Me llamo __________________Preguntas – los países

Preconceived notions are the locks on the door to wisdom.  ~Merry Browne

The test of courage comes when we are in the minority.  The test of tolerance comes when we are in the majority.  ~Ralph W. Sockman

Una opinión de un hispano:

<<Es un deber y una necesidad que los cubanos que vivimos en los Estados Unidos y específicamente en Miami, aprendamos el inglés como segunda lengua, por la sencilla razón de que, aunque los hispanos seamos mayoría estamos viviendo en una sociedad americana, donde podemos mantener nuestras costumbres culturales y nuestras raíces hispanas pero adoptamos la ciudadanía americana y nos convertimos en ciudadanos americanos, portamos el pasaporte americano y representamos en el mundo entero a los Estados Unidos, independientemente de que sigamos siendo, con mucho orgullo, hispanos y/o cubanos, mexicanos, argentinos, salvadoreños, etc., eso no significa que no hablemos inglés cuando haga falta. No renunciamos a nuestra ciudadanía original sino que adoptamos además, otra, la ciudadanía americana y como buenos hispano-americanos debemos hablar inglés.>>

Cuba:

Deben investigar y discutir:

Busca algunas de las condiciones en que vivían/ viven las personas de Cuba, que han contribuido a su deseo de salir de la isla.

Busca “Human rights violations – Cuba” ¿Qué significa “el sentimiento anti-castrista?”

Indentifica/explica el acuerdo o un cambio en las leyes en 1960-1970, que trajo a muchos cubanos a los EEUU. (Cuban Adjustment Act)

¿Qué significa, la palabra “marielitos”? ¿Cuándo vinieron? ¿Por qué? ¿Dónde vivían en los EEUU?

¿Quiénes son los balseros?

Escribe un cálculo de cuántos cubanos viven ahora en los Estados Unidos.¿Hay concentraciones de cubanos en los EEUU? ¿Dónde se han ubicado? (2-3 lugares)

¿Cómo están cambiando las cosas para los cubanos que viven en la isla ahora?

Mexico:

Deben investigar y discutir:

¿Quiénes eran los braceros? (Bracero Program)

Busca información sobre el Tratado de Guadalupe Hidalgo (1848); ¿resultos?

¿Pueden encontrar información en ‘los desparecidos’ en México? ( Se puede incluir imágenes de algunas manifestaciones)

¿Qué es “un chicano”?

¿Pueden encontrar información sobre The Dream Act or DACA? Explica su importancia. (“Got DACA Now What” )

Escribe un cálculo de cuantos mexicanos viven ahora en los Estados Unidos.

Puerto Rico:

Deben investigar y discutir:

¿Cómo son distintos los puertorriqueños de los otros grupos que estamos estudiando?

Busca y prepara para compartir información sobre: The Jones Act, 1917 ¿Cómo cambió los derechos de los puertorriqueños?

¿Qué significa “Boricua”?

¿Qué contribuyen, los puertorriqueños “al perfil demográfico” de los EEUU o ¿Cómo describirías la mayoría de los puertorriqueños en los Estados Unidos? (*estadísticas )

¿De los puertorriqueños que NO viven en la isla de Puerto Rico, dónde vive la mayoría de los puertorriqueños en los EEUU?

¿Qué ocurre en Puerto Rico ahora mismo? (May, 2017)

La República Dominicana:

Deben investigar y discutir:

¿Por qué vinieron tantos dominicanos a los Estados Unidos desde los 1960’s?Busca algunas de las condiciones en que vivían/viven las personas en la Republica Dominicana, que han contribuido a su deseo de salir de la isla. (*Trujillo y más)

¿Pueden encontrar información en ‘los desparecidos’ en la Republica Dominicana?Busca “Human rights violations – Dominican Republic” (*Trujillo y más)

Escribe un cálculo de cuantos dominicanos viven ahora en los Estados Unidos.¿Existen algunas concentraciones de los inmigrantes dominicanos en los EEUU? ¿Dónde?

¿Cuáles problemas han encontrado aquí en los Estados Unidos? **estadísticas

¿Qué significa “taíno”?

¿Qué es Quisqueya?

Un grupo buscará información sobre El Salvador, Guatemala y Honduras.

El Salvador :

Deben investigar y discutir:

¿Dónde vive la mayoría de los salvadoreños en los EEUU?

¿Qué ocurrió en la década de los 80 en Centroamérica que influyó los EEUU y los salvadoreños? (la guerra en el Salvador)

Busca: Archbishop Oscar Romero

Honduras:

Deben investigar y discutir:

¿Qué ocurrió en Honduras en la década de los 80 que causó a tantas personas inmigrar de Honduras?

Busca: los derechos humanos en Honduras; Busca “Human rights watch – Honduras”; Also: “Gang violence in Honduras”

Busca información : United Fruit Co

Guatemala

Deben investigar y discutir:

¿Quién es Rigoberta Menchu? Explica un poco que descubren sobre su vida.

Escribe algo sobre las condiciones que existían / todavía existen en Guatemala hoy.

Para todos:

-Está listo para identificar “tu país” y 4 más en el mapa

-Piensa en / escribe algunas cosas que los inmigrantes hispanos han contribuido a la sociedad norteamericana.

-¿Qué significa, “las remesas”? Escribe un cálculo de cuánto dinero va cada año por las remesas.

-Explica ‘political asylum’ y por qué pertenece a los de la Ámerica Latina.

Cuando estas terminado con las preguntas de tu país, navega a:www.my immigrationstory .com y lee algunos de los cuentos de los inmigrantes en este sitio.

-Busquen recetas de los países que investigaron.

Avici – Wake me up – as it pertains to immigrants

Cuba:

Nevertheless, Castro faced strong opposition from within his own ranks. To consolidate his power he executed thousands who defied him, even though they had actively participated in the effort to overthrow Batista.

Taking advantage of his own charisma and of the people's trust in him, Castro managed to impose a totalitarian system in scarcely three years. He used deceit and implacable repression. He eliminated all potential political rivals. He seized control of the labor unions and the student and professional organizations. He took over the media and gradually confiscated all private enterprise, as well as all private education and the excellent HMO-type health care system. Even the smallest businesses were eliminated as private enterprise became a crime.

All religious institutions also suffered a harsh blow. Not only did Castro severely limit their activities, but in 1961 he confiscated their excellent educational system without compensation. In that same year hundreds of member of the clergy, including a bishop were expelled.

Castro has imprisoned hundreds of thousands. Cuba has had the largest number of political prisoners, serving the longest and cruelest sentences, ever recorded in this hemisphere. At one point 100,000 men and women from all walks of life were in prison for political reasons. Many were serving sentences of 10, 20 or 30 years. Most served their full sentences, like Huber Matos, former revolutionary commander who served 20 years, and Mario Chanes de Armas, who served 30 years. Both men had fought side by side with Castro. Many political prisoners have had to serve additional years after completing their original sentences.

The treatment political prisoners have received under Castro is much more severe than that imposed under Batista's dictatorship. Castro himself was condemned to 15 years for his attack on the Moncada military barracks on July 26, 1953, which resulted in the deaths of over 100 men.

After 22 months of a rather comfortable imprisonment he was released under a general amnesty. But Castro has never offered a general political amnesty during his almost 40 year rule.

Violations of human rights have been extensive and extremely serious in Castro's Cuba, particularly in the case of detainees and political prisoners. Many have been assassinated, while thousands have been beaten, tortured physically and mentally, forced into hard labor, and locked into isolation cells (tapiadas) with steel planks for doors for extended periods of time. They have been deprived of family visits for years and their families have been constantly harassed. Detainees have been subjected to electroshock and suffer from lack of adequate nutrition and medical care. They are often humiliated, and they have endured physical and psychological torture in cells known as gavetas (drawers) where they are packed so closely they have to remain standing. (See diagram in p. 8) In the more recent version of the gavetas the prisoner is locked into a cell resembling a coffin.

The Cuban Adjustment Act (CAA), Public Law 89-732, is a United States federal law enacted on November 2, 1966. The law applies to any native or citizen of Cuba who has been inspected and admitted or paroled into the United States after January 1, 1959 and has been physically present for at least one year; and is admissible to the United States as a permanent resident

Those who have been persecuted in Cuba, or who fear persecution (on the basis of race, religion, nationality, membership in a particular social group, or political opinion), may apply for U.S. resettlement through its in country refugee processing unit at the United States Interests Section in Havana.

On July 13, 1994, 41 persons, including 12 children, perished when the Castro regime sank the tugboat 13 de Marzo, on which 70 people were trying to flee. In August of 1994, an unprecedented event took place on the shores of northern Cuba. Over 35,000 Cubans launched makeshift boats and rafts into the Florida Straits after Fidel Castro tacitly gave his consent to their departure.

In the face of this extraordinary spectacle of massive numbers of people fleeing their own country at such risk, we must ask who these people are and why they are willing to risk their lives this way. For the most part, they are young and of humble origin, precisely those whom the revolution has claimed as its main beneficiaries and supporters. According to various studies, what motivates them is their complete rejection of a totalitarian system that stifles them and deprives them of any semblance of freedom. They have the perception that any opposition is useless. That is why many rafters have said, "I would rather die in the ocean than have to go on living in Cuba."

Daily life has become increasingly difficult for the average Cuban. Shortages of food and electricity, a deteriorating transportation and health system, and a drastic decline of basic services provided by the state are creating tense conditions that could lead to increased social unrest.

Housing

The provision of basic public services has been woefully inadequate, and has noticeable repercussions on daily life in Cuba. Even the very homes that many Cubans live in are a testament to their struggle to survive. The housing situation, particularly in urban areas, is abysmal. The problem is twofold: there is an acute housing shortage in Cuba, and many of the living quarters that do exist are in notably poor condition. It is presently estimated that there is a deficit of 1,600,000 dwellings on the island.(1)Perhaps the most shocking and well-known example of the crumbling housing infrastructure in Cuba can be found in Havana, where an estimated 300 buildings collapse a year.(2) While some are struck by the charm of crumbling architecture, snapping pictures and straining to imagine these buildings in better times, the reality that these unstable structures threaten the safety of thousands of families is unfortunately lost on many observers.

http://www.eldiariony.com/2016/04/06/balseros-cubanos-graban-el-momento-en-el-que-llegan-a-estados-unidos/

06 ABRIL 2016

Un grupo de cerca de 20 balseros cubanos, incluidas mujeres y niños, grabaron su llegada a las costas del estado de la Florida, Estados Unidos, entre risas, lágrimas y silbidos por la proeza.

 Un grupo de cerca de 20 balseros cubanos, incluidas mujeres y niños, grabaron su llegada a las costas del estado de la Florida, Estados Unidos, entre risas, lágrimas y silbidos por la proeza.

“¡Este es el grupo más caliente!”, grita en el video quien lo graba mientras los demás, con amplias sonrisas, celebran la llegada: “¡Lo logramos, lo logramos!”.

Según la descripción del video publicado en YouTube que tiene cerca de 27,000 visitas y muestra la aproximación a tierra firme, previo a los abrazos, los cubanos llegaron el 1 de abril. La balsa, bautizada “Emanuel” y con la leyenda “Dios con nosotros”, también fue empujada hasta tierra firme.

Decenas de miles de cubanos llegaron en los últimos meses por diferentes medios, aunque, a diferencia de este grupo, muchos prefieren hacerlo por tierra. La nueva ola migratoria cobró impulso después del deshielo entre Washington y La Habana, a fines de 2014: temen que se elimine un tratamiento especial que reciben en Estados Unidos, donde obtienen la residencia permanente -la green card- tan sólo con pisar el país cuando llegan por tierra y vivir en EEUU un año.

A diferencia de otros inmigrantes, los cubanos en Estados Unidos tienen derecho a obtener una residencia legal luego de permanecer un año en el país, siempre y cuando no tengan antecedentes penales. Cuba es el único país que recibió este beneficio, otorgado por una norma, la ley de ajuste cubano, aprobada por el Congreso en 1966, en plena Guerra Fría, para socavar el régimen de los Castro.

From NPR

April of 1980, two large commercial lobster boats sailed into Key West, Florida carrying refugees from the port of Mariel, Cuba. Fidel Castro had declared the port open and allowed anyone who wanted to leave to go to the United States.

Within days, hundreds of boats arrived. Within weeks, thousands floated into South Florida waters. Over the next sixth months, an estimated 125,000 Cubans staged a mass exodus.

While the majority of the boats carried families, the Mariel Boat Life became synonymous with criminals, prisoners and the mentally ill, after Castro decided to send a small number of them across the Florida Strait as well, and maybe a few spies as well.

And people have reunited there. And it's you know, for the Mariels, the boat that they came in on is their emotional hook. You know, they all usually remember the name. That experience of crossing the Florida Straits, it was dramatic for everybody. I don't think anybody had a good trip across.

So it's a moment in their life. It's the moment when their life changed. So it's very important to them, and they get very emotional about finding their name, their boat. It's quite something to watch.

CONAN: It sounds like there was quite dramatic weather that summer of 1980. Everybody had a tough trip.

But eventually we were picked up by a government car and taken to a holding camp, where we spent a little more than a week just kind of sitting out there in the sun, until we were transferred to a second camp, called El Mosquito which is rather infamous.

And there we spent a few more days, maybe two or three more, before we were driven to the Port of Mariel. So by the time we got on the boat, a lot had already happened, and now we are on this shrimping boat full of people, probably way, way over capacity, and then a 24-hour ordeal started.

Very bad weather, the darkest ocean I've ever seen in my life, waves that came over the boat. It seemed like, you know, rising buildings from the sides of the boat. So yes, it was a rather terrifying ordeal.

CONAN: And what happened when you got to was it Key West?

Ms. BRAVO: Yes, we arrived in Key West at dawn on June 4th, and it was still dark our, and at the end of the dock was a magnificent, huge Coca-Cola machine, and then that's when you know that you're in the United States.

Ms. YANEZ: I know. It's very few people will tell you, oh, it was, you know, no sweat. Mostly it's a horrible story of, you know, this weather, too many people on boats.

Even if the weather was fine, there were just so many people on these boats because Cuba was overloading them, and they would put on you know, first they usually would put the families and the regular people who had been claimed, and then they would bring on the criminals and the mental patients. So it would be, you know, I think a horrific ride for some people.

Mr. ODIO: No, what happened is that's the end of the story, really, of the Mariel Boatlift. What happened is as more and more boats arrived, the federal government and the city of Miami coordinated the effort to put the refugees at the Orange Bowl. And the reason why the Orange Bowl was that we had room for 70,000 people for football games. We had concession stands to feed 70,000 people. So that was and we had the bathroom facilities for 70,000 people.

So we had all been bused to the Orange Bowl, where we would process them, and then they would be turned over to the federal government for relocation or reunification with their families. And that's what happened.

Ms. YANEZ: But eventually, Neal, there was a group that ended at the the remnants of the Mariel Boatlift, they did end up living in what we call Tent City in Miami.

And unfortunately, if you've seen the movie "Scarface," the opening scene is supposed to be Miami's Tent City, the beginning of the movie with Al Pacino.

Mr. ODIO: Because what happened, Neal, we processed close to 60,000 people in the Orange Bowl, but there were so many more arriving that the federal government decided to move them to military camps like Fort Chaffee, McCoy, Eglin and so forth.

Some of those people that were in those camps were released through espousals(ph) that did not exist, and they came to Miami and had no place to go. And that's when we had to open Tent City under the expressway.

Los Balseros:

Entre 1994-1995 alrededor de 40,000 cubanos vinieron o intentaron venir/ huir de Cuba en balsas or rafts, para encontrar la libertad y un alivio para la pobreza en que vivían.

Qué es un bracero?Generalmente hablando, el trabajador migrante latinoamericano que llega al oeste de Texas es considerado como un mal necesario, nada más ni nada menos que un inevitable colega para la temporada de cosecha. Juzgando por el trato que se le da en esa parte del estado, uno puede asumir que no es un ser humano del todo, sino una especie de implemento agrícola que misteriosa y espontáneamente llega por coincidencia en el momento mismo de la maduración del algodón, que además no requiere mantenimiento o consideración especial durante su período de utilidad, que no necesita protección de los elementos del tiempo y que cuando la cosecha ha sido levantada, desaparece en el limbo de las cosas olvidadas hasta que la próxima temporada de cosecha regresa.

El no tiene pasado, ni futuro, solamente un presente pasajero y anónimo...

1840s to 1920s

After the United States' victory over Mexico in the Mexican-American War (1846–1848), Mexico was forced to sign the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo. This treaty required Mexico to cede over half its land to the United States in exchange for 15 million dollars. The Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo also guaranteed that Mexican citizens living in ceded lands would retain property rights and would be given United States citizenship if they remained in ceded lands for at least one year. However, the property rights of Mexicans were ignored by the United States government and local officials. Mexicans were systematically forced from lands which their families had held for generations in many cases.[3][unreliable source?][4]

The lynching of Mexicans and Mexican Americans in the Southwest has long been overlooked in American history. This may be because most historical records categorized Mexican, Chinese, and Native American lynching victims as white.[5] Statistics of reported lynching in the United States indicate that, between 1882 and 1951, 4,730 persons were lynched, of whom 1,293 were white and 3,437 were black.[6] The actual known amount of Mexicans lynched is unknown. It is estimated that at least 597 Mexicans were lynched between 1848 and 1928 (this is a conservative estimate due to lack of records in many reported lynchings).[5] Mexicans were lynched at a rate of 27.4 per 100,000 of population between 1880 and 1930. This statistic is second only to that of the African American community during that period, which suffered an average of 37.1 per 100,000 population.[7] Between 1848 to 1879, Mexicans were lynched at an unprecedented rate of 473 per 100,000 of population. These lynchings cannot be excused as merely "frontier justice"--of the 597 total victims, only 64 were lynched in areas which lacked a formal judicial system.[8]

During the California Gold Rush, as many as 25,000 Mexicans arrived in California. Many of these Mexicans were experienced miners and had great success mining gold in California. Some Anglos perceived their success as a threat and intimidated Mexican miners with violence. Between 1848 and 1860, at least 163 Mexicans were lynched in California alone.[8] One particularly infamous lynching occurred on July 5, 1851 when a Mexican woman named Josefa Segovia was lynched by a mob in Downieville, California. She was accused of killing a white man who had attempted to assault her after breaking into her home

Wetback" is a term for Mexicans who immigrate illegally to the United States.[1] It is generally used as an ethnic slur.[citation needed] The term originally designated Mexicans who entered Texas by crossing the Rio Grande,[2] presumably by swimming or wading across and getting their back wet in the process. An equivalent term, mojado (meaning "wet"), exists in Spanish.

The first mention of the term in The New York Times is dated June 20, 1920.[3] It was used officially by the US government in 1954, with Operation Wetback,[4] a project where a large number of Mexican nationals were deported.

Forced disappearances:

http://humanrightshistory.umich.edu/problems/disappearances/

Good video:

Los desaparecidos

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aVPK-t-H7j0

Chicano A relatively recent term that has been appropriated by many Mexican descendants as unique and therefore reflective of their unique culture, though its first usage seems to have been discriminatory. The most likely source of the word is traced to the 1930 and 40s period, when poor, rural Mexicans, often native Americans, were imported to the US to provide cheap field labor, under an agreement of the governments of both countries. The term seems to have come into first use in the fields of California in derision of the inability of native Nahuatl speakers from Morelos state to refer to themselves as "Mexicanos," and instead spoke of themselves as "Mesheecanos," in accordance with the pronunciation rules of their language (for additional details, refer to the file MEXICO on this same subdirectory). An equivocal factor is that in vulgar Spanish it is common for Mexicans to use the "CH" conjunction in place of certain consonants in order to create a term of endearment. Whatever its origin, it was at first insulting to be identified by this name. The term was appropriated by Mexican-American activists who took part in the Brown Power movement of the 60s and 70s in the US southwest, and has now come into widespread usage. Among more "assimilated" Mexican-Americans, the term still retains an unsavory connotation, particularly because it is preferred by political activists and by those who seek to create a new and fresh identity for their culture rather than to subsume it blandly under the guise of any mainstream culture.

http://nilc.org/dreamsummary.html

In June of 2012, the Obama administration announced that it would accept requests for Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA), an initiative designed to temporarily suspend the deportation of young people residing unlawfully in the U.S who were brought to the United States as children, meet certain education requirements and generally match the criteria established under legislative proposals like the DREAM Act.   The implementation of the program is being carefully monitored by the Immigration Policy Center. This resource page collects IPC, government, and other publications relating solely to DACA.Read more...Published On: Thu, Oct 25, 2012

The DREAM Act would enact two major changes in current law:

The DREAM Act would permit certain immigrant students who have grown up in the U.S. to apply for temporary legal status and to eventually obtain permanent legal status and become eligible for U.S. citizenship if they go to college or serve in the U.S. military; and

The DREAM Act would eliminate a federal provision that penalizes states that provide in-state tuition without regard to immigration status.

If enacted, the DREAM Act would have a life-changing impact on the students who qualify, dramatically increasing their average future earnings—and consequently the amount of taxes they would pay—while significantly reducing criminal justice and social services costs to taxpayers.

KEY FEATURES OF THE DREAM ACT OF 2011

Path to legal residency: Who would qualify?

Under the DREAM Act, most students who came to the U.S. at age 15 or younger at least five years before the date of the bill’s enactment and who have maintained good moral character since entering the U.S. would qualify for conditional permanent resident status upon acceptance to college, graduation from a U.S. high school, or being awarded a GED in the U.S. Students would not qualify for this relief if they had committed crimes, were a security risk, or were inadmissible or removable on certain other grounds. Under the Senate bill qualifying students must be under age 35, whereas under the House bill they must be under age 32.

At the end of the conditional period, unrestricted lawful permanent resident status would be granted if, during the conditional period, the immigrant had maintained good moral character, avoided lengthy trips abroad, and met at least one of the following criteria:

Graduated from a two-year college or certain vocational colleges, or studied for at least two years toward a B.A. or higher degree, or

Served in the U.S. armed forces for at least two years.

The six-year time period for meeting these requirements would be extendable upon a showing of good cause, and the U.S. Department of Homeland Security would be empowered to waive the requirements altogether if compelling reasons, such as disability, prevent their completion and if removal of the student would result in exceptional and extremely unusual hardship to the student or to the student’s spouse, parent, or child.

Cuando sonó la trompeta, estuvotodo preparado en la tierra,y Jehova repartió el mundoa Coca-Cola Inc., Anaconda,Ford Motors, y otras entidades:la Compañía Frutera Inc.se reservó lo más jugoso,la costa central de mi tierra,la dulce cintura de América.

Bautizó de nuevo sus tierrascomo "Repúblicas Bananas,"y sobre los muertos dormidos,sobre los héroes inquietosque conquistaron la grandeza,la libertad y las banderas,estableció la ópera bufa:enajenó los albedríosregaló coronas de César,desenvainó la envidia, atrajola dictadora de las moscas,moscas Trujillos, moscas Tachos,moscas Carías, moscas Martínez,moscas Ubico, moscas húmedasde sangre humilde y mermelada,moscas borrachas que zumbansobre las tumbas populares,moscas de circo, sabias moscasentendidas en tiranía.

Entre las moscas sanguinariasla Frutera desembarca,arrasando el café y las frutas,en sus barcos que deslizaron como bandejas el tesorode nuestras tierras sumergidas.

Mientras tanto, por los abismosazucarados de los puertos,caían indios sepultadosen el vapor de la mañana:un cuerpo rueda, una cosasin nombre, un número caído,un racimo de fruta muertaderramada en el pudridero.--Pablo Neruda, 1950

Here is my translation. My html skills aren't good enough to render a side by side display. Sorry.

Pablo Neruda

"THE UNITED FRUIT CO."

When the trumpet sounded,all was prepared on the earthand Jehovah parceled out the worldto Coca-Cola Inc., Anaconda,Ford Motors, and other entities:the United Fruit Company Inc.reserved for itself the juiciest bit,the central coast of my land,the gentle waist of America.

It rebaptized these landsas "Banana Republics,"and over the sleeping dead,over the restless heroes,who had conquered greatness,liberty and flags,The Company established a comic opera,drove all free will insane,handed out crowns of Caesar,unsheathed greed, and attractedthe dictatorship of the flies,Trujillo flies, Tacho flies,Carías flies, Martínez flies,Ubico flies, flies moistenedby humble blood and marmaladedrunken flies buzzing over the tombs of the common people,circus flies, wise flieswell versed in tyranny.

Among the bloody flies,The United Fruit Company steps ashore, devastating the coffee and the fruits,in its ships that saillike traystaking away the treasureof our drowning lands.All the while, near the sugary deep of the harbors,the Indians fell,buried in the morning mists:a corpse tumbles, a nameless thing,a fallen number, a bunch of putrid fruitthrown on the compost heap.

Translation by Mac Williams

The Mexicans’ relationship with their American neighbours is ambivalent, for they feel overshadowed as well as attracted by them. There is no other place in

the world where the stream of migrants of one nation towards the other is bigger. Every year, more than 400,000 Mexicans seek to reach the Promised Land in the north. The figures speak for themselves: 98.7 percent of Mexican expatriates live in the US. One in three foreigners in the US is a Mexican. The remesas, the money migrants transfer back to their relatives in their home country, are Mexico’s second most important source of income, right after oil revenues. These migration movements are rooted in history. After its defeat in the war against the US in the middle of the 19th century, Mexico lost more than half of its territory to its northern neighbour which, however, paid its opponent 15 million US Dollars in compensation for war damage. Many of the Mexicans who had become US citizens back then stayed in their hometowns but culti-vated relationships with the now-smaller Mexico, from which even new mi-gration movements emerged. The first major migration wave occurred after 1942 when, suffering from a shortage of labour during the Second World War, the US industry specifically recruited Mexicans to work on its farms. The second, but this time illegal, immigration wave set in 1965. Ever since 1986, Washington has been trying to stop the massive, undesirable flow of immigrants by imposing tougher border controls and penalties for US citizens who employ immigrants ille-gally. At the same time, two million Mexicans living in the US were legalized. The Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act of 1996 was supposed to bring the problem under control. However, it remained un-successful. Similarly, an agreement on migration negotiated by Mexico’s President Fox and US President Bush in 2001 also had little effect as, due to the terrorist attacks of September 11 and the US citizens’ resultant fear of terrorists invading the country across the Mexican border, the border de-fences were strengthened even more. Among sociologists, the factors that cause people to migrate are called push and pull factors. The former relate to the situation prevailing in the migrants’ country of origin, the latter to that in the

A remittance is a transfer of money by a foreign worker to his or her home country. See "remittance man" below for the historical use of the word, which is the opposite of the modern use.

Money sent home by migrants constitutes the second largest financial inflow to many developing countries, exceeding international aid. Estimates of remittances to developing countries vary from International Fund for Agricultural Development's US$301 billion (including informal flows) to the World Bank's US$250 billion for 2006 (excluding informal flows).[1] Remittances contribute to economic growth and to the livelihoods of people worldwide. Moreover, remittance transfers can also promote access to financial services for the sender and recipient, thereby increasing financial and social inclusion. Remittances also foster, in the receiving countries, a further economic dependence on the global economy instead of building sustainable, local economies. Note that in 19th century usage a remittance man was someone (often a black sheep) exiled overseas and sent an allowance on condition that he not return home.

Remittances are playing an increasingly large role in the economies of many countries, contributing to economic growth and to the livelihoods of less prosperous people (though generally not the poorest of the poor). According to World Bank estimates, remittances totaled US$414 billion in 2009, of which US$316 billion went to developing countries that involved 192 million migrant workers.[2] For some individual recipient countries, remittances can be as high as a third of their GDP.[3] As remittance receivers often have a higher propensity to own a bank account, remittances promote access to financial services for the sender and recipient, an essential aspect of leveraging remittances to promote economic development. The top recipients in terms of the share of remittances in GDP included many smaller economies such as Tajikistan (45%), Moldova (38%), and Honduras (25%).[4]

Remittances are not a new phenomenon in the world, being a normal concomitant to migration which has ever been a part of human history. Several European countries, for example Spain, Italy and Ireland were heavily dependent on remittances received from their emigrants during the 19th and 20th centuries. In the case of Spain, remittances amounted to the 21% of all of its current account income in 1946[9]. All of those countries created policies on remittances developed after significant research efforts in the field. For instance, Italy was the first country in the world to enact a law to protect remittances in 1901[10] while Spain was the first country to sign an international treaty (with Argentina in 1960) to lower the cost of the remittances received.

Puerto Ricans:

Boricua: Appellation many Puerto Ricans prefer as a matter of ethnic pride. “Boricua” was the name Puerto Rico’s indigenous Indians, the Taino, gave to their island. The term means “valiant people.” (The Puerto Rican national anthem is "La Borinqueña." Other spellings are: Boriquén, Borinquen, or Borinquén).

Forced disappearances:

http://humanrightshistory.umich.edu/problems/disappearances/

Dominicans:

Making up one of the largest ethnic groups in the United States, Dominicans have begun to carve out a place for themselves within the American cultural landscape, but this has not come without its struggles. Long a forgotten minority in the shadow of their more “popular” Caribbean neighbors of Puerto Rican and Cuban descent, Dominicans have begun to make strides as a community with a distinct cultural identity, finally stepping out of the social shadows they have been in for the last twenty years. Though these strides are important to the overall development of a strong unified Dominican community, we must also note the difficulties faced by many first and second generation Dominicans in the face of the integration or assimilation they face each day. The presence of Dominicans in the United States as a formidable ethnic group has its origins in the migration patterns of the late 1980s, but it is also what Dominicans have done since they have been in the United States, and how they have defined themselves, that separate them from other ethnic communities in the US

The mass migration of Dominicans to the United States began relatively late in comparison to that of Puerto Ricans or Cubans, but this is due in large part to the Dominican Republic’s political and economic situation. Unlike many Cubans who fled to the US after the rise of the communist presence in Cuba, or like Puerto Ricans who enjoy privileged status in the United States as they, since the enacting of the Jones Act of 1917, were natural born American citizens, Dominicans were not allowed to travel under the Rafael Leonidas Trujillo regime. It was only the political and economic elite that was allowed this freedom, and possessed the means to make it to the United States. Those who applied for passports or visas needed to state specific reasons for their travels, and it was a luxury granted to very few. After Trujillo was assassinated, and the power structure on the island changed, travel amongst Dominicans became a possibility, and in some cases a necessity. Eventually, under Joaquin Balaguer, all who chose to leave the Dominican Republic in search of better lives were given every opportunity to go. Due to an almost continuous decline of the country’s economic and

political stability in the mid to late 1980s, and due in part to a long recession after the so-called “Dominican Economic Miracle”, Dominicans were part of one of the largest migratory booms of the late 20th century. This migratory boom is made evident not just by the presence of Dominicans as an ethnic group, but from the Hispanic/Latino community in general. According to the 2004 US census there were 35, 305, 818 American citizens of Hispanic/Latino decent in the United States, of which 1,051,032 were of Dominican descent.

Though the number of Dominican migrants to the US between the early 1970s and mid 1980s was rather low, totaling close to 350,000, it was a migration boom within a ten-year period that consolidated the presence of Dominicans in the United States. Between 1990 and 2000 the population of Dominicans increased from 348,000 to 692,000. From the years 2000 to 2004 alone the population of Dominicans once again soared, as there was an increase from 692,000 to more than one million registered Dominicans living in the United States. This statistic only accounts for people who label the Dominican Republic as their place of origin, and doesn’t include the children of Dominicans born in the United States. In considering those who are of Dominican ancestry this figure would almost certainly be much higher. And of all registered ethnic groups from Latin America, Dominicans make up the third largest group, after Mexicans and Cubans. (Note: Puerto Ricans, though Latino in origin, are US citizens and therefore aren’t included in this figure.) Also, of these 1,051,032 Dominicans more than half, 500,061, reside in the state of New York. New Jersey also has a large Dominican population with more than 115,000 Dominicans, followed by Florida with 72,000 Dominicans.

People of Dominican origin or ancestry represent the fifth-largest Hispanic group in the United States (or 3 percent of the 52.9 million Hispanics), following Mexicans, Puerto Ricans, Cubans, and Salvadorans.

Nearly all immigrants from the Dominican Republic obtain lawful permanent residence in the United States (also known as getting a “green card”) through family reunification, whereas very few come through employment channels. For the most part, immigration from the Dominican Republic is legal. The number of Dominican beneficiaries of the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program is relatively small. However, many of those who applied have obtained approval. Between August 15, 2012 and March 31, 2014, approximately 2,670 DACA-eligible unauthorized youth from the Dominican Republic had applied for temporary reprieve from deportation under the program, and more than 80 percent of accepted applications have been approved. 

Immigrants from the Dominican Republic were more likely than the overall foreign-born population in the United States to live in poverty, be Limited English Proficient, and have gained U.S. citizenship; they were less likely to have a college degree or to be uninsured.

http://www.migrationpolicy.org/article/foreign-born-dominican-republic-united-states

But the unfortunate reality of Dominicans in the United States is that they live in abject poverty. According to a recent study from the United Nations Subcommittee on Human Development, Dominicans are statistically the

poorest ethnic group in the United States. This statistic sheds light on many of the difficulties that face Dominicans when they arrive in the United States.

El Salvador

IN THE LATE 1980s, El Salvador was a country with major social, economic, and political problems that had reached crisis proportions on a national level. These problems reflected a basic pattern of social, economic, and political inequality that has persisted since the colonial era and grown in intensity during the twentieth century.

The exodus of Salvadorans was a result of both economic and political problems. The largest immigration wave occurred as a result of the Salvadoran Civil War in the 1980s, in which 20%-30% of El Salvador's population emigrated. About 50% percent, or up to 500,000 of those who escaped headed to the U.S., which was already home to over 10,000 Salvadorans.[3] Much of the Salvadoran population that came to the U.S. was of White or biracial mixed Native American/European ancestry. The Salvadorians of biracial ancestry, can varied differently from European and Native American background ancestry (Caucasian, Mayan, Pipil, Lenca). Many of the biracial mixed and White Salvadorans have ancestry from Spain, Italy, Portugal, Germany, Turkey, Denmark, Sweden, Norway, Netherlands, Austria, Czech Republic, Germany, Hungary, Liechtenstein, Poland, Slovakia, Slovenia, Croatia, Romania, Serbia, and Switzerland or other European countries that arrived in all parts of El Salvador during the world war as refugees. Russians came in during the Salvadorian civil war during the cold war, to help the communist guerrillas take over the country, as did Americans, Australians, and Canadians when they helped the military government fight against the communists.

The development of cotton estates on the lowlying coastal plain and of sugarcane, grown between the coastal cotton and hilly coffee regions, also dislocated many peasants. In addition, large-scale mechanization in the 1970s eliminated the need for sizable labor forces on these estates. For example, one 6,000-hectare cotton estate employed a total regular work force of only thirty-five people. The development of grazing lands for export cattle on the coastal plain and in some interior valleys again reduced available subsistence land while requiring very few laborers. In the 1970s, more of El Salvador's land resources were used for cattle grazing than for production of food crops.

In addition, as social unrest grew among rural laborers, large estate owners preferred wherever possible to increase the use of seasonal rather than permanent workers. In the cotton growing areas, for example, the number of colonos decreased by 60 to 95 percent during the 1960s.

Overall, the number of landholdings with colono arrangements dropped from a high of 55,000 in 1961 to 17,000 in 1971. Permanent agricultural workers were thought to be more susceptible than temporary workers to political organization and therefore were believed to constitute more of a potential threat to elite land rights. This attitude further increased the number of underemployed and unemployed landless laborers in the countryside. A few statistics illustrate the situation in general. In 1961, about 12 percent of the rural population was landless; by 1971 the figure had reached 29 percent; in 1975 the number of landless was estimated at 41 percent. Similarly, from 1950 to 1970 rural unemployment stood at 45 to 50 percent. By 1975 only 37 percent of rural workers worked full time, 14 percent worked an average of nine months, 19 percent worked an average of six months, and a full 30 percent worked for only two to three months annually. By 1980 an estimated 65 percent of the rural population was landless and dependent on wage employment.

ARCHBISHOP Oscar Romero:

http://www.cnn.com/2015/05/23/americas/el-salvador-archbishop-oscar-romero-beatification/

found, 2017:

Penate, a Cuban-American from New York City’s Hell’s Kitchen, is the ATF’s only agent for all of Central America. From his desk at the U.S. Embassy in San Salvador, Penate is the one responsible for tracing U.S. guns smuggled into the Northern Triangle: El Salvador, Guatemala, and Honduras. That role has given him a front-row seat to a bloodbath. Looking beyond the region’s homicide rates, which are some of the world’s highest, what stands out is the number of gun homicides. And since Penate took on the job two years ago, he has come to an inescapable conclusion: U.S. weapons are partly to blame for the carnage—and in turn for the kids who are fleeing it. “I feel as bad about guns going into Central America and Mexico as good, hard-working Colombians feel about cocaine going into the U.S.,” he says.

By the ATF’s count, more than a third of the traceable guns seized from criminals last year in the Northern Triangle that originated from the United States were purchased from a retail dealer. The weapons are then smuggled south in cars and trucks, or in checked airline luggage, air freight, or even boats. That may sound like a lot of effort, but buying from U.S. gun stores is a lot more convenient for gang members. Thanks to our lax gun laws, there is little official paper trail,

and the weapons (Northern Triangle gangs favor semi-automatic pistols) are cheaper than buying locally. “It’s a lot easier for me to go to a gun store in the U.S., buy a Glock, and ship it in parts in a microwave oven and have it show up at a relative’s house,” Penate says.https://newrepublic.com/article/119026/guns-fueling-immigration-central-america-come-us

U.S. Adopts New Policy for Hearings On Political Asylum for Some AliensBy KATHERINE BISHOP, Special to The New York TimesPublished: December 20, 1990

The Government agreed today to stop detaining and deporting most illegal aliens from El Salvador and Guatemala and to adopt new procedures for their applications for political asylum.

The actions, in a settlement of a lawsuit filed five years ago in Federal District Court here, mean new hearings for 150,000 illegal aliens from El Salvador and Guatemala who have been denied political asylum or are awaiting decisions on their applications.

….

At the heart of the suit was the assertion that the Government had not decided on the granting of political asylum in a neutral, non-political manner, as required by law. An Embarrassing Choice

Such applications have long presented the Government with an embarrassing choice. The United States supports the Governments of El Salvador and Guatemala, and at the same time it is asked by asylum applicants to find that they have a "well-founded fear of persecution" if they are returned home. Every approval of an application for political asylum thus amounts to an admission that the United States is aiding governments that violate the civil rights of their own citizens.

With a per capita income of $2,850, El Salvador is considered by the World Bank to be a lower middle-income country. Additionally, the fruits of stable economic

growth have not been equitably distributed as the income of the richest 10% of the population is47 times higher than that of the poorest 10%.

La bestia: GOOD VIDEO TO SHARE WITH CLASS

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tUmB2eAmnr4

Women feeding people on La Bestia:

http://remezcla.com/features/director-arturo-gonzalez-villasenor-interview-las-patronas/

Llevate mis amores or all of me

Honduras:

During the 1980s, the United States provided Honduras with a substantial amount of foreign assistance. Total United States assistance to Honduras in the 1980s amounted to almost US$1.6 billion, making the country the largest United States aid recipient in Latin America after El Salvador; about 37 percent of the aid was in Economic Support Funds (ESF), 25 percent in military assistance, 24 percent in development assistance, and 10 percent in food aid. The remaining 4 percent supported one of the largest Peace Corps programs worldwide, disaster assistance, and small development projects sponsored by the Inter-American Foundation.

By the end of the decade, however, critics were questioning how so much money could have produced so little. The country was still one of the poorest in the hemisphere, with an estimated per capita income of US$590 in 1991, according to the World Bank, and the government had not implemented any significant economic reform program to put its house in order. Many high-level Hondurans acknowledged that the money was ill-spent on a military build-up and on easy money for the government

A significant change in United States-Honduran relations during the early 1990s was reflected in United States criticism over the human rights situation and over the impunity of the Honduran military, as well as recommendations to the

Honduran government to cut back military spending. In one public statement in 1992 that was severely criticized by the Honduran military, Cresencio Arcos, who was then United States ambassador, stated that "society should not allow justice to be turned into a viper that only bites the barefoot and leaves immune those who wear boots."

1980s

Events during the 1980s in El Salvador and Nicaragua led Honduras — with US assistance — to expand its armed forces considerably, laying particular emphasis on its air force, which came to include a squadron of US-provided F-5s.

The military unit Battalion 316 carried out political assassinations and torture of suspected political opponents of the government during this same period. Battalion members received training and support from the United States Central Intelligence Agency both in Honduras and at U.S. military bases [3] and in Chile during the presidency of the dictator Augusto Pinochet.[4] Amnesty International estimated that at least 184 people were "disappeared" during from 1980 to 1992 in Honduras, most likely by the Honduran military.[5]

And the blow-back from United Fruit’s way of doing business still haunts Latin America. Just look at Guatemala — once United Fruit’s most treasured possession, now one of the Western Hemisphere’s most violent countries.

Guatemala:

“Guatemala was chosen as the site for the company’s earliest development activities,” a former United Fruit executive once explained, “because at the time we entered Central America, Guatemala’s government was the region’s weakest, most corrupt and most pliable.” When a left-wing democratic president named Jacobo Arbenz tried to roll back the company’s dominance in the 1950s (by, among other things, redistributing its fallow land), United Fruit executives saw it as an affront — and set out to help pressure the United States government to engineer a coup. Fortunately for them, virtually every major American official involved in the plotting had a family or business connection to the company itself.

A young Argentine traveler named Che Guevara happened to be in Guatemala when Arbenz was overthrown in 1954. After that, Che told his mother, “I left the path of reason.” And so, too, did Latin America. That day marked a turning point, the end of a

hopeful age of reform and the beginning of a bloody age of revolution and reaction. Over the next four decades, hundreds of thousands of people — 200,000 in Guatemala alone — were killed in guerrilla attacks, government crackdowns and civil wars across Latin America.

A resident of García Márquez’s Macondo provides an epitaph: “Look at the mess we’ve got ourselves into just because we invited a gringo to eat some bananas.”

2017 Guatemala:

https://www.amnesty.org/es/

Amnestia Internacional :

Información extraída de nuestro Informe 2015/16

Persistía la impunidad por violaciones graves de derechos humanos, como la tortura y otros malos tratos, las desapariciones forzadas y las ejecuciones extrajudiciales. Más de 27.000 personas permanecían desaparecidas o en paradero desconocido. Continuaban las amenazas, el acoso y los homicidios contra periodistas y defensores y defensoras de los derechos humanos. La cifra de detenciones, expulsiones y denuncias de abusos contra personas migrantes en situación irregular a manos de las autoridades aumentó considerablemente. La violencia contra las mujeres seguía siendo generalizada. Se llevaban a cabo proyectos de desarrollo en gran escala y proyectos de explotación de los recursos naturales sin contar con un marco jurídico sobre el consentimiento libre, previo e informado de las comunidades indígenas afectadas. La Suprema Corte de Justicia confirmó el derecho de las parejas del mismo sexo a contraer matrimonio y adoptar niños o niñas.

https://www.hrw.org/world-report/2016/country-chapters/guatemala

Push-Pull FactorsFactors that have contributed to Guatemalan immigration into the United States have included Central American civil unrest, natural disasters, and economic problems. A thirty-six-year civil

war began in Guatemala in 1960, when the right-wing military rose up against the increasingly liberal government. The war left thousands dead and drove tens of thousands to flee to Mexico and the United States. During the 1980’s, Guatemala’s indigenous communities endured the worst of the war’s violence, as they were suspected by the military of aiding the rebel forces. Because the U.S. government backed the right-wing Guatemalan leaders, it denied personal petitions for political asylum from Guatemalans during that period. The refusal to grant protected status prompted some religious groups in the United States to form the Sanctuary movement, an activist movement that aided undocumented immigrants fromGuatemala and El Salvador.

A series of natural disasters in Guatemala left thousands of families without homes, land, or work, driving many of them to emigrate. In 1976, an earthquake destroyed much of Guatemala City and its environs, leaving 26,000 dead, 76,000 injured, and thousands more homeless. In 2005, Hurricane Stan caused torrential rain and mudslides that killed as many as 2,000 people in Guatemala and devastated entire villages.

A low standard of living, poor health care, and unfair land distribution have all contributed to Guatemalan immigration to the United States. Guatemala has the highest infant and child mortality rate, the lowest life expectancy, and the worst malnutrition problem in Central America. During the early twenty-first century, more than 60 percent of Guatemala’s people were living in poverty. The majority of the adult working population were engaged in migrant farm labor for the coffee, sugar, and cotton plantations.

For Guatemalans attempting to emigrate to the United States, the journey north is difficult, dangerous, and expensive. Fees for guides facilitating illegal entry into the United States can be as high as fifteen hundred U.S. dollars. Rape, robbery, injury, and death are some of the dangers in migrating north.

"

Central America After Hurricane MitchThe Challenge of Turning a Disaster into an Opportunity

Honduras

A. Summary

For Honduras, Hurricane Mitch constituted an unprecedented catastrophe due to the devastation caused, the human and social toll and the losses and damages to its infrastructure and productive system. Nearly one third of the highway network was affected, with the

consequent isolation of cities and productive zones; thousands of dwellings were destroyed leaving thousands of families homeless, many of them unemployed and with no source of income; there was likewise a negative impact on future production and exports, economic growth, employment and revenues. According to the National Emergency Cabinet, the hurricane caused the death of 5,657 people (without counting the 8,058 missing), injuring another 12, 272 and initially affecting 1.5 million people (of the 6.2 million total population), but with the mitigation of the emergency, this last figure was reduced to 700,000, of which 285,000 remained in provisional shelters until the end of November.

Millions continue to wait for green cardsJuly 10, 2013

The passing of the immigration bill that has already been approved by the Senate would clear the backlog of immigrants who are attempting to receive green cards and become legal residents of the United States, according to a piece by the Editorial Board of the Washington Post.

The piece says that at least four million newcomers would be able to get standard legal immigration from 2015 onwards, a figure that under the legislation of today would take a quarter of a century.  Communities all over the United States would witness a massive increase in immigration, an increase that would help local economies as well as the overall US economy.

The annual limit for green cards is currently unable to meet the level of demand, with the result being that there is a backlog of millions of potential immigrants who have been waiting many years for a chance to legally come to the United States.  Many of those still waiting include married sons and daughters and siblings of people who are already US citizens, with some people having been waiting more than two decades to be able to get a green card.  Some people have died waiting while others have simply lost interest in gaining citizenship due to the time involved.

The bill would help to reunite families that have been torn apart for many years in addition to clearing the ridiculously long backlog, according to the Editorial Board, with the bill also likely to prevent such backlogs from occurring in the future.

U.S. VISA WAIT TIMES: WHO’S WAITING AND FOR HOW LONG?Not all United States visas are created equal. And when it comes to relocating to the U.S., citizens of

countries with a high volume of immigrants must wait a great deal longer than others.

Immigrant visas are designated for individuals who wish to relocate permanently to the United States, and depending on your personal and professional circumstances, they can be very difficult to obtain. Over 4 million foreign citizens are currently waiting for the opportunity to move permanently to the U.S. with a green card.

VISA WAIT TIMES BY COUNTRY OF ORIGIN

U.S. immigration policy limits the yearly amount of green cards granted to citizens of a specific country, which mean that high-volume immigration countries like India, China, Mexico, and the Philippines endure the worst of the U.S. visa wait times. With the passage of comprehensive immigration reform, immigration experts and attorneys are hopeful that some of these wait times will be minimized so that the United States can more realistically accommodate the American businesses and individuals seeking a new life in the United States.

ww.visanow.com/u-s-visa-wait-times-whos-waiting-and-for-how-long/

From www.myimmigrationstory.com

I was brought here illegally at age 1. I have 2 sisters and they both are legal citizens of the United States except for me and my mother and father. I think every one born in the United States is so lucky. We do the pledge of allegiance every morning. I am the one that does it every day and doesn't sit right down. I say it right. I want to be here. I want to learn. I love this country more than they do and they were born here. I want to go to college. I want to be a teacher. But I must be a legal citizen. I lose hope a lot. I don't know what else to do. I really really hope the dream act works. I watched the state of the union address and I cried at the end. I went to school and did extra credit for my teacher for taking notes on the speech. Only me and another Mexican turned it in. I don't know what to do. I ask myself so many questions .Why do I live here. Why was I brought here? What can I do? I think we want to "ensure that everyone who plays by the rules can contribute to our economy and enrich our nations." We need more teachers. I want to be a teacher. I won't lose hope.

I am a born US citizen. In fact my grandfather is Native American. I am married to a Mexican who entered the country illegally years earlier. He was living and working well when I met him. We are very happy. Although we do not have children together, he has taken care of mine as if they were his natural born children. Their father died unexpectedly when they were 4 and 6. All he left us was alone and his family has had no interest in the children since his death. My husband is the only father they know. His siblings are their "tios"; his father their "abuelo". He goes to all the school functions, and accepts every un-identifiable piece of "art" as if it were a Picasso. When I was in the hospital, he took the kids to & from school in clean, pressed uniforms, fed them, kept the house up and still went to work then visited me. He has never used the phrase "your kids" even though he has his own which he supports in Mexico too. I would like him to adopt my kids but I don't know if he can do that seeing as though he's undocumented. I have gotten so much mixed information about that. Anyway, I have never filed for him as I know he will be deported if I do. If he leaves on his own and I file, he'll still get a 10 year ban which I'm not sure will be waved because he was processed at the border on his first unsuccessful attempt to enter. Then my kids would be fatherless again and I would just die of depression which I narrowly escaped the first time. I had to take my kids to psycho-therapy for 2 years after their father’s death, I was constantly at the school for outburst of anger or uncontrollable crying. I myself was a basketcase. Not to mention that without my husband, we'd probably be on welfare. He works 6 days a week. I can not tell you all how awesome this man is. Since I met him, our lives are infinitely better on every level. I pray that the law changes soon because we have done everything we can legally with what we have to work with. We pay our taxes with my SS# and his ITIN. He is better naturally than I am as a practicing Christian, trying to be good. I could blog all day about this man and ways he has changed our lives for the better over the years. He's our superhero. America would be lucky to have him legally because he is already a good, responsible man even in his undocumented state. Well, that's my story. God Bless you all. I pray things work out for each of you. Peace.

San Diego, CA

This nightmare started when I was 8 months old. My mom crossed me over, she was only 16. My question here is: How is a 8month baby capable of breaking a law? I grew up in Sioux City struggled with my English until the 2nd grade and now it’s the only language I can communicate perfectly with others. I have two sisters who were born here and are US citizens. I remember when all my friends were exited about getting their driving permits, so was I. Coming home with excitement to ask my parents for permission they gave me the worst information of my life, I was nobody in this country! As I got older I understood more about the situation and had to adapt to the immigrant life, watching my friends succeed all around me, while I couldn’t do a thing because I was trapped. I thought about going to back to Mexico and making something of myself there, but now that I met the love of my life and we are married, my goal is a way to find a way to stay here with him.

AnaSioux City, Iowa