tags: , , AVEF, Blog

Connecticut Mother Of Four US Citizen Children Faces Deportation This Week

Share This:

Nury Chavarria is a Connecticut mother who has lived in the US for more than 24 years and has four US citizen children, including one who has cerebral palsy. She’s been living and working in the US since she came from Guatemala at age 19 to apply for asylum, but faces deportation this week due to Trump’s mass deportation crackdown.

A Connecticut group, CT Shoreline Indivisible, has been working to help Nury stay — so far, they’ve collected more than 30,000 signatures between two petitions. They’re asking for help from Nury’s two US Senators, Democrats Richard Blumenthal and Chris Murphy, as well as the state’s Democratic Governor, Dan Malloy. You can sign the petition here.

Nury has been checking in with ICE since 2010, has a work permit, and has no criminal record. But as we’ve seen with cases over and over again during the Trump Administration, mothers and fathers who have done nothing to deserve deportation, who in many cases have been working legally and checking in with ICE for years, are suddenly facing removal. Nury doesn’t have anyone she can leave her children with if she’s deported — but taking them to Guatemala with her is hardly an option either. Here’s an excerpt from a New Haven Register story about Nury, her children, and what would happen if she’s forced to leave:

Her oldest, Elvin Martinez, 21, has a learning problem, as well as impaired motor skills due to cerebral palsy. “He needs a lot of assistance,” she said, including help dressing and feeding himself. He was born prematurely at 6 months gestation.

Chavarria is encouraging him to attend Norwalk Community College, but said he is embarrassed by his disabilities.

Daughter Lindsay Chavarria, 18, graduated from Norwalk High School with high honors and is starting her college education this summer at Norwalk Community College.

At her high school graduation, her cap read: “My mom crossed the border, so I could cross this stage,” said Charla Nich of Guilford, who attended the interview with Chavarria.

“It made me cry when she did that,” Chavarria said of her daughter’s statement…

Chavarria said her third-oldest child, Kevin Uquillas, 15, a rising junior, who also has high honors, is intent on finishing high school here, while Hayley, like her brothers and sister, is an English language speaker with limited ability in Spanish and worries about attending school in Guatemala.

[Immigration attorney Glenn] Formica said if Chavarria were deported, both Kevin and Hayley would become dependent on the state of Connecticut for care…

Formica said Chavarria’s deportation would “certainly impact the ability of her two older children to go to college. It would affect them all.”

Her attorney said practically speaking it would be difficult for her to afford five airline tickets out of the country with her income as a housekeeper. She has worked with the same employer for the past 15 years.

It would be even harder to support Elvin or raise the kids in Guatemala, Formica said.

“She really doesn’t have any options in Guatemala. So it really is just a matter of breaking the family,” he said…

[Advocate Charla] Nich said the human side “is just so tragic. This whole family just has to sit and wait. … How do you leave your family for ten years? How do you leave your little girl for ten years?”

Also view: NPR: Without Documentation Or Criminal Record, Immigrant Mother Faces Deportation

Nury faces deportation and separation from her family in just 3 days. Please sign her petition here.