An up-close and personal look at the failing immigration policy

At cathedral gathering, residents share stories of frustration and heartache

DODGE CITY -- When Patricia Renteria and her husband decided to go to Mexico last July to seek his legal U.S. residency and residency for their two children, they never imagined that nearly a year later, Renteria’s husband would still be in Mexico waiting day after day, month after month, for his papers to be processed.

And even when his papers finally are processed, Renteria told a crowd gathered at the Cathedral of Our Lady of Guadalupe April 15, there are no assurances that his legal residency will be approved.

Renteria, a secretary at the cathedral, was one of a handful of guest speakers at a special informative day designed to let Catholics know about immigration reform options soon to be up for consideration in the nation’s capitol.

The Catholic Church, a strong proponent of comprehensive immigration reform, has hopes that the Security Through Regularized Immigration and a Vibrant Economy Act of 2007 (STRIVE) will see the light of day.

In a statement issued by the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB), Bishop Gerald R. Barnes of San Bernardino, Calif. said that the act “best comports with the principles needed for a just and humane immigration reform bill. While we are encouraged by the direction of the immigration debate with the introduction of the STRIVE Act, we are deeply concerned by the Administration’s most recent proposal for comprehensive immigration reform.

“Unlike the STRIVE Act, which promotes family reunification and has a realistic plan for bringing undocumented immigrants out of the shadows, the Administration’s proposal would make cuts to family-based immigration as well as impose fines and wait times for legalization that are far beyond what most immigrants could bear.”

The phrase “family reunification” is of particular interest to Renteria, who, like thousands of other families with immigrant members, has been separated from her husband now for nearly a year as she and their two children await word on his residency status.

While often fighting off tears, she told those gathered of the struggles her family and a multitude of other families have faced in trying to gain legal residency under the current immigration policies.

They began the long process of sending in the necessary paperwork in August of 2003, long before taking their journey to Mexico last July. In all, the family sent in four separate mailings, the fees for which added up to more than $3,000. Eventually they received their appointment notification, allowing them to go to the immigration office in Mexico.

“When we went to Mexico, we had a lady help us do all the paper work,” Renteria said. “She said there would be a chance my husband would have to stay, but that it would be three or four months.”

The couple have been married for six years and have two children, ages 15 and 13, from his previous marriage.

“Until you actually go to the border, you can’t imagine how many people are trying to get across legally,” said the U.S. born Renteria. “I bet there were 500 to 600 people in line [at the immigration office]. And that’s every day. For some it was their second or third time trying, and they are from all over the United States. My husband and children went in at 8 in the morning. I had to stay across the street. There are people coming in and out. Someone told me that as long as they didn’t come out early, it’s going okay.

“They came out at 5 p.m., and were told they’d have to come back the next day so that they could see what was found on their background checks. They also had to get physicals and get their shots even though the children had their records from the United States.”

By this time, the family had paid $3,000 in fees, $585 for the physicals, and $450 “because some paperwork wasn’t right.” On the following day, the children were each given their passports stamped so they could re-enter the United States, and then on August 11 their U.S. residency card arrived. Her husband, meanwhile, was given an indefinite waiting period, during which time he could not return to the United States. In July, it will have been one year since the family separated, something Renteria hopes the STRIVE act will help to eliminate.

“I call [the immigration office] every month,” Renteria said. “You ask them why it takes so long and they say it’s because there are so many. The don’t have the staff to handle the paper work.”

The separation has created many difficulties for Renteria and her family, she said.

“It’s very hard, with all the problems at home. We’ve gone from two paychecks to one. Everything seems to have fallen apart at home and there’s nobody to help me. I do know that God’s doing it for a reason.”

Meanwhile, the only employment her husband could obtain in Mexico was as a construction worker, laboring from “sunup until sundown” for $40 to $50 per week.

“That’s why so many people come across illegally,” Renteria said. “They don’t have the money. The situation in Mexico is just awful. One of my husband’s brothers actually lives in a one-room wood shack that has a roof of trash bags. I don’t know how they live in there with five or six kids. You walk in and there are beds and a stove, and that’s it.

“They’re working for nothing,” she added. “All these people, once they get here, they try to get legalized, but it’s too much money, too much paper work, and too many obstacles. So people don’t go through it. A lot of these people come here and can never, ever go back home. People don’t realize what a nightmare it is.”

Among the other speakers at the cathedral were Father Robert Schremmer, Vicar General, and Melinda Lewis of El Centro in Kansas City.