Hispanics fight deportation one case at a time

Tucson, Arizona, Agency
Faced with the federal government's failure to approve comprehensive immigration reform or even targeted bills like the DREAM Act, groups in southern Arizona attempt to stop undocumented immigrants from being deported by fighting it case by case.

"It's a tough fight, but we can't remain silent, we have to raise our voices to be able to help the greatest number of families we can," Arizona attorney and activist Margo Cowan told Efe on Monday.

Now more than ever, she says, it is very important that undocumented aliens know their rights and do not sign a voluntary deportation agreement when they're detained.

That was the case of Alfonso Morales Macias, 40, who in 2007 was arrested by the Border Patrol during a raid on his workplace where he was cleaning floors.

Since then, the father of two U.S. citizens - Ana, 18, and Alfonso Jr., 11 - has engaged in an intense legal battle to avoid deportation.

At the beginning of this month, the Morales family received what they call "the worst news of our lives" - immigration authorities notified them that Morales Macias' most recent appeal had been rejected and his deportation was scheduled for Sept. 24.

As a last resort, the attorneys, friends and family of the undocumented Mexican, who came to the United States at the age of 19, sought the support of the Hispanic community in Arizona in appealing to Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano to stop his deportation.

As part of an intense campaign, hundreds of phone calls, faxes and e-mails were sent to Napolitano's office.

Their efforts bore fruit when, with just 24 hours left before his deportation, Napolitano granted him a permit to remain another year in the country.

"This permit can be renewable and it also includes a work permit," Cowan, who represents Morales Macias, said.

In her experience as an immigration lawyer, Cowan described the immigrant Mexican's case as an exception to the rule, since such concessions from the federal government are "extremely" rare.

Maria Valdez, the wife of Morales Macias, told Efe that the hardest thing about the whole process was seeing the sadness and depression it caused her children.

"It was very hard for them, they didn't want to go to school, they wouldn't eat, they couldn't sleep, they didn't even want to talk to their friends," she said.

Cowan stressed the urgent need for passing immigration reform that provides a way to legalize the immigration status of the undocumented person living in this country.

"We've been waiting for many years for immigration reform and up to now we haven't got anything, so the only thing to do is fight to the end like the Morales family did," Cowan said.

Last week the U.S. Senate refused to start a debate for approving the DREAM Act, which would have granted legal residence to undocumented students who came to the United States before the age of 16, graduate from high school and either attend college for two years or enlist in the military.

Young people like Marlen Moreno, who arrived with his parents when he was only 13.

Last month Napolitano also suspended Moreno's deportation, after a campaign similar to the one carried out for the Morales family, in which groups like No More Deaths and the Arizona Human Rights Coalition participated.

"The cases are very similar, they're giving us a new chance to be able to stay with our families and see our kids grow up," Moreno, 26, who was detained in 2008 together with 10 other workers in a Tucson restaurant, told Efe.

In 2009, 387,790 undocumented aliens were deported and up to June 7 of this year, 227,163 foreigners were deported, according to the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.