We Are America deportation stories – weekly digest for Sept. 8
A week from now, the Center for Community Change will join faith leaders from across the country in an call to conscience for our elected officials. The event – called Relief, Reform, Respect for our Families – will take place all day in Washington DC on September 15. In preparation for the event, We Are America has been publishing a series of deportation stories which you can read here.
Beth Ann Hocine is a police officer who had been married to her husband for nearly a decade when he was picked up by ICE agents last year and eventually deported to Algeria. They decided that their four children would go with him while Beth stayed behind to sell their house in Philadelphia. Watch her story, this week’s featured “We Are America” video story, here
Pedro Guzman Perez is currently detained in Stewart Detention Center, an immigration detention center in Lumpkin, GA. His family and friends have worked for the past 11 months to bring Pedro home to North Carolina where his wife Emily Nelson Guzman and his 3 year old son, Logan Guzman – both United States citizens – now live. Read his family’s story here.
Janina and Tony Wasilewski are immigrants from Poland and long-time residents of the Chicago area. In 2007, Janina was deported to Poland and their 6 year old son Brian went with her. Tony has struggled to keep up the family business in their absence and continues to fight for his family to be reunited. Read their story here.
Selvin Arevalo came to Portland, Maine from Guatemala when he was 14 years old. Just before he was set to get his high school diploma and enroll in college, he was detained after getting into a minor car accident and fleeing for a few minutes in a panic over his immigration status. Read his story here.
Antonio Ramirez is 32 years old and was deported after living in the United States for nearly his whole life. Antonio came to the US when he was just a few months old, crossing the border from Mexico with his mother. Eventually he married Eva Munoz and they had two daughters together. Read their story here.
Sonia Murieta lives in constant fear of being deported because of her status as an undocumented immigrant. As she writes, “Every time my husband comes home later than usual instead of thinking “oh maybe he hit traffic” or “maybe they asked him to stay later” my heart immediately asks, “has he been deported? Did he get stopped and arrested?”. Read her story here.
Check every week for new stories at www.weareamericastories.org