Immigration and Envelopes

Envelopes and Immigration

            After two weeks of orientation, I have now started work at BorderLinks, an educational non-profit in Tucson.  I’d like to tell you about something that happened this week.

I had been on the clock for 30 minutes when one of my co-workers told me that BorderLinks was working on a larg mailing for their summer donation drive.  I was to help prepare the letters along with some other volunteers.  The doorbell rang and in walked two petite Latin American women and an European-American woman.  We introduced ourselves in Spanish.  Juanita,* was slightly older than Graciela, who was holding a newborn baby.  We doted on the 19-day-old baby as we settled into folding letters, sealing envelopes, and organizing addresses.  Between piles of mail, we slowly warmed up to each other.  I attempted to start conversations with my rusty Spanish and they gradually told me about themselves.

Juanita and Graciela are from Honduras and immigrated to the U.S. a year and a half ago.  They are part of the large wave of single mothers and unaccompanied minors who have fled gang-ridden Central American countries for a safer life.  Juanita told me that, as she a single mother of four children, she could not sustain herself in Honduras.  She could not get a job in a factory and there were no social services to support her.  In contrast, people have been very generous to her in the U.S..

The two women laughed as they reminisced about their chicken coops in Honduras and advised me on how to best care for my hens.  After the envelopes were completed, we chatted for a while.  As they left, I waved goodbye, feeling pleased that we had had such a fruitful conversation that they had opened up to me about their home country.

Wondering about the poverty that often shadows single parenthood, I asked my coworker if Graciela, the younger woman, had a partner.  A pained expression clouded her face as she asked, “Did you hear about the day laborer who got arrested on his way to the hospital?”

Suddenly, I made the connection.  My heart sank.  No. 

“You mean the undocumented immigrant who was pulled over on his way to see his newborn daughter?” 

“Yes.”

This man was Graciela’s partner, the baby’s father.  He was pulled over for a minor traffic violation and is now being held in a detention facility, most likely awaiting deportation.  My coworker did not have the heart to ask Graciela if her husband had gotten the chance to see his daughter yet.  This beautiful child has been born into such a complicated and tragic situation.  She is an American citizen, but her father is not.  Borders and laws will divide her family.

I pray for this family and admire their giving spirit.  Even with a 19-day-old baby, even with a husband in jail, Graciela still made time to volunteer and help BorderLinks.

On my first day of work, during my first hours on the job, I already got a taste of the incredible people and stories that abide within Tucson.

*All names have been changed for confidentiality.

......

Oct. 3rd, 2014 Update:

The partner and father in this story is named Norlan Geronimo Prado.  He is currently being processed to be deported back to Honduras.  If you believe he should stay in the US with his family, please sign this petition or send this sample letter to ICE.

"On Sunday afternoon August 10th, 2014, Norlan Geronimo Prado, A#089-813-015, was driving home from the hospital where his partner had just given birth to their daughter, Genesis, when he was stopped for a supposed minor traffic violation. He was detained by Tucson Police Department when he was not able to produce a driver’s license, who turned him over to Border Patrol custody.  A loving new father, he was planning to spend every second he could with his beloved child, in the first days and weeks of Genesis’s life.  Instead, Norlan has spent the first month of his baby’s life detained.

Norlan is a long-time member of the Southside Worker Center, active member of the Protection Network Coalition, a loving friend, and caring partner. He is a vital part of the community and committed to the movement to stop deportations and to end police-ICE collaboration in Tucson.

Norlan’s stay of deportation was recently denied and the Nicaraguan embassy is currently preparing his travel documents, meaning he may be deported at any time, likely in the next two weeks.  Norlan qualifies for a U-visa based off a crime he suffered in the United States and has submitted an application signed by the Pima County Sheriff’s office.   ICE has released a policy memo against deporting U Visa applicants, so why is Norlan still being deported? His friends, coworkers, family, and his newborn baby need him back in Tucson."

Beautiful and Painful