Maria was the second oldest of nine children living in deep poverty in La Soledad, a small town in the state of Michoacan, Mexico.
At age 16 she married Jorge, 23. He got a work visa to enter America and brought Maria with him to this country.
Things were fine. He renewed his work visa the following year, and they had their first child. Then, she said, the law changed.
They took away his work permit and sent them back to Mexico. There, the only work was temporary labor in the fields during harvest.
Desperate, her husband decided to pay a “coyote” $3,000 to get them back to America.
She cries today as she recounts the trip. Walking only at night, afraid. Taking turns carrying the baby.
They ran out of food for the baby - hungry, living on water only. But they made it.
Her aunt in Springdale said, come here. Springdale is a good place, a family oriented place. There is work here, and if you don’t draw attention to yourself or get in trouble, you’ll be OK.
They arrived in 1996. They started work picking blueberries and peaches.
Sometimes they were paid only $20 for a whole day of picking. Employers often take advantage of undocumented workers because they have no standing to challenge wagetheft. They did lawn work. Maria cleaned houses. Jorge did construction. Maria baby-sat, and made and sold tamales. They were getting by. Working hard, but doing well by their standards. They had a second child in 1999 and a third in 2001.
Maria has lived here for 16 years. She volunteers two days a week at her sons’ middle school where an administrator said Maria is one of her best and most faithful parent volunteers. Some days Maria also volunteers at her younger son’s elementary school. She never misses a parent workshop. She’s taking English classes from Northwest Technical Institute.
But life for our undocumented neighbors can be tenuous. A young man who thought Maria’s oldest daughter was undocumented raped her. He figured she couldn’t file charges. But she is a U.S. citizen, and she bravely went to court to testify. He is now locked up, and we’re all safer. Maria’s husband Jorge became sullen from the disrespect and humiliation that is the common lot for undocumented laborers. He took out his frustrations on Maria, battering her, abusing her physically and mentally.
Eventually she called the police. Jorge was deported. She’s been a single mother for a year now. “I am not a quitter,” she says, holding her head up high. “I have faith.”
Maria cleans houses early mornings before volunteering at school, then she works cleaning more houses afternoons and weekends, and sells tamales on the side. Maria is a good person. She would like to become an American citizen.
As citizens, her children could sponsor Maria’s application for a visa. But to get a visa, Maria would have to return to Mexico, where she would be barred from re-entry for three to 10 years while waiting for a hardship petition that might shorten that time. Our immigration laws often function to break up families. Maria is unwilling to leave her children, ages 16, 12 and 10.
They rely on her income; they need her motherly support. Her children have all grown up as U.S. citizens, and the two younger ones speak almost no Spanish.
There is a proposed policy change that could help good people like Maria. The U.S.
Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) is proposing a rule that would allow an application for a provisional waiver of the three-to-10-year bar while remaining in America. If Maria could show her being barred for that time would pose an extreme hardship on a U.S. citizen, she could pursue legal status without having to abandon her family or taking them to a country they do not know. For those of us who are pro-family, this is good news. But we need to speak up now to support the proposed rule change.
USCIS is taking commentson the rule through the end of May. Go to nilc.
org/statesidewaiver to learn more. Or to submit your own comment, visit tinyurl.com/crsfgz2 (note the window stays open only for 20 minutes, so work quickly).
Hurry. You only have through this Thursday.
Help our laws keep families together rather than separating them. Submit your comment of support to give families like Maria’s a chance to stay together, a chance for a good life.
LOWELL GRISHAM IS AN EPISCOPAL PRIEST WHO LIVES IN FAYETTEVILLE.
Opinion, Pages 15 on 05/27/2012