Amidst two foreign military occupations and an economic crisis, the issue of immigration reform is slowly returning to the national stage. On Friday, thousands turned out across the country in May Day rallies for worker and immigrant rights. Meanwhile in Washington, the Senates immigration subcommittee opened hearings last week towards crafting a long-awaited immigration reform bill. President Obama is expected to speak publicly on immigration in the coming weeks. The New York Times reports Obama will convene working groups that would prepare legislation for as early as the fall.
At the top of the agenda for immigrant rights advocates is ending the spate of deportations that have separated more than one million family members. We"re going to turn now to one family torn apart by deportation who have brought their case to Capitol Hill. Last November, Maria Guadalupe Zamudio, a Mexican national with temporary immigration status, was deported after trying to apply for permanent residency. She was banned from the U.S. for ten to twenty-years. Maria’s three children, aged nine to twelve, are all U.S. citizens. Last Thursday, they joined their aunt and uncle to make a twenty-hour drive from Worthington, Minnesota to Washington, D.C. Theyve each written letters to President Obama asking him to let their mother return.
Gerardo Zamudio, His mother Maria Zamudio was deported to Mexico in November. He’s come to Washington, DC, along with his two siblings and aunt and uncle, to ask President Obama and congressional lawmakers for his mothers return to the United States. He is twelve years old.
Mariano Espinoza, executive director of the Minnesota Immigration Freedom Network http://immigrantfreedomnetwork.wordpress.com/
http://www.democracynow.org/2009/5/5/12_year_old_us_citizen_to
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