Thread: Wife seeks news of husband

http://www.rockymountainnews.com

Wife seeks news of husband
By Rosa Ramirez, Rocky Mountain News
September 21, 2006

Maria Zuñiga arrived at the construction site with tears streaming down her face, hoping someone could tell her where immigration officials took her 47-year-old husband.

But nobody had answers for her Wednesday.

"I've been driving around, and nobody can tell me anything," Zuñiga said, her eyes red from crying all morning. "The only thing I can do is ask."

Zuñiga, 44, a legal permanent resident from Mexico, said she first heard about the immigration bust near Buckley Air Force Base about 9:30 a.m. from a co-worker. Her husband, Fernando Zuñiga, is an illegal immigrant from Mexico, she said.

When she first heard about the raid, Zuñiga thought her co-worker was making it up or was wrong about the location of the raid.

"I just thought to myself, 'Could it be true?' Then I thought, 'I hope they didn't take him,' " she said. "I then called my daughter to see if she had heard anything."

She said her 26-year-old daughter - one of her five children - told her, "Mom, just go to his job. You know where it is."

That's when Zuñiga really began to panic.

"I just left work (at a janitorial company). How can I go to work when I don't know what's happening to my husband?" she said, starting to cry again.

On Wednesday morning, Zuñiga circled the construction site twice before she was able to find a man who worked with her husband and confirmed that he was detained. She drove to ICE's detention center on Peoria Street in Aurora, but only found relatives of other snagged workers looking for information, she said. She called at least three different agencies, but didn't learn anything about his whereabouts.

Zuñiga's emotions fluctuated from fear to rage to hopelessness.

"My husband goes to work, then goes straight home. He works long hours and doesn't have time to do anything else. He doesn't have a criminal record. Why don't they go deport people who are in the streets without a job or people who are stealing?" she said, furrowing her brow.

By 7 p.m., Zuñiga still had no news about her husband.

"I feel desperate. I went to speak with a lawyer, and they're asking for $500 to investigate where he's at," she said, adding that she will start the search for him again today.

I recommend you pack your bags and take a trip to Mexico. If your husband is an illegal immigrant, hopefully that is where you'll find him.

He doesn't have a criminal record. Why don't they go deport people who are in the streets without a job or people who are stealing?" she said, furrowing her brow. [quote]

If he's here illegally, he is a criminal. Heh, I misread the title of this article. I thought it said "Wife seeks new husband". Not enough sleep.