Married in Vegas, hoping and working for the best
(Photo by Joe Raedle/Getty Images)
Policy, politics and progressive commentary
Dear President Biden, I am publicly writing to ask you to take executive action to protect American families, like mine, in danger of losing a loved one to deportation. Undocumented spouses and immediate family of U.S. citizens need your help now.
We all get married for the same reasons: love and commitment. My wife Daisy and I got married in Las Vegas after moving here from California for a more affordable life. Daisy and I had talked about getting married for years but couldn’t afford a ceremony. On our wedding day in a Las Vegas chapel in 2019, I committed my life to Daisy in the eyes of God. It was a short, small ceremony but that was all we needed. Daisy wore a pretty little dress. It was a beautiful, pivotal moment for us.
I would have never imagined this special moment when I left the chaos and insecurity of Honduras many years before. I traveled 17 days to the US/Mexico border and then walked through the desert. I made this dangerous trip in search of a better life, that American success I had always heard about. And then, while I was packing gladiolas in a California greenhouse, I met a coworker who became the love of my life: Daisy. She is a beautiful, sweet person with a big and noble heart. Daisy shared my dream of creating a stable and loving home with children. I thought she was Mexican, but she told me she was born in the U.S. It surprised me because this could possibly open a new opportunity for me to see my parents back at home, who are getting old and frail and are constantly on my mind. We moved to Las Vegas together because she got offered a horticultural job growing tomatoes, chiles, and cucumbers, and life is more affordable here.
From what I have heard and seen in the United States, it is a country where I can find safety and security. It’s said that in America, where you start out in life should not determine where you end up. Unlike my home country, Honduras, it seems like everyone who works hard in America can advance and participate fully in life here. But that has not been my experience so far. Even though my wife Daisy is a U.S. citizen, I am barred from changing my immigration status because of how I came here. I pay taxes but can’t get a Social Security number which makes it hard to find good stable work. I’ve done a little bit of everything: working in casino housekeeping, construction projects building up Las Vegas, and now landscaping and gardening. The pay is better for working outside but in the Nevada desert can be very difficult because of the extreme heat.
Regardless of my hard work and the life we’re building together, I’m afraid of being separated from Daisy every day because I could easily be deported and prevented from returning. Any interaction with the police could mean an end to the life I’ve built here. But my situation is just one of an estimated one million undocumented spouses of U.S. citizens who face barriers in the current immigration system.
This is why I’m asking you, President Biden, to take action. I understand that according to the law, you have the authority to expand eligibility for “parole in place” to include long-term undocumented spouses and immediate family of U.S. citizens. This would help me, and the immediate family (spouses, parents, children and siblings) of thousands of U.S. citizens, get work permits and have better opportunities and strengthen the economy. It would keep families like mine together. We came to this country to build a better life. No matter what, we will fight for our goals: to live in peace, free from danger, with the people we love. Help me, Mr. President, keep the vows I made in that Las Vegas chapel: to love and to cherish Daisy, till death do us part.
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