(Photo credit Heather Wilson.)
Yesterday in DC and Los Angeles, children marched to tell President Obama that comprehensive immigration reform would keep their families together:
The Washington, D.C. protest was led by 10-year-old Saul Arellano, whose mother, Elvira Arellano, gained prominence after seeking sanctuary along with him in a Chicago church to avoid deportation by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
Maria Tellez, 17, whose parents are undocumented immigrants, was one of the participants in this week’s protest in downtown Los Angeles, where children marched to ask for an end to deportations.
Elvira was eventually deported after visiting Los Angeles in August of 2007. Since then, Arellano has been living in Mexico with his mother.
This summer, the young Arellano, a U.S. citizen, returned to lead the push for immigration reform. Arellano and hundreds of other kids marched on the White House to demand a meeting with the president and deliver a letter to him requesting a stop to the deportations of their fathers and mothers, an immigration reform and to stop the Arizona measure SB 1070.
In Los Angeles, over 100 people marched to the state capitol. CHIRLA has pictures from the event.
Sojourners has a roundup of the DC event, with more pictures:
Emma, 10, told how it felt to watch 15 men with guns enter her home and take her mother. Britsy’s mother had gone through the correct process to become legal, but errors had been made in her paperwork and now she was being deported. With tears in her eyes, Britsy, 9, spoke of her fear of the foster care system and the struggle of her 19-year-old brother to now provide for the family.
The children at these marches have all been hurt by our broken system. Their families are being destroyed because Congress and the White House haven’t acted to keep them safe and together. All of the children who marched yesterday, and the millions more they represent, deserve to grow up in loving families. Our government shouldn’t use an unfeeling bureaucracy to stop them.
Categories: Action, California
