How You Can Help

UPDATE - November, 2009

You might ask what other avenues we have pursued in addition to trying to get Gaspar a green card. We have considered virtually everything we could think of or has been suggested to us.

What is a Humanitarian Parole?

We have three times applied for a Humanitarian Parole, and three times it has been turned down.

We were told that a Humanitarian Parole is granted "when it can be shown that someone's absence is causing extreme and urgent hardship for the family members." The criteria for approval are "urgent needs" and it cannot be used as a way to avoid pursuing a visa. If granted, a Humanitarian Parole allows the applicant to come home
for up to a year. At the end of that time, the parole could be renewed.

Our third and final application for a Humanitarian Parole was filed in May, 2008. The package we sent contained firm evidence of the psychological, physical, and financial hardship Gaspar's absence is causing both him and the rest of his family. It contained compelling letters from numerous people, including all three of our congressmen. As earlier explained, the path toward a visa any time soon ended August 2007. We believed at the time—and still do—that a fair and impartial evaluation of the application would bring him home.

At the end of July, 2008, we received word from Homeland Security that the application was denied. They gave no reason for the denial. Unfortunately, they don't have to. They have “discretionary” powers over acceptance or denial of such applications. In other words, they can approve or deny the applications for any reason whatsoever and do not have to reveal the reason to anyone. Therefore, it is completely possible that they could approve or deny an application they have not even looked at. Our attorney made three attempts to find out the reason for denial, and they refused to supply one.

We contacted our congressmen about this issue. Senator Voinovich's office checked with Homeland Security and was told that we did not meet the criteria for approval: that someone in the family has to be terminally ill, or someone has to die. Their job has nothing to do with reuniting families.

The Option of Moving

We have been asked by many people why Sheryl and the children don't just move to Mexico so they can be together. As was mentioned earlier on this website, Sheryl has Crohn's disease. Her compromised digestive system leaves her vulnerable to many problems with which other people can easily deal. Every time we are in Mexico—no matter what part—she comes back sick. She literally would not survive living there.

For a while, we thought Canada was a viable alternative. Canada has (or had) a reputation for understanding the contributions of immigrants, as our country once did. Mexico was also a non-visa country for Canada; a Mexican could travel there just on a passport. During April, 2008, Gaspar flew to Toronto and we joined him there for two weeks, after which he went back to Mexico, as he was supposed to do.

In January, 2009, we started looking for a place for him to study there so that he could improve his English reading and writing skills and would be close enough we could visit frequently. Although Sheryl could have moved to Canada, realistically someone had to work until he was allowed to work in Canada, and chances were slim that she could get a teaching job there. He was accepted in the ESL program at St. Clair College in Windsor, and he applied for a study visa so that he could stay long enough to finish the program.

In April, we again made arrangements for him to fly to Canada to visit with us and look over the college. When he arrived in Toronto, he had all necessary documentation, including his acceptance letter from the college. However, Canadian immigration told all nine of the Mexicans on the plane who were legally traveling with Mexican passports that they were not allowed to stay. They detained them overnight and sent them back the next morning. This is the same Canadian immigration that allowed the children's grandmother to take two children that obviously were not hers across the border after asking two simple questions and not even checking identification. Since this time, Canadian policy has changed, and Mexicans now have to have a visa to enter Canada.

At this time, Gaspar's study visa was pending. When he returned home, there was a letter from the Canadian embassy stating that because he was older than a traditional student, they did not believe that he would return to Mexico after his course work, so they were denying the application.

What can you do to help at this point?

Continue to tell your friends about this site and please contact your senators and representatives to congress. Encourage them to support immigration reform that will protect our country while allowing worthy applicants a reasonable chance at legal immigration. To find the contact information for representatives and senators in
any state, go to the following website:

http://www.govtrack.us/congress/findyourreps.xpd

Just enter your state or the last name of a congressperson. The site will give you a list of your congressional representatives and provide links to their personal websites, where you can contact them. Please refer them to this website (reunitefamily.org) so they can see that their decisions affect real people and determine the destinies of entire families.

Write to President Obama. Tell him that you expect him to live up to the promise of dealing with comprehensive immigration reform sooner rather than later. The following website provides information on how to email, write, or call the White House.

http://www.whitehouse.gov/CONTACT/

Continue to remember those thousands of people in Gaspar’s situation who have no resources to do anything about it. Do not forget the least of these.

Thank you again for all your support. It is invaluable.

Other offices to contact

U.S. Department of Homeland Security

Secretary of Homeland Security Janet Napolitano
U.S. Department of Homeland Security
Washington, D.C. 20528

Operator Number: 202-282-8000
Comment Line: 202-282-8495
Email through: http://contact.dhs.gov/Default.aspx

Attorney General of the United States

Attorney General Eric Holder
U.S. Department of Justice
950 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW
Washington, DC 20530-0001

Phone: 202-514-2001
Email: AskDOJ@usdoj.gov