Home at last

Published 12:39 pm Thursday, December 11, 2008

Family happy there's resolution to immigration issue

By Brenda Sexton

The Courier-Herald

Finally, Sherry Arciniega can cry tears of joy.

After more than a year shedding tears of frustration and sadness, letter writing and wading through government red tape trying to get her husband Alvaro Arciniega-Velazquez home from Mexico, the couple greeted friends and family members at Seattle-Tacoma International airport Jan. 14.

"I'm so glad there's a happy ending," Arciniega said. "It could have been worse. For other families it is."

His wife was not the only one happy to see Arciniega-Velazquez. He was a sight for sore eyes to his family in Enumclaw as well.

"Sixteen months," his uncle Gustavo Arciniega said. "It takes too long. Sixteen months, that's too much."

"It's a good thing to know he can come again," said Hector Saborio, who along with his wife Diana, serve as the couple's padrinos. They are friends of the couple who in their role as padrinos offer advice and guidance to the married couple. The Enumclaw couple have also been helping Arciniega out while her husband was in Mexico.

"She worked hard to get him here," Saborio said. "I think now she is happy and him, too."

The odyssey for Arciniega and Arciniega-Velazquez began shortly after they were married in September 2003. When the couple met, Arciniega-Velazquez was in the country as an undocumented immigrant staying with family in Enumclaw and working various jobs.

As part of their effort to make things right, they ventured to Juarez, Mexico, for an interview as part of the visa process. The trip was also intended to introduce Arciniega-Velazquez' bride to the family and serve as a honeymoon.

But in Mexico, Arciniega-Velazquez' visa application was denied. Not only did it note he was an undocumented immigrant in the United States, but authorities said he was barred from entering the country because they said he had been deported. His visa was held and he was not permitted to return to the United States. Arciniega came home and began the process of bringing him back.

Although Arciniega has been able to visit Arciniega-Velazquez in Mexico, the bulk of her time has been spent at home, trying to change the system and get her husband back into this country.

She found others in the area who shared similar stories. She formed a support group for them called Voices for American Family Reunification.

Arciniega spearheaded a letter-writing campaign to the United States consulate, then Washington congresswomen Jennifer Dunn and Maria Cantwell. She scored when, through the Freedom of Information Act, she obtained documentation that noted her husband had not been deported as noted, but was turned away. Her contacts also got her the consulate interview she needed.

To bring Arciniega-Velazquez back to Washington, Arciniega had to plead her case to the Department of Homeland Security. She had to convince them living without her husband was an extreme hardship.

In her declaration, Arciniega hit on the high points of having an absent husband. She said, with just one salary, she was struggling to make the mortgage payment on the home they bought together in Auburn. The stress to make ends meet, forced her to put her further education on hold while she took a second job. Due to her husband's absence, she was diagnosed with clinical depression. She was also being asked to aid her ailing mother on her own while her brother was fighting in Iraq.

If her husband was here where he should be, she argued, everything would be better.

"I understand the pressing need to defend our borders from harm-doers," Arciniega wrote to in her declaration. "But my husband clearly does not pose a threat of any kind. Alvaro does not have a criminal record anywhere. He is a humble, gracious man. He is hard working and God fearing. Regardless of his crossing without inspection, he respects the law. It would be easy for him to cross again, but he remains in Mexico because we want to do the right thing. I love my husband very much. There must be a way for him to take responsibility for having entered the United States unlawfully without destroying our family. We want nothing less than for him to pay a penalty."

Her efforts paid off.

In November, word came that Arciniega-Velazquez could return to the United States, but he still needed a visa. The visa arrived this month and Arciniega jumped on a flight to meet her husband and bring him home.

"We really want to start a family, and he wants to start working," she said.

Arciniega said her efforts for immigration reform will not stop now that she and Arciniega-Velazquez are reunited. The couple are planning to tell their story to Legislators in Washington, D.C., during the American Immigration Lawyers Association (AILA) March 17 Lobby Day. According to the organization's Web site, Lobby Day is an organized event to help move forward on positive immigration issues and defeat restrictionist measures.

Arciniega's objectives are along the same line.

"We want to put a face to it," she said. "Sometimes government doesn't realize there are people effected by these laws."

Arciniega-Velazquez will work on documentation to become a legal resident, and eventually a citizen.

Brenda Sexton can be reached at bsexton@cmg-northwest2.go-vip.net/courierherald.