CA-SOBOakland group help clear confusing path to citizenship
Oakland group help clear confusing path to citizenship
By Angela Woodall
Oakland Tribune
Article Last Updated: 07/26/2008 05:02:56 PM PDT
OAKLAND — At age 83, Jose Barocio is ready to become a U.S. citizen. So is his wife, Maria Barocio, a sprightly 76-year-old.
They have been legal residents for about 15 years, since leaving their small town in the Mexican state of Michoacán where Jose was a farmer.
Neither of them, however, can read or write. So they sought help Saturday at a citizenship fair in the Fruitvale Village, where volunteers walked immigrants like the Barocios through the intricacies of U.S. citizenship.
"We are old but we want to be able to vote for a good president who will make the future of our grandchildren better," Jose Barocio said.
The couple will need help every step of the way
This is the second such fair hosted by the Unity Council, a advocacy group for low-income Latinos.
"It is important to give immigrants a voice, which means the right to vote," Leyda Leyva, a Unity Council coordinator. But misinformation, lack of money — at least $685 — and fear hold people back, Leyva said.
"They don't think they qualify, so they don't bother applying."
Grant Smith, an immigrant from Vancouver, Canada, said he wanted to decipher the legalities of citizenship and figure out whether he could afford it financially. "Permanent residency has worked fine so far," said Smith, who was wearing a T-shirt with the logo "Enjoy California."
Juan Franco sought assistance because immigration officials mixed up
his last name when he applied for residency a decade ago — a frequent problem because Latinos use both their mother's maiden and father's names.
Most participants who choose the citizenship route will be ready to mail their paperwork to the Bureau of Citizenship and Immigration Services after they are finished.
But Rep. Barbara Lee, D-Oakland, said even citizens can get caught up in the net of federal policies she said are being inconsistently and inappropriately enforced to crack down on illegal immigration.
In May, agents from the immigration enforcement branch of the Department of Homeland Security arrested a Latino family of four at a Berkeley home and a woman at her Oakland residence. The Immigration and Customs Enforcement raids provoked confusion and fear among residents, especially because ICE agents were seen in the area of an East Oakland school. Agents have rounded up hundreds of non-U.S. citizens since May in raids around the country.
Lee said ICE assistant secretary Julie Myers told her Friday that the agency would develop consistent immigration regulations that would exclude schools, churches and other public spaces such as playgrounds. That, according to media reports, is the unofficial policy of the department.
ICE has to enforce immigration policies when they have a specific cause, Lee said. "But they can't conduct witch hunts that intimidate and harass communities."
Staff writer Angela Woodall can be reached at awoodall@bayareanewsgroup.com or at 510-208-6413.
http://www.insidebayarea.com/news/ci_10008091