Local officials encouraging activity in immigration reform
Monitor Staff Writer
SAN JUAN, Texas — Eight fear-filled hours of walking and swimming were worth it to Leticia Sanchez, a Mexican immigrant who wanted a better life for her children in the United States.
In the mid-1990s, Sanchez and her husband decided to leave their three children with her mother in Mexico City and head to the United States for work. Each month during her year separation from her children, she would send money for their food, supplies and clothing.
There were no jobs in Mexico, she said, so the couple left. They crossed the river near Nuevo Progreso and ended in Alamo.
Ten years later and still in the United States, Sanchez celebrated Mother’s Day on Wednesday morning at a rally for fair immigration reform. She recalled the difficulties of separation from her children and why U.S. politicians need to reform the immigration system.
"I want to see justice for all of the people who work here from Mexico, Salvador, Guatemala," Sanchez, 35, said. "It’s better than our country."
In the past 10 years, Sanchez returned to Mexico once, and that was to bring her children.
As the U.S. Senate continues the debate about the 12 million illegal immigrants living and working in the United States, Rio Grande Valley advocacy groups are trying to encourage locals to take action.
La Unión del Pueblo Entero (LUPE), along with other local groups, have started a national postcard campaign. The postcards, addressed to Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist, R-Tennessee, and Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, call for humane and comprehensive immigration reform that would include a visa program and does not criminalize immigrants.
"If [Cornyn] could accept the fact that millions of immigrants are contributing to this economy," said LUPE President Juanita Valdez-Cox. "He should vote for fair and just immigration reform."
In 2005, Hispanics contributed about $736 billion to the United States economy, according to a study from the University of Georgia.
Valdez-Cox wants immigrants to have the chance to earn legal status in the United States. From now until May 16, LUPE will collect postcards without postage to deliver to Cornyn’s Harlingen office May 17. Postcards are available at LUPE’s offices in San Juan, Las Milpas and Alton.
Cornyn and Sen. John Kyl, R-Arizona, wrote the Comprehensive Enforcement and Immigration Reform Act of 2005, which calls for enhanced border security, increased employer accountability and ups interior enforcement.
"This is a very complicated issue, but one that I think needs to be solved in a way that respects our values as a nation of immigrants, but also a nation of laws," Cornyn said in a statement via e-mail.
Valdez-Cox said Cornyn’s proposal does not fully grasp the issues behind family separation and the need for more workers’ rights. Even if employers are fined for hiring illegal workers, it doesn’t take away the need for labor, she said.
As the U.S. Senate prepares to take up the immigration issue as early as next week, Valdez-Cox said it will be interesting to see how the dynamic between Mexico and the United States shifts — especially considering Mexico’s presidential election is in July. Presidents there only serve one term and current president Vicente Fox, who has met with President Bush to discuss the shared economy and immigration, will be out.
"Mexico has a big responsibility to the immigration issue," Valdez-Cox said. "The majority of the people that are coming are coming from Mexico."
For more information on the postcard campaign, call LUPE at (956) 787-2233