GarysWorld USA

Before their baby’s birth, Julia Longwell’s husband could be deported to Honduras for being in the country illegally. It’s a frightening possibility for the 31-year-old mother.

Eight months pregnant and with a 2-year-old in tow, a teary-eyed Longwell stood outside the Broward Transitional Center, where her husband is detained. She tried to share her story over a bullhorn in broken Spanish. She was too emotional to talk during the protest organized by DreamActivist Florida. The crowd applauded in support.

Longwell and German Lopez Martinez married in 2009, and lawyers advised the Lake Worth couple to “live under the radar,” even though Longwell is an American citizen.

Shortly after crossing the Mexican border, Martinez failed to appear in court and pay traffic tickets. He was eventually picked up by the Palm Beach County Sheriff’s Office in February, Longwell said.

“Obviously, I need my husband,” she said, “It’s totally overwhelming. I worry about worrying because stress is bad when you’re pregnant. I have very little support.”

But strangers united in the struggle against the looming deportation of family members faced the Pompano Beach detention center and chanted “Undocumented! Unafraid!”

They also held signs that said “Why is my dad being deported?” and “Detainment and deportation destroy families.”

Read more at articles.sun-sentinel.com

A century ago, the immigrants from across the Atlantic included settlers and sojourners. Along with the many folks looking to make a permanent home in the United States came those who had no intention to stay, and who would make some money and then go home.

Today, we are much more rigid about immigrants. We divide newcomers into two categories: legal or illegal, good or bad.

We don’t need more categories, but we need to change the way we think about categories. We need to look beyond strict definitions of legal and illegal. To start, we can recognize the new birds of passage, those living and thriving in the gray areas. We might then begin to solve our immigration challenges.

Crop pickers, violinists, construction workers, entrepreneurs, engineers, home health-care aides and particle physicists are among today’s birds of passage.

With or without permission, they straddle laws, jurisdictions and identities with ease. We need them to imagine the United States as a place where they can be productive for a while without committing themselves to staying forever. We need them to feel that home can be both here and there and that they can belong to two nations honorably.

Imagine life with a radically different immigration policy …

Read more at startribune.com

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