Thread: Church battling to keep immigrant families united

http://catholicnewworld.com/cnw/issue/2_071705.html

Church battling to keep immigrant families united

By Michelle Martin
Staff writer

Carmen Estacio isn’t a statistic. Estacio, a native of the Philippines, is a Chicago resident, a naturalized U.S. citizen, a worker in a state government office. When it comes to immigration law, she did everything by the book, including applying for a visa for her 18-year-old son to join her in the United States.

She filed the application in 1991. Her son, now 33, arrived in June 2005.

“I waited and I waited and I waited,� said Estacio. “I requested help from congressmen. I thought about getting a lawyer, but I knew it was very expensive.�

Estacio’s story gives an example of the way U.S. immigration law is not working, keeping working people away from their loved ones for years, according to advocates for immigration reform.

Family division is one area the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops emphasized when they announced “Justice for Immigrants: A Journey of Hope,� a campaign for comprehensive reform that would respect the dignity of immigrants, in May.

In Chicago, Auxiliary Bishop John R. Manz addressed the issue directly when he said, “This broken system forces many immigrant families to be separated from loved ones for years, even decades. We, especially, need to change the laws that separate families.�

“Decades� is not an exaggeration, said Fred Tsao, policy director for the Illinois Coalition for Immigrant and Refugee Rights.

The longest wait time, for siblings of legal residents from the Philippines, is 22 years, said Tsao, the son of a Chinese immigrant. Overall, the average wait time for family-preference visasâ€â€

In Chicago, Auxiliary Bishop John R. Manz addressed the issue directly when he said, "This broken system forces many immigrant families to be separated from loved ones for years, even decades. We, especially, need to change the laws that separate families."

The immigrant chose to be here and must accept the consequences of their decision. They can always return to their home country.

Even if the bill is approved, it will come too late for Teresa Figueroa, a Melrose Park woman set to be deported later this summer. Figueroa entered the United States with a legal visa in 1999, but then purchased someone else’s Social Security number in order to get a job.

The visa did not say that she could work. She intentionally violated the law. Just another scam. Adios amigo!

A mother of four and grandmother of one, Figueroa said she never intended to hurt anyone, and if she knew how much trouble she could get into, she would not have done it.

She is just whining because she got caught.

"All the time I have left, I want to help all the people I can. To the people who have documents, I would say, support the ones who don’t."

I support them 100%--support them returning to their home country where they belong. Support the "Bus Ticket to Mexico" campaign.

The two senators have more sense than Father Dahm. I wonder if the Father knows that aiding illegals is a crime--there is no absolution for clergy the way the law is written.

They don’t want to legalize them, but they’re not up to deporting them.

I am.