Update on Gutierrez magical mystry tour. Break out the hankies.

Tour for immigration reform makes stop in Dallas

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Story Created: Mar 14, 2009 at 7:31 PM CDT

Story Updated: Mar 14, 2009 at 7:31 PM CDT

Dallas (AP) - Marisela Martinez cried softly and her voice wavered as she spoke Saturday of suddenly becoming a single mother when her husband was deported last fall.


The 31-year-old Fort Worth native worries because her 11-year-old son, Juaquin Martinez, lost the father figure he had in Manuel Valencia-Escogido. Her 2-year-old daughter, Viviana Valencia, wakes up at night asking for her daddy, Martinez said.

"My husband, when he was here, we were a team," Martinez told more than 1,000 people who packed into Jesucristo Es Mi Refugio Church. "I cannot fill my husband's shoes."

Martinez was among four people who spoke to bring attention to the issue of U.S. citizens and legal residents separated from immigrant spouses, parents or children under current immigration policy.

The meeting was organized by lawmakers along with religious and community leaders as part of a 17-city tour advocating immigration reform. Eight other stops are left on the tour, which runs through April.

Democratic U.S. Reps. Eddie Bernice Johnson of Dallas and Luis Gutierrez of Chicago, who favor reforming the immigration system, listened to the testimonies. Among those speaking was Emma Hevert, an American 18-year-old who faces the prospect of having to raise her 7-year-old brother Jackson alone because her mother is about to be deported.

"People do not understand that our immigration system is so broken," Gutierrez said. "We have soldiers in Iraq whose wives are under orders of deportation."

About 20 protesters stood across the street from the church, some holding signs that said "No Amnesty."

Critics say people in the country illegally should not be allowed to remain just because their children were born in the U.S. Officials from U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement have said parenthood does not exempt people from complying with immigration laws.

Gutierrez said he and other lawmakers planned to meet with President Barack Obama in the next few days to deliver the testimonies, including some collected before the meeting by Proyecto Inmigrante ICS Inc., an immigration advocacy group based in Fort Worth.

"There are enough Democrats and Republicans in the House and in the Senate to get a majority vote for comprehensive immigration reform," Gutierrez said. "What we need is the leadership of our president. He made a commitment. He should keep his word."