“We Are America” immigration stories – weekly digest for August 18
Last week We Are America helped young Yves Gomes avoid deportation through our video story of the Gomes family and an online petition. This week, We Are America features another young man about the same age as Yves and from the same part of the world who was deported in January of this year.
Saad Nabeel came to the United States with his family in 1994 when he was 3 years old after they were threatened by the government in Bangladesh. His father originally received political asylum but the family still had to apply for permanent residency, and last year ICE abruptly decided to deport them rather than give another extension that would have allowed them to receive their green cards. Saad was 18 at the time and a student at University of Texas at Arlington. Read his story here: http://www.weareamericastories.org/written/saad-nabeels-story-deported-to-bangladesh-fighting-to-come-home/ and listen to Saad talk about the deportation here: http://www.weareamericastories.org/audio/saad-nabeel-tells-his-story-of-being-deported/
Last week we featured the story of Michigan resident Ivan Nikolov who is in detention and still set to be deported within the month. Ivan immigrated to the United States from Russia when he was just 11 years old and his mother is married a U.S. citizen. Ivan’s fiancée of 3 years, Alanna, is distraught from being separated from Ivan for the last 3 months and living every day with the possibility of him being deported. We feature her video testimony here: http://www.weareamericastories.org/videos/ivan-nikolovs-story-russian-immigrant-awaiting-deportation/
The story of Domingo is another heart-wrenching story of detention and family separation. Linzi, a U.S. citizen, fell in love with Domingo, a Mexican immigrant, when she was 13 years old. They married in 2006 and have three daughters together. Domingo was detained and taken into immigration custody in June 2008, and Linzi was left to care for her children on her own. Watch Linzi and Domingo’s story – produced by Eileen Mignoni – here: http://www.weareamericastories.org/videos/domingos-story-phone-calls-from-papi/
Enrique is the son Cesar and Angelica, who migrated to the U.S. from Guatemala in 1998 and through a petition by Angelica’s sister became Lawful Permanent Residents. Having finished seminary in Guatemala, Cesar began a church in the western suburbs of Chicago shortly after their arrival. Enrique had surpassed 20 years of age by the time the petition was finally current so he had to stay in Guatemala. He eventually came to the US, entered into the complex web of immigration bureaucracy, and is still unable to gain legal residency despite the rest of his family’s legal status. Read their story, written by Matthew Soerens, here: http://www.weareamericastories.org/written/enriques-story-a-pastors-petition/
Finally, We Are America features some intimate photos from a labor camp in Maine operated by Jasper Wyman, the world’s largest blueberry producer. Agustin Martinez, Juan Rayas and Martin Martinez are all migrant blueberry pickers who come to Maine every year from Dolores Hidalgo, Guanajuato. Check out the photo essay – produced by David Bacon – of these hard-working migrant laborers here: http://www.weareamericastories.org/photos/photo-story-migramt-workers-in-a-maine-blueberry-labor-camp/