Aliyya Swaby Photo
After minor charges triggered federal action, Jose Luis Piscil decided to sue immigration officials to stop the process of being sent back to Mexico following eight years in the U.S.
Piscil, who is 26 and an undocumented worker, joined other immigrants and local activists in a rally Thursday evening celebrating the governor’s recent memo limiting the state’s compliance with federal immigration in deportation, a revision of last year’s Transparency and Responsibility Using State Tools (TRUST) Act. The memo goes into effect on Dec. 15.
Everyone was also awaiting President Barack Obama’s announcement, delivered later Thursday night, that he will allow about four million undocumented parents of U.S. citizens to apply for a new legal status allowing them to work and stay in the country.
Meanwhile, the activists kept their sites on the next battle here back in Connecticut.
“The process of stopping deportations doesn’t end” with the TRUST Act, Piscil said, or even with the president’s speech. The community must keep fighting, against potentially harmful actions by future administrations and for more rights now.
The benefit of staying in the country should be available for everyone, not just parents of U.S. citizens, said Juana Islas.
Mother-of-three Fabiola Perez returned to Guatemala two years ago, and came back to the U.S. after her children got sick in her native country. She had been in the country for 10 years. Upon Perez’ return, the federal government. began deportation proceedings against her.
“I’m asking Obama not to separate me from my family,” she said.
Non-Latino immigration activists offered words of solidarity at Thursday’s rally.
“We don’t want to kick people out who have a right to be here,” said Alok Bhatt, of the Asian Pacific American Affairs Commission.
No reporter ever asks any illegal immigrant why they think it's their right to be here, to stay here and to get special treatment over and above the thousands of people who are currently on and have been on immigration wait lists for years. Take this statement for example:
"The benefit of staying in the country should be available for everyone, not just parents of U.S. citizens, said Juana Islas."
I really wish there would be a story on the presumed "human rights" as it's now being positioned. Those human rights certainly don't exist in any other country I've been in. My in-laws came here as immigrants, paid thousands of dollars to do so, and had to do it in stages because coming all at once was not allowed. It took years. But they followed the laws.