Mixed Families

When you hear the term illegal alien who do you think of? Most people would say that they think of a middle aged single latino man.  What many people fail to see is that in fact the face of the immigrant community is ever changing.  We now have a lot of “mixed families” “Mixed families” are those families who have both documented and undocumented family members.  One of the most common examples is when there are children who are citizens, because they were born in the U.S., but the parents are undocumented such as in the case of Saul and Elvira Arellano.

Photo provided by www.sitv.com

Elvira Arellano was an undocumented woman who was working at O’Hare Airport in  Chicago and was caught in one of the many raids that the Department of Homeland Security did after the 9/11 Attacks.  She was not harming anyone, or stealing. She was just trying to survive as a single mother and provide for her single son.  But DHS did not see it that way and, after 15 months of sanctuary in a Chicago Church, she was deported back to Mexico.  It did not help that her then 8 year old son Saul Arellano pleaded, “I would like to ask the Presidentto stop the raids and not take away my mother.” during a press conference in Houston.

This reality is lived by many students, mothers, brothers, sisters and fathers, every day in the U.S. This leads to two questions:  Should a child be ripped away from his mother due to broken and outdated laws? What can we do about it? The answers are quite simple.  Number one we need a comprehensive immigration reform passed that fits our times and our realities.  Number 2 if we do not stand up and speak for our communities, and our people then no one else will do it.

It is time to unite for a common cause, a cause that affects everyone in the U.S. When approximately 1 out of every 20 Americans is undocumented this means that you could very well be sitting next to one at church, on the bus, at school and even as you read this.  Think about it and support what is morally right…..

Cesar Espinosa
President of FIEL
Familias Inmigrantes y Estudiantes en la Lucha
Immigrant Families and Students in the Struggle
cesarespinoza@uhelgato.com

Watch Video: Mixed families caught in middle of government raid

**Cesar is a columnist and Junior at the University of Houston The views presented are based on his own personal experiences, observations, and feelings and not necessarily that of El Gato.