother got the dreaded official deportation letter in the mail.
The four testified March 13 at historic Our Lady Queen of the Angels (La Placita) Church near Olvera Street in Los Angeles. On a Friday evening, California Congressmembers Xavier Becerra, Grace Napolitano, Lucille Roybal-Allard and Diane Watson listened to the personal stories of American families who have been split up or face that possibility because of members' immigration status.
The hearing in the packed church was the eighth in a series of 21 "Family Unity" hearings across the country highlighting the need for comprehensive immigration reform.
Two years ago an attempt to overhaul the nation's immigration laws failed in Congress. So Latino leaders are now recharging their efforts by focusing on the U.S.-born children of undocumented immigrants who are often left behind when their parents are apprehended and deported. They point out that the politically popular crackdown on illegal immigrants tragically breaks up families, affecting up to five million children.
No future in Guatemala
Barrios, the Iraq vet, serves in the U.S. Army Reserve while struggling to make ends meet working a part-time warehouse job with UPS. He has received mental health and physical therapy for Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder, brain damage as well as back, knee and ankle problems.
"I believe it is unfair that couples that love each other, and children with loving parents, have to be separated because of our broken immigration system," he said. "My wife, who came to this country in 1994, deserves everything in this world. I do not know what I would do if she is deported to Guatemala. What would happen to our children?
"Everyone has a dream and that is why we are in this country," he went on. "There is no future in Guatemala. I have fought for this country, and all I ask is to allow our family to stay together."
Esther Quintanilla was also born in Guatemala, while her husband, Adonis, is from El Salvador. For more than a year, he's been detained by immigration authorities for not complying with a voluntary deportation order rejecting political asylum. They have two children, Gabriela, 11, and Alejandro, 8, who is autistic.
"We have tried to set a good example for our children," she said. "We don't drink or smoke, and we are cautious of the things they see on television. We have not had any problems with the law, and we pay our taxes. We want to make sure that our children grow up and go to college in order for them to become respectable United States citizens."
The woman, who has been in the United States for 24 years and has a work permit, talked about how the separation from their father has deeply affected her children.
"I beg of you with all my heart not to divide our family," said Quintanilla, wiping her eyes with a tissue. "We know that we did not do things correctly and that is why my husband was detained. On behalf of my husband and for myself, I ask for your forgiveness and ask of you to give us another opportunity.
"We pray to God that our family won't continue to be divided. A society's foundation is the family, and I ask President Barack Obama to provide immigration reform for all the people that need it, including us."
Pursuing American dream
Suhang Desai said his parents from India and England have been trying to become permanent residents of the United States for more than two decades, but their applications have been repeatedly denied.
When they applied for green cards 10 years ago, the judge felt that because of Suhang's and his brother's ages (they were both adolescents) they wouldn't suffer "sufficient hardship" if their parents were deported. Today, Suhang's brother Sagar still lives at home because he suffers from ulcerative colitis, a pre-cancerous condition.
"Now, after 28 years of living in the United States of America, my parents face deportation, and there is a real possibility that our family will be ripped apart. The only thing that keeps our family from being separated is a private bill that was introduced in Congress by Rep. Grace Napolitano. Congresswoman Napolitano, we thank you from the bottom of our hearts," Suhang said, turning towards the member of Congress sitting with her colleagues at a table in front of the altar.
"I still believe that America is a land of freedom and justice and family values," the UC Riverside college student added, "and that in the end the government will allow my family to remain together as we continue to pursue the American dream."
Fernando Segovia, the senior at South East High School, told the members of Congress and people packing La Placita Church he was here today to urge the government to act on just and humane immigration reform so his family could stay together. He said when his mother got a deportation letter his life radically changed. The teenager fell into a deep depression and couldn't concentrate in school. And with no one to talk to about his family's situation, he soon felt hopeless.
"I want to stay with my family in this country - the country where I was born and the country I call home," he declared. "I fear of what will become of me and my family if we are to go back to Mexico. There is nothing there for me. Everything I know is here in the United States. I want to continue my dreams of attending college in the U.S."
Fernando said he thinks back to what President Obama said in his first address to Congress: "If you don't finish your education, you are not only letting yourself down, but you are letting down this country." The senior reported that he has already been accepted to several universities and wants to further his education.
"Now, everything that I have worked so hard for, everything my family has contributed to this country seems to be coming to an end," he lamented. "I want to urge you to take the leadership to pass immigration reform this year. We have waited long enough. We can't wait any longer. My family and millions of other families can't wait. My little sister and millions more children can't wait. And this country can't wait.
After pausing, the teenager implored, "For the love of your family, don't deport mine."
'A horrible example'
The four legislators, who mostly listened during the two-hour session, agreed with the witnesses about the need for overhauling the nation's immigration law, especially concerning families.
Rep. Watson said the 2009 Congress should be able to come up with comprehensive immigration reform stressing family unity. "It would be a horrible example to the world if we are seen as tearing families apart," she said.
And Congressman Becerra promised to collect information from the hearing to bring back to his colleagues in Washington. "It's about human beings," he pointed out. "It's about families. We must tell ICE [U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement] to go and round up criminals and not go after hard-working people."
Rep. Roybal-Allard observed that the four witnesses put a human face on the problem. "They are the reason why we're going to have comprehensive immigration reform," she said.
But it was Congresswoman Napolitano who really roused the crowd. "You've heard from four people how heart-rendering our current immigration policy is," she said. "It's why we need immigration reform."
Then she called out, "And when do we need it?"
"Now!" the people in the pews shouted back.
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