America's Voice Blog

Posted 12/23/09 at 12:07pm By Dara Lind

For Soldier Separated from Children, Coming “Home for the Holidays” Is Bittersweet

For most of us, "coming home for the holidays" and "spending the holidays with family" mean the same thing. But, for millions of victims of our broken immigration system, native-born Americans and immigrants alike, the holidays can be a painful reminder of just how far from that ideal they are.

CNN tells the story of US Army Captain Cheyne Parham, who has spent most of 2009 fighting the government to get visas for his wife, whom he met while stationed in Korea, and his two young daughters. "I've missed out on all but about one month of their lives," Capt. Parham told CNN -- ever since the Korean consulate refused to give the children passports or visas. The reason? Because his wife was working as a bar waitress at the time, the Korean consulate told Capt. Parham, they weren't sure he was the father of his daughters.

Watch Capt. Parham's story:

Posted 04/23/09 at 08:08am By Jackie Mahendra

NYT: After Losing Freedom, Some Immigrants Lose Their Children, Too

little boy - The New York Times has a poignant piece about family separation today, separation that is occurring as a result of our broken immigration system. It details the story of Encarnación Bail Romero, a mother who was locked up after an immigration raid in Carthage, Missouri, and her two year old son, Carlos:

"My parents were poor, and they never gave me to anyone," Ms. Bail recalled. "I was not going to give my son to anyone either."

An adoption petition arrived at the jail a few weeks later. Ms. Bail, who cannot read Spanish, much less English, said she had a cellmate from Mexico translate. With the help of a guard and an English-speaking Guatemalan visitor, Ms. Bail wrote a response to the court.

"I do not want my son to be adopted by anyone," she scrawled on a sheet of notebook paper on Oct. 28, 2007. "I would prefer that he be placed in foster care until I am not in jail any longer. I would like to have visitation with my son."

For the next 10 months, she said, she had no communication with the court. During that time, Judge Dally appointed a lawyer for Ms. Bail, but later removed him from the case after he pleaded guilty to charges of domestic violence.

Carlos was adopted by an American family, despite his mother's wishes, and Encarnación has been deported to her native Guatemala. A lawyer who commented on the case said that, "in many cases, what state courts want to do ‘conflicts with what federal immigration agencies are supposed to do.'"

The immigration lawyer, Christopher Huck, argued:

"Then things spiral out of control," Mr. Huck added, "and it ends up in these real unfortunate situations."

Cases like those of Carlos and his mother shed light on just how dire the situation has become for many families in our country, as well as the pressing need for real reform of our immigration system.

Posted 04/08/09 at 09:43am By Patty Kupfer

During Easter Recess, People of Faith Stand up for Immigrant Families

FamilyEach Spring, when my family gathers around the table for Easter, I'm reminded of how truly blessed I am.

Having my family all together in one place is one of the greatest gifts I know -- I can't imagine having that taken away from me.

Sadly, thousands of American children won't get to experience the warmth of a big family gathering -- this holiday or any day -- because of our country's unjust immigration laws.

Fortunately, hundreds of people of faith across the country are visiting their Representatives, who are home for Easter Recess, and telling them that this just isn't right. They're asking for real immigration reform this year.

Whether you celebrate Passover, Easter, or any other holiday this month, let's take a stand together, as people of moral conscience, for families across America. Watch our new video, send a fax to Congress, and share this with your loved ones.

Keeping families together isn't just a value for people of faith -- it's a human value.

It's a cornerstone of our society, and it's supposed to be a foundation of our immigration policies. But the sad reality is that families are under attack in this country right now. They're threatened by excessive backlogs and immigration raids that rip mothers from daughters, husbands from wives.

We can't let government bureaucracy and harsh immigration enforcement trample on what our nation holds dear -- our core values that have made this nation prosper.

I hope that you will join me in standing up for vulnerable families as you spend time with yours this holiday.

Posted 03/31/09 at 03:03pm By Maria Ponce

A Different Face of the Immigration Debate

Haitian Children This past weekend the Family Unity Tour arrived in Florida, shining light on the urgent need for immigration reform- especially for the Haitian community there. 

In Homestead, FL, before a crowd of over about 500, Jocelyn shared her personal testimony about how ICE went after her family and deported her husband, leaving behind their two U.S. citizen children, Chandler and Jalyn.  These are the adorable faces to your right.

Jocelyn's husband had previously filed for political asylum in 1992, married a U.S. citizen, and together they had two U.S. citizen children, Chandler and Jalyn. ICE deported Jocelyn's husband to a country where, according to the State Department, there are no "safe areas".

Click here to read more.
Posted 03/09/09 at 09:22am By Jackie Mahendra

Speaker Pelosi at San Francisco Church: End raids that tear families apart

pelosiIn "Pelosi: End raids splitting immigrant families," the San Francisco Gate describes the powerful 5th stop along the Congressional Hispanic Caucus' "Family Unity Tour," which is visiting at least 17 cities by the first week of April. Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) listened to children's testimonies of being torn from their parents and spoke before approximately 500 family members and advocates gathered in St. Anthony's Church in San Francisco's Mission District.

The Speaker," who has said securing U.S. borders is a top priority, used the forum to call for a comprehensive immigration program that recognizes the broad contributions immigrants have made to the fabric of the country," according to the San Francisco Gate. She argued the case passionately:

"Our future is about our children."

No matter if those families arrived two days ago or centuries ago, Pelosi said "that opportunity, that determination, that hope has made American more American."

She said, "Taking parents from their children ... that's un-American."

The crowd swelled as the Tour's chief organizer, Congressman Luis Gutierrez (D-IL), spoke about the urgency of reform and children testified about the perils of being taken from their parents.

Ivan Torres, a 9-year-old boy from San Jose, said he lives in fear that his father, who earns a living cleaning offices, will be taken away: "If (my father) is deported, who will pay the bills? Who will take care of me and my two sisters? We need to keep families together."

Want to join the Familias Unidas, or "Family Unity" Tour? Check out the full tour page or the tour's twitter updates.

Posted 03/06/09 at 06:44pm By Jackie Mahendra

Chicago Tribune: Family Unity Tour Spotlights Evangelicals, Kids Affected by Deportation

tribune graphic In “Immigration reform movement looks to evangelicals, children left behind by deported parents,” the Chicago Tribune describes Congressman Luis Gutierrez’s (D-IL) new “Family Unity Tour,” which launched last weekend and has already reached thousands across the country. One of the main reasons for the listening and learning tour is to bring family and faith to the forefront of an immigration debate that has long been dominated by divisive rhetoric.

The Tribune reports:

Borrowing a page from the civil rights movement of the 1960s, Latinos have taken their cause to churches, drawing upon the growing population of evangelical Latinos who are strong advocates of family values. While Hispanics overwhelmingly remain Roman Catholics, nearly one in six in the U.S. identify as evangelicals, the second largest religious group in the Latino community, according to the Pew Hispanic Center.

From a tour stop at a church in Norcross, Georgia, participants in the events share their personal stories before thousands of witnesses:

15-year-old Marlon Parras stood on a stage in front of 3,000 people and talked about the hardships he and his 13-year-old sister, Emiely, have faced since their parents were deported to Guatemala. He wept as he spoke softly of their parents' decision to leave the children, both American citizens, with relatives and church members so they could continue their education in suburban Atlanta.

"This is not a family," Parras told the crowd that rose to its feet during his emotional testimony. "This is not fair."

The sharing of powerful stories like these will surely re-energize and re-awaken the call for the new Administration to get started on the kind of real immigration reform promised during the campaign. The Tribune piece continues:

"When you have a 15-year-old American citizen speak very emotionally and eloquently about his pain, most Americans will say, 'We didn't know the system was that broken,' " said Gutierrez, chairman of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus' Immigration Task Force, which is promoting the movement.

Indeed, showing just how broken the system has become will be a major goal of the Family Unity Tour, as it stops in churches from Texas to Pennsylvania.  In the words of Congressman Gutierrez:

"As a nation —as citizens— we cannot wait any longer for fair and just immigration reform. Across America, parents and children, husbands and wives are being torn apart by a system that values quotas over family values and which undermines our economic security in a time of crisis. It is for this reason that U.S. citizens in each of these cities are joining this campaign and standing up for real, lasting change."

Want to be a part of the Tour?

View the full schedule, get updates on Twitter, and view photos on Flickr.