'Dream fulfilled'
Families reunited from third Mexican town through Project 'Abuelita'

By Ryan Pagelow Rpagelow@scn1.com

WAUKEGAN — Sergio Guerrero has waited 10 years to see his parents again.

The Waukeganite last saw them when he was 16 years old in the small town of San José, in the Mexican state of Guanajuato. That day he went to an early morning mañanitas church service, hugged his mom while holding back tears, then began his journey north to find work in the United States.

On Tuesday his parents arrived in Waukegan through a program to expedite tourist visas for 13 Mexican grandparents from San José who have family in the Waukegan area.

"It's a dream come true," Guerrero said. "I've waited 10 years for this day."

He had to work at his factory job the morning his parents flew in so he had to wait until the afternoon to see them.

"My heart was racing. I bought flowers for my mom. I was thinking about her the whole way. It was something beautiful," Guerrero said.

His parents, Luis and Imelda, have six children living in the United States and seven grandchildren, many they had never before seen in person.

"A bigger dream of mine is to get my papers," Guerrero said. "I could see them every six months or every year."

It's difficult for visa applicants with limited income to obtain a tourist visa to visit the United States. It is even more difficult for undocumented immigrants, whose illegal status bars them from sponsoring relatives who want to visit the United States.

Working with the U.S. Embassy in Mexico, U.S. Rep. Mark Kirk, R-Highland Park, and his Latino Advisory Board secured tourist visas for the 13 grandparents in a program called Project 'Abuelita' — Spanish for grandmother. All of the grandparents had sponsors who were either U.S. citizens or legal permanent residents and will return to Mexico in a month.

Two earlier waves of seniors came from Tonatico and La Luz — other Mexican towns with large populations of emigrants living in Waukegan. Kirk is planning to help another wave of grandparents from Tonatico come as early as September. In the future, a "group visa" program could be modeled on the project, he said, instead of coordinating tourist visas for each senior.

If legislation that grants a path to citizenship for the nation's 11 to 12 million undocumented immigrants is approved, it would be easier for immigrants to help relatives abroad qualify for tourist visas.

Kirk voted for a bill passed in the House in December that focuses on enforcement and does not offer eventual citizenship to illegal immigrants. He doesn't expect the House and Senate to negotiate a compromise immigration bill until after the November elections.

"As a political observer I think it will happen in this Congress, but after the election. People will be less emotional on this subject later in the year," Kirk said.



• About 100 families from the small town of San Jose in the state of Guanajuato, Mexico, live in the Waukegan area. Most immigrated to Waukegan in the early 1990s looking for better jobs. About 40 families formed the Club San Jose to help each other in case of an emergency, said Mario Zavala, secretary of the group. The club functions as informal insurance.

• "We're from the same town. The club is to help in case of a tragedy or if someone dies, to have medical help or to transport a body back to Mexico," said Zavala who has lived in Waukegan since 1999.

• Similar clubs from the town exist in Joliet and California. They raise money for projects in San Jose, by holding dances and raffles. For example, they are trying to buy land in San Jose to have their own cemetery. The rancho, or small town, of 2,000 people doesn't have its own cemetery.


08/04/06

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