Friday, April 24, 2009
By CARMEN JURI
THE STAR-LEDGER (New Jersey)
Since January, when immigration officials banged on her Union City apartment door and arrested her, Paola Leiva has worn an electronic ankle bracelet that monitors her movements.
She was placed on a 7 p.m.-to-7 a.m. home curfew and every day, for three hours, she sits connected to a power outlet while the monitoring device recharges.
Leiva, 32, who crossed the border to the United States from Honduras in 2004, said she was nearly deported this month, but authorities have agreed to reopen her case after an advocacy group came to her defense. She said she does not want to return home to San Pedro and said her two children are American-born and deserve protection under the Constitution.
"What future can my kids have there (in Honduras)?" asked Leiva.
Tomorrow, Leiva and others hope to speak to members of Congress at a community gathering to promote immigration reform in Elizabeth.
Sen. Robert Menendez, D-New Jersey, U.S. Rep Albio Sires, D-Hudson, and U.S. Rep. Luis Gutierrez, D-Illinois, say they plan to attend the event, which is co-sponsored by the Latino Leadership Alliance of New Jersey and the National Coalition of Latino Clergy and Christian Leaders.
The gathering, scheduled from 10 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. at the Iglesia Jesucristo es el Senor church, is part of a national effort to bring attention to the importance of immigration reform and highlight some of the hardships brought about by what they call a broken system, organizers said.
It involves prayer vigils and town-hall meetings in cities across America. At each event, U.S. citizens share testimony as to how their families have been or risk being torn apart by a broken immigration system, they said.
"We want the public to hear testimonials from American citizens whose lives have been ripped apart by the raids and deportations that have been a cornerstone of federal immigration policy for the last few years," said Martin Perez, president of the alliance.
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