If there was ever an example for the need for immigration reform look no further than that of Maria Martinez.The nineteen-year-old will soon graduate from her local high school in the town of Harrisonburg, Virginia where she took advanced classes and volunteered as a translator at a local elementary school. Her aspirations included going to college much like her classmates and doing something positive with her life.
Maria Martinez will be deported in August to El Salvador.
At the age of twelve, Martinez was smuggled illegally into the U.S. by her mother. The journey to Virginia was harrowing yet once she settled down she was able to assimilate into a new culture. She was never comfortable with her status as an undocumented migrant and tried to rectify the situation. It would turn out to be a noble yet ultimately hurtful choice:
Maria's mother was legal and so were her half brothers and sisters who were born here. So, in 2006, as a 16-year-old, Maria applied for citizenship.Perhaps you may be thinking “if Maria were to emigrate legally she would’ve avoided this mess in the first place” and ideally that would’ve been a viable option. Yet as Reason Magazine noted last October, Martinez would’ve had to wait at least six years for citizenship under the best case scenario. (More likely at least ten years). Maybe she would’ve had a fruitful life in El Salvador had she waited but the odds of her living well in the midst of abject poverty in a country fractured by civil war is pretty slim.
Her mother admits some regret now for that decision. Maria was denied and, by applying, the U.S. government knew, officially, she was here illegally.
On her 18th birthday, she would need to return to her grandmother's home in El Salvador, or immigration officials would force her to leave the country. If she was forced to leave, Maria could not apply to return to the United States.
[Maria’s mother] Olivia paid $1,300 for a lawyer who was able to defer Maria's voluntary deployment until after she graduated from high school.
In the end she decided to sacrifice herself via voluntary deportation so that her family could continue moving forward in the U.S. There’s the chance that she can be reunited with her loved ones after departing for El Salvador only if politicos can get their act in gear and tackle immigration reform. Until then, Martinez will be on the outside looking in with the hope that her new life in El Salvador is not as difficult as it was during her childhood.
Image- The Daily News Record (“Maria Martinez poses a few days before graduating from Harrisonburg High School. When she was 12, her parents had her smuggled into the United States to join them. A failed attempt to gain citizenship led immigration officials to have her deported.”)
Online Sources- Reason Magazine, The Daily News Record
2 comments:
I'm a bit ocnfused it states that her mother is legal? In what way is she legal, if she was a legal citizens why wouldn't the mother be able to request her daughter's citizenry (if thats even) a word.
But not doubt about it, comprehensive immigration reform is much needed.
I was watching a program over the weekend in which they criticized our current administration, under Obama. And while I am not sure if Obama ran under a campaign for immigration reform, we had the audacity to hope, now I am hoping for some audacity and hoping the President gets on top of things and brings the 'change' campaign he ran on.
It appears that at the time Martinez migrated to the U.S. her mom was a U.S. citizen. assuming this was the case, it would've taken about 6-8 years for Maria to gain her citizenship. (This assumption's based on the graphic found on the linked Reason magazine piece).
Re Obama: immigration reform was virtually a taboo subject during the election and thus far very little has been done on the presidential and congressional level. Sadly, it appears as if the issue will be delayed by the powers that be while the flawed status quo continues.
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