I had the privilege of spending some time with the Diaz family. Luis Sr., a father and husband, was forced to flee Guatemala in the early nineties due to the harassment he experienced as someone involved with the unions. His wife Irma, brought their two young children to the U.S. later to reunite the family and also avoid persecution. As Luis Sr.'s asylum hearing drew closer, the immigration authorities demanded that Irma, Luis Jr., and Monica be deported. The impetus behind this particular story was that we so often place our ideals above actual humans, and while it's easy for us to have hypothetical arguments over U.S. immigration policy, these people were living it. Although I haven't seen the Diaz family in a bit, I've been told that both children were able to secure green cards and return to the States. I hope to see them soon.
[photoshelter-gallery g_id='G00009iY3mQkTdk8' g_name='Diaz-Family' f_show_slidenum='t' img_title='casc' pho_credit='iptc' f_link='t' f_enable_embed_btn='t' f_send_to_friend_btn='t' f_fullscreen='t' f_show_watermark='t' f_htmllinks='t' f_mtrx='t' fsvis='f' width='940' height='705' f_constrain='t' bgcolor='#AAAAAA' btype='old' bcolor='#CCCCCC' crop='t' twoup='t' trans='xfade' tbs='5000' f_ap='t' bgtrans='f' linkdest='c' f_topbar='f' f_bbar='f' f_bbarbig='' f_show_caption='f' f_smooth='f' f_up='f' target='_self' ]