PHOENIX – Behind all the immigration debates and statistics are real people, including men and women who stay in abusive relationships because they're afraid of being deported.
Leticia Reta used to be one of those women, but not any more.
Reta came to the U.S. two decades ago, and for years was married to a man who beat her.
She says he threatened to have her deported and her children put in foster care.
Tired of being abused and feeling frightened all the time, Reta finally obtained a divorce, and now she's speaking out, no longer willing to live in the shadows and not be heard.
"There is so many woman,” she says, ‘they're in my same situation, and they're afraid to speak. I know probably is going to have consequences. But I'm ready to deal with the consequences."
Reta says she is now vulnerable to deportation because she has no documents and no way to apply for them under current law.
Congress is considering immigration reform, but including a path to citizenship faces considerable opposition.
Reta says it took two years to get her divorce. She says she started the process at the urging of an employer, a woman whose house she was cleaning who saw her injuries and convinced her to go to court for a protective order.
"I was working and she said, 'Leticia, what happened to your hands?'” Reta relates. “And I said, 'Nothing, I just fell.' She saw my bruises in parts of the body, and she was so terrified."
The Pew Center estimates there are 400,000 undocumented immigrants in Arizona, accounting for 6 percent of the population, and 7.4 percent of the workforce.
Reta says she feels devoted to her adopted homeland and sometimes wants to cry when she hears the national anthem at her children's school events.
She wants her children to go to college, and she wants to start her own business, but she's afraid that her immigration status might get in the way.
"I've been cleaning houses for the last 12 years,” she says, “and I want to have a company, I want to be registered.
“Even if I was not born here, I feel American. I feel like part of this big country with big dreams."
get more stories like this via email
This holiday season, a nonprofit campaign is asking Americans to write holiday cards to welcome newly arrived refugee families.
The 10th annual "Hope for the Holidays" campaign is spearheaded by Global Refuge, a charity founded in 1939, previously named Lutheran Immigration and Refugee Service.
Krish O'Mara Vignarajah, president and CEO of Global Refuge, explained the program's mission.
"It is an important reminder, during the holiday season -- as we recognize that Jesus was a refugee -- that America is a nation of immigrants," Vignarajah emphasized. "That for so many faiths, welcoming the stranger is a part of our religions. It's a way to show a token of support and hope."
Global Refuge resettles about 20,000 legal refugees immigrating to the U.S. each year, including 7,600 in California. The families are fleeing conflict in places like Ukraine and Afghanistan. Vignarajah noted they often spend years in camps and undergo extreme vetting before the federal government grants them asylum.
Despite the flood of anti-immigrant rhetoric during the presidential campaign, Vignarajah hopes the incoming Trump administration takes a cue from Ronald Reagan on refugee policy.
"President Reagan resettled 600,000 refugees during his presidency," Vignarajah pointed out. "And unfortunately, during the prior administration, the refugee program was cut significantly. Our hope is that we don't see that happen in the new year, because there are obviously families who are fleeing for their lives."
The card-writing effort is headquartered at Ascension Lutheran Church in Thousand Oaks, north of Los Angeles. Donations are used to buy toys, school supplies and basic necessities for newly arrived families.
get more stories like this via email
As President-elect Donald Trump doubles down on promises to round up and deport the nation's 11 million undocumented immigrants, the city of Castle Rock has pledged to make its law enforcement personnel available to assist federal agencies.
But that support could come with significant costs.
Jeremy Robbins - executive director of the American Immigration Council - pointed to new data showing that deporting people who work in critical industries such as construction, education, food production, and health care would reduce the nation's Gross Domestic Product by nearly 7% - which is on par with losses during the Great Recession.
"The costs of mass deportation would be tremendous," said Robbins, "not just because it's so expensive to deport people, but because it would wreak havoc on the economy."
The cost of deportations is expected to be well over $100 billion, and Trump's transition team has vowed to slash federal funding for local governments that refuse to cooperate.
Denver Mayor Mike Johnston has promised to protect undocumented residents, many of whom have been contributing members of their communities for decades.
Each year, immigrants add $54 billion to Colorado's economy.
Some critics have called Trump's recent vow to scrap restrictions on Immigration and Customs Enforcement arrests at churches, hospitals and schools an effort to instill widespread fear.
During a recent Ethnic Media Services briefing, Elizabeth Taufa - policy attorney with the Immigrant Legal Resource Center - said it's important to understand what mass deportations would look like at the community level.
"Kids that aren't going to school because their parents are afraid of being deported," said Taufa. "Shortages of health-care workers because people either move to places that are a little bit safer or they are removed from the country. It looks like fewer teachers, and we are already facing a teacher shortage."
A strong majority of voters across party lines don't want mass deportations, according to an October survey.
Instead, they want lawmakers to create a legal path to citizenship, a move the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office estimates would reduce the federal deficit by nearly $1 trillion.
get more stories like this via email
As word has spread about President-elect Donald Trump's mass deportation plans, advocates for immigrants in Oregon are working to educate people about their rights.
Oregon has the longest-standing sanctuary laws in the nation, which prevent local and state law enforcement from working with federal immigration authorities without a signed order from a judge.
Johanna Costa, a civil-rights coordinator at the Oregon Department of Justice, noted that while undocumented residents have greater protection in Oregon, these laws are not foolproof.
"Oregon sanctuary law does not stop deportations from occurring," she explained. "It does not stop federal prosecutions for crimes like unlawful re-entry."
While they don't block federal immigration authorities such as ICE from operating in the state, Costa said Oregon is the only state in the country that offers a hotline to report violations of the sanctuary laws. Oregon is also the only state tracking and making this data public.
Some 90,000 legal Oregon residents currently live with a family member who is undocumented. Costa recommends they learn their rights and make a plan with their family for what to do if immigration officials come to their home or stop them on the street.
"We're not naive to the possibility of what could happen," she said, "and we don't want to fear monger and tell folks, 'This is coming.' But we also want folks to be prepared."
Research shows undocumented immigrants are a boon to Oregon's economy, paying more than $350 million in state and local taxes this year.
Alonso Oliveros, a program associate at Oregon Project VOICE, educates immigrant communities about their rights and works with faith and other allied groups to organize against deportation.
"Immigrants have always been used as a political scapegoat," Oliveros said, "so we really need to be better prepared in terms of how to defend our community, how to advocate for them."
To report a suspected violation of sanctuary laws, receive support or be connected to resources, people can start by visiting the Oregon Department of Justice website.
get more stories like this via email
Contact
