This Sunday, a half-page ad is running in the Denver Post calling out Republican Reps. Mike Coffman and Cory Gardner, both of Colorado, for doing nothing to push along immigration reform even though they have said they support it.
The ad features Imelda Valenzuela Gonzalez and her three children, a family that is facing separation after Imelda fell victim to notario fraud. One of Imelda’s daughters, Tania, was featured on our Office Hours call today to talk about her family’s story and why they agreed to be a part of the ad. Read Tania’s powerful statement below, and her plea asking President Obama and Congress to keep families together in light of this weekend’s Mother’s Day:
We have been fighting my mother’s deportation since 2009, it has been a long, stressful, tiring fight but we are hopeful. My mother was scammed, along with 500 other people here in Colorado by a notario, who promised a work permit when there is currently no path to attain them. All this process did was turn over people’s information to ICE. This June, we will find out my mother’s last court date, in front of a judge and ICE, who will decide our fate.
We are just one of the families that need immigration reform to pass in order to continue surviving and sustaining our family in our new home country. Colorado House Republicans need to stop blocking immigration reform and Obama needs to end the separation of families. This Mother’s Day I want to celebrate without a heavy heart, I want to know that the single most important person in my life will be by my side for many celebrations to come.
It has affected us deeply, all these years of fighting, the stress, and we just can’t continue this way. We made the USA our home in 1999, and since then we have been a part of the community. We decided to be featured in this ad, the Denver Post ad, because my family and I want our community to support us, and we want to raise awareness about the pain that separation causes us, and to show the reality of the grief that looms over us every single day. We’re just wanting to be together this Mother’s Day and many Mother’s Days to come.
