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Building Momentum for ReformImmigration tour reaches St. Adalbert’s church, brings out supportViviana Buzo A passionate congressman on an 18-city immigration listening tour brought hundreds of supporters together in Milwaukee on March 22. Iglesia San Adalberto hosted the 13th stop on U.S. Rep. Luis V. Gutierrez' national tour, designed to rally the community behind a push for comprehensive immigration reform. The tour cast light on the sometimes devastating effects of an absence of comprehensive immigration reform, which if approved by Congress would greatly impact - and some hope greatly help - tens of millions of immigrants now undocumented. Every seat in the church and aisles were filled with people attentively listening to accounts of individuals whose families are affected by immigration laws. Milwaukee's Rep. Gwen Moore and state representatives Pedro Colón, Josh Zepnick, and Barbabra Toles listened to accounts like those of a woman named Rosa, a U.S. citizen. Rosa says her fiancé Rene, who worked for nine years, was recently deported to Mexico. She must now provide for and raise her three children alone. "My youngest child is the one who has suffered the most," she says. "[She] could not understand why their papi was gone. Would [she] ever see him again?" Another woman explained how her family pays taxes, own a business and has a "normal American life." But her husband is being required to move back to Mexico before they'll consider him for U.S. residency, what she considers a heavy hardship. But it wasn't just Mexican or Latino immigrants who told stories. One man, Edward, a legal permanent resident, told how with his wife they left two of their children behind in Nigeria. His wife won the diversity lottery in 2003, but only two of their four children qualified to come with their parents to the U.S. Five years later they are still in Nigeria. "My little boys are not terrorists," says Edward. "Why keep us separated?" Another woman lamented that her husband, a Hmong man with a college degree who'd lived in the U.S. 17 years, was deported, leaving her alone to raise children. After hearing the tales, Gutierrez delivered an energetic speech to the audience. "I will fight," Gutierrez told the audience, "so that the same respect that the government has for my wife and children will also have it for my neighbor." "Si se puede," many audience members responded. |
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