Thread: Lawyer -- once an illegal -- knows desperation

Lawyer -- once an illegal -- knows desperation
by Teresa Puente

September 15, 2008

Karina Ayala-Bermejo remembers the day her parents put her in a white dress with flowers embroidered on the collar. They handed her over to a couple who pretended to be her parents as they crossed the border in a car. They used a birth certificate of another child to smuggle Karina, then only 2, from Mexico into the United States.

Now 37 and a mother of three, she shudders at the thought of turning her own children over to the "coyotes," what Mexicans call smugglers.

"But I understand the desperation and poverty and wanting better lives and dreams for their children," said Ayala-Bermejo, today an attorney and the incoming deputy commissioner of human resources for the City of Chicago.

In this column, I am profiling six immigrants who used to be undocumented. Ayala-Bermejo's story is the fourth in the series.

Ayala-Bermejo and her family became legal residents through old "anchor baby" laws that are no longer in effect. Her brother was born in the United States, so her family was able to legalize through him. She became a U.S. citizen in 1997.

But when she hears about the Bush administration's newest tactic -- mass immigration raids -- she thinks about the separation of families. In May, 400 immigrants were rounded up in Iowa, and 600 were arrested this month in Mississippi. More than 500 children were left behind in that state. Some of the mothers were allowed to go home to care for their children and are now walking around with electronic monitoring bracelets.

"I feel like I'm reliving my own separation when I hear about parents being ripped away from their children," she said.

From Mississippi, immigrant fathers -- most from Mexico and Panama -- have been sent to jail in Jena, La., making it nearly impossible for their wives and children to visit them.

Complicating matters is a new Mississippi law that makes using false documents to get a job a felony punishable by up to five years in jail. Five years for working? That is a waste of taxpayer money.

We don't need laws like this, and no matter how many raids immigration officials launch, they will never be able to deport all of the 12 million undocumented immigrants in this country.

What we need instead is comprehensive immigration reform to take immigrants who are a vital part of our economy out of the shadows.

Their children could wind up with futures like Ayala-Bermejo, who contributes to the tax base and helps the community. She graduated from Loyola University and DePaul's College of Law. She was previously an assistant attorney with the Chicago Board of Education. She's director of community services with the Chicago Bar Association and general counsel of the Hispanic National Bar Association. She has won many awards for her community service, including one from the Chicago Commission on Human Relations.

Ayala-Bermejo understands the law and explains that many immigrants, particularly those from Mexico, come here illegally because the waiting lists for those hoping to unify with legal family members can average 15 years or more.

For example, an adult son or daughter from Mexico, who applied for visas with a family sponsor in 1992, will finally be eligible to get their visas in October 2008.

Those who marry U.S. citizens have the shortest waits, but those who have no family sponsor have virtually no way to immigrate unless an employer sponsors them. Visas for skilled workers and unskilled workers are capped at around 65,000 a year apiece. "Gone are the days when one could come on a boat to Ellis Island and be greeted by the Statue of Liberty," Ayala-Bermejo said. "It's no longer a possibility."
http://www.suntimes.com/news/puente/116 ... 15.article
tipped to article by ChiWatcher

I was just speaking to a lady from England and by next year she and her family will be Americans. She said "we have paid dearly and the illegal should not be given amnesty but deported."

Related post on 19s:
http://www.alipac.us/ftopict-131673.html

What we need instead is comprehensive immigration reform to take immigrants who are a vital part of our economy out of the shadows.

Anyone else sick and tired of hearing this crap!!!!! They are not in the shadows they turn neighborhoods into eyesores that can be id'ed in seconds, they march up and down our streets to protest with their mexican demands!!!! They turn our churches into political launching pads and safe houses!!!! How is that living in the shadows???

Originally Posted by zeezil

What we need instead is comprehensive immigration reform to take immigrants who are a vital part of our economy out of the shadows.

So they admit that illegals are responsible for our downward spinning economy, they are "a vital part of it"!!

Complicating matters is a new Mississippi law that makes using false documents to get a job a felony punishable by up to five years in jail. Five years for working? That is a waste of taxpayer money.

Who's documents are they using? Isnt that fraud, which is a felony? Five years in jail is nothing. The costs of supporting illegal immigrants is in the billions of dollars. ENFORCEMENT WORKS.

Those who marry U.S. citizens have the shortest waits, but those who have no family sponsor have virtually no way to immigrate unless an employer sponsors them. Visas for skilled workers and unskilled workers are capped at around 65,000 a year apiece. "Gone are the days when one could come on a boat to Ellis Island and be greeted by the Statue of Liberty," Ayala-Bermejo said. "It's no longer a possibility."

Even they had a process to go through and some were turned away. Many only had the money to allow 1 family member to go for the chance..........entire families didn't always get to come. They did not let any and all who managed to get here stay.....and we didn't have to pay for their kids, medical expenses or have welfare. Think the illegals have it tough now? It was ALOT worse then. Little Pedro would be sitting in a factory at 5 working endless hours with no days off and sleeping in horrid conditions. In some instances you got off the boat and directly on to another to go and fight in a war. Please don't idolize the suffering our initial immigrants went through as if once they saw the Statue of Liberty they were handed a free pass and an easy life like they do now. And trust me.....back then you didn't fly a foreign flag and sing the praises of your homeland either. You blended or you were gone.......there weren't any PC rules back then. Heck....can you imagine the patriots of old tolerating being screamed at and called names and listening to demands from a bunch of ungrateful people who expected everything given to them? Think they would settle with comming home and having it filled with strangers because they just wanted a better life and decided they'd just take yours? Think "coz I want it" would have been an acceptable excuse for stealing their cattle or food? Nope.....back then it was just common courtesy to not shoot you in the back for your arrogant behavior. You asked for help....you didn't demand it and you were thankful for just being here......not for just what you could GET. Back then nobody owed you anything and you were entitled to nothing. Frankly the illegals of today couldn't handle what it ment to be an immigrant back then........so spare me the sob stories now. Especially from the Mexicans. America was always here and they never did anything and it was just a walk over the border. Still haven't done much more to Mexico since so they aren't the ones who would have ever made America great anyway. The biggest whiners are from countries who can't move beyond 3rd world mentality........

Ayala-Bermejo understands the law and explains that many immigrants, particularly those from Mexico, come here illegally because the waiting lists for those hoping to unify with legal family members can average 15 years or more.

SO?!?!?! Boo-freakin-hoo! Then you wait the 15 years to enter legally! My parents did and paid dearly for it! My parents also didn't hand me over to strangers like something of no value, they waited even longer so they could bring me in legally!

There is NO honor amongst thieves! Once scum, always scum. Always putting the blame on someone or something else, rather than themselves! Pathetic.

SO?!?!?! Boo-freakin-hoo! Then you wait the 15 years to enter legally! My parents did and paid dearly for it! My parents also didn't hand me over to strangers like something of no value, they waited even longer so they could bring me in legally!

There is NO honor amongst thieves! Once scum, always scum. Always putting the blame on someone or something else, rather than themselves! Pathetic.

Sounds like your parents were special people. It takes alot of courage to go about things the right way. I remember working at the chicken farm and people were discussing their immigrant past......so many were just one kid sent, kind of like as a hope for the family. Not to save them, but as a future hope of seeing their "family name" carry on in a better place. Many never got to lay eyes on their family again. Yet what was funny....(not haha but different than today) they were instructed to obey the law, fit in and make the family proud. The discussion came to pass because a bunch of them had been doing their family tree. So many ended up being a part of that tree un-beknownst to any of them. My supervisor was from the Red-Bud Indian Tribe and she ended up being related to another woman who worked there.....through marraige....and then their own kids were getting ready to be married. They had one group get together and compare pictures and letters to trace back where they came from. Big world and getting smaller all the time.

But to think past immigrants never had to make sacrifices and choices and pay dearly for them is just plain wrong. To deminish that with illegal immigration is a slap in the face.

A close relative of mine immigrated here through Ellis Island after WWII, after four years in a displaced persons camp of ramshackle barracks. She spoke fluent Finnish, German, Russian and English and often worked as a translator. But even a person with talents like that and a refugee HAD TO HAVE a sponsor that was a US citizen. She had to prove her identity and go through a physical exam before she could leave Ellis Island. She arrived with a small cardboard suitcase and total money of about 5 cents.
But what I admire most about her is her motto: Nothing lasts forever.
Unfortunately, these days the illegals, especially Hispanics are screaming if the "forever" is a couple days.

Thanks crazybird, they were and made alot of sacrifices without losing their honor. My oldest brother had emigrated first and was able to sponsor us. He had to guarantee to financially support us so we would not be a burden on society, had to have a place for us to stay and a job for my father.

Process started for my father in 1952 - before I was born and my parents were married. That process ended in 1967, when we emigrated as a family, my father refused to come alone. Every life change (marriage, births) necessitated adding longer wait times - 15 years total.

Vaccinations and full medical report - translated to ENGLISH - were required. Letter from employer and/or family sponsor also required. Background checks required. All this had to be notarized by a judge.
We also paid thousands of dollars in fees, in addition to having thousands more to put into a bank account to support us here. This had to happen BEFORE we were allowed entry.

So when I hear "it was easier then" I have to laugh at that lie.