20090626 :: Latino USA

Children of Undocumented Parents

Children Sue the Government for Deporting Parents

June 25, 2009

Maricela Soza was deported to Nicaragua and left behind two children.

The Pew Hispanic Center estimates that some 4 million American citizen children live with at least one parent who is undocumented in this country. And since the 1996 Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act, having an American citizen child no longer held sway with immigration judges.

Maricela's children went on a three-day hunger strike to try and prevent their mother's deportation.

U.S. Immigration authorities estimate that some 100,000 undocumented parents with citizen children have been deported over the last decade.

But critics of this policy say it is an unfair burden on American-born children, pulling apart families. Supporters of the policy counter that American policy isn’t unfair, but rather put the blame on the immigrants who broke the law by migrating illegally.

Reporter Marine Olivesi brings the story of some American citizen children whose parents were deported, and are fighting back with a class action lawsuit.

Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.

Littleton, Colorado Update

ESL classes sponsored by the Littleton Integration Initiative

A couple of weeks ago, reporter Sarah Hughes brought us the story of the Littleton Integration Initiative. It was a civics program in Littleton, Colorado that helped immigrants become vital members of the community. The story focused on one immigrant, Mario Diaz, who was being tutored for his citizenship test.

This week, Mr. Diaz took his citizenship test and reporter Sarah Hughes was there for the results.

Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.

Web Extra - Littleton’s Integration Initiative

In case you missed Sarah Hughes’ original profile on the Littleton Integration Initiative, here it is again.

Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.

Profile: Playwright Octavio Solis

Wilma Bonet, Gloria Garayua, Lakin Valdez, David Pintado, and Luis Saguar in Octavio Solis’ play 'Lydia.'

Playwright Octavio Solis once said that he never wanted to do a Latino family drama. The stereotypes were too easily recognizable and the subjects would be too close to home. But the El Paso-born dramatist, long considered among the most prolific Chicano playwrights, has chosen the Latino home – or “ground zero” as he calls it – as the setting for his latest theatrical success titled “Lydia.”

Gloria Garayua and Elias Escobedo in Octavio Solis’ 'Lydia' at Marin Theater Company.

Photo by - L.A. Cicero, Stanford News Service
The play happens in the home of 15 year-old Cecilia Flores, whose is near comatose as a result of a car accident, and the undocumented caretaker who can mysteriously connect with her. Described as a combination of realism and lyricism, “Lydia” is Solis’ most intimate work to date. Already, it is being compared to the work of Arthur Miller and Eugene O’Neill and has propelled 50 year-old Solis onto the national spotlight.

“Lydia” has been presented in such venues as the Denver Center Theatre Company, Yale Repertory Theatre, Marin Theatre Company, and the Mark Taper Forum.

Reporter Emily Wilson has this profile.

Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.