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Across the United States, MCC workers and MCC-supported churches
reach out to immigrants -- from Latino, Slavic, Indonesian and many
other backgrounds -- in their communities and congregations.
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Candelaria Pascual
with daughters Elena, left, and Maria.
Photo by Richard Patterson/Miami Herald
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Through the San Joaquin Valley in Central California, vines
and trees bearing hundreds of varieties of grapes, peaches,
oranges, kiwis and almonds stretch far to the Sierra Nevada
mountains.
Watered by the Kings River,
these groves, vineyards and orchards produce more fresh fruit
and vegetables than any other place in the world. In the heart
of the valley lies Reedley, a city of about 20,000 with nearly
100 produce packing facilities.
The fruit industry shapes the
economics of the area and also has a profound effect on surrounding
communities as immigrants, refugees and migrant workers searching
for work come to live near the fields and packing houses.
Read more...
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Immigrants search for home
in New York |
Miami family faces threat of father's deportation
Update: On May 14, 2003, the INS judge ruled to cancel Antonio's
removal. He will remain a lawful permanent resident of the United
States and has been reunited with his family.
For the Pascual family of Miami, Fla., immigration is a life or
death concern.
Antonio Miguel Pascual, a native of Guatemala who's lived in the
United States for more than 15 years, has three children with a
rare disease -- Factor VII, similar to hemophilia -- that necessitates
liver transplants and ongoing medical attention. Antonio's wife,
Candelaria, was supporting the family with her full-time job while
Antonio worked part-time and took the children, all U.S. citizens,
to a constant round of doctors' appointments.
But Antonio, who obtained legal U.S. resident status some 10 years
ago, is now faced with deportation. He has been held at a detention
center for nearly a year while his case is debated in immigration
court. Candelaria has been forced to quit her job in order to see
to the children's medical needs.
Brad Ginter, an MCC worker who serves as a paralegal with Catholic
Charities Legal Services (CCLS) in Miami, is assisting the family.
"We are trying to get the judge to recognize the hardship
to the family that would be created if Antonio is deported,"
Ginter explained. "Without him here, their financial situation
is desperate -- but if the whole family were to go to Guatemala,
they children would almost certainly die. They just couldn't get
the medical care that they need there."
The deportation proceedings stem from an incident more than three
years ago in which Antonio was charged with theft. Although he paid
the legal penalty, the Bureau of Immigration and Customs Enforcement
(formerly the INS) still has the right to ask an immigration judge
to revoke his residency.
The case was complicated, Ginter said, by the way Antonio had entered
the country in the first place. From an indigenous (Native American)
village, he spoke neither English nor Spanish when he first came
to the United States and due to language confusion ended up with
an immigration case in a different name.
Ginter has been working on the case for more than two years, when
Antonio was first detained. (He was later released and then detained
again.) Immigration laws contain provisions for situations in which
a legal resident's deportation would cause extreme hardship, and
the CCLS attorney is trying to convince the judge that this is just
such a case. If the plea of hardship is accepted, Antonio will be
allowed to continue living in the United States as a legal permanent
resident.
"This should be an open and shut case of hardship," Ginter
says. "The judge keeps saying that he'll make a ruling at the
next hearing, but so far there's been no decision."
In the meantime, Candelaria and the three children -- Elena, age
12, Maria, 6, and baby Antonio, who was born 10 day before Antonio
was detained -- are relying on the children's disability funds and
help from their church to survive. Ginter is also helping Candelaria
apply for permanent residence.
"The girls miss their father," Ginter says. "They're
afraid, not knowing what's going to happen."
"We work with a lot of cases, and I don't ask for prayer for
all of them at church. But this is one I have shared about a number
of times," he added.
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