Policies to protect family unity are needed
Iam a candidate for the 1st Congressional District of New Mexico. I am an immigrant from Mexico. My mother came to this country with nothing but four boxes of clothes and four children. She took two of those boxes and sold them. Then she took her four children and put them through college, and in my case through law school.
Trump’s recent decision to end the DACA program is heartbreaking. It is incredibly cruel to take the little sense of hope and security that was given to those young people just a few years ago. That decision directly affected my wife, Iris, and I, and our community. It affected our friends and colleagues, our congregation and Iris’ former students. This decision has stripped any sense of security and hope that these young, patriotic people had. It’s stripping their livelihood and ending their careers.
But this decision affects ALL of us! DACA recipients who are educators, entrepreneurs, business owners, health care providers and contributing members of our community will no longer be able to live in the open. We are forcing them back into the shadows and cutting out a part of our community.
I know because I’ve lived it firsthand. While my family came legally, we shared more in common with undocumented workers than with legal immigrants in those first few years. As soon as I was old enough to hold a hoe in my hand, I worked the potato and onion fields of southeastern New Mexico alongside my mother, my siblings and hundreds of other migrant farmworkers — many of whom were undocumented. Then I worked alongside other immigrants in the kitchens of Brown University, while on work study to help pay for my tuition. I am grateful to this country for an opportunity to work and put food on the table, but I am also cognizant for the need for livable wages, safe working conditions and a process to redress grievances. That is why I dedicated my life to a career in public service. I’ve fought for immigrant rights in Congress as a legislative assistant for the Congressional Hispanic Caucus. I’ve fought for educational opportunities in New Mexico as the president of the New Mexico Hispanic Bar Association. And I will continue to fight for immigrant rights as a member of Congress.
We need to unite as one community and pass legislation that will protect ALL undocumented, hard-working, contributing members of our society! We need immigration policies that protect family unity!
In these troubling times, we need a clear message that we are a nation of immigrants who know and follow the law. I ask you to send a message to Trump. I ask you to help send me to Congress.
Please, join me in fighting and protecting my community, our community. Let our actions show OUR love and big heart.
La union hace la fuerza, union makes force.