Here is a story by reporter Marlen Garcia in the Chicago Sun Times about a new documentary I shot and edited for the Chicago Sunday Evening Club. The 1 hour program aired last night on WTTW Channel 11, PBS Chicago at 9:00 p.m.
By MARLEN GARCIA October 16, 2014 5:58PM
Shortly after Amy Godoy-Guerra married husband Carlos in 2007, the couple sought to remedy Carlos’ status as an undocumented immigrant.
Carlos’ best chance to obtain legal U.S. residency required the end of his unlawful stay here, and the couple decided to ride out the wait for his green card together by living and working in other countries. Stops included Spain, Mexico and South Korea.
Seven years later, they live in separate countries. She’s back in West Chicago, and he’s in Mexico. They are still in love and resolute on being together, yet drained financially and emotionally as they continue maneuvering through a complex, outdated immigration system.
Their story is part of the documentary “Divided Families: Responding with Faith” scheduled to air Thursday night on WTTW-Ch. 11 and produced by the Chicago Sunday Evening Club. The documentary also focuses on support for immigration reform from faith-based organizations and churches, which colleague Sue Ontiveros highlighted earlier this week in a Sun-Times column.
I met Amy, 32, this week at her parents’ home, where she stays when she is not globe-trotting the world to be with Carlos. He is currently teaching English in Monterrey, Mexico.
Living together in other countries didn’t work out. Carlos wasn’t authorized to work anywhere but Mexico; Amy found temporary or low-paying jobs that didn’t sufficiently cover rent, food, college loans and the arrival of son Lucas, now 5, and daughter Carolina, 22 months.
“You feel trapped,” Amy, a dual-language elementary-school teacher in West Chicago, said of their circumstances.
Immigration-reform advocates have been vocal about the damaging effect separations have on families, including U.S.-born children and spouses. The scars are usually long-lasting. “It’s like your country is saying, ‘You can’t be a family,’” Amy said.
Even Amy’s mother seems emotionally spent. Once, in a moment of frustration, she asked Amy why she stayed involved with Carlos after finding out he was undocumented.
“Amy said, ‘Was I supposed to not love someone because of his status?’ ” her mother recalled. “It’s not been fair. To see her hopes dashed . . . ”
Carlos’ immigration case is complicated by an attempt his mother made in the 1990s to send Carlos, then a minor, into the U.S. from Mexico with a birth certificate that belonged to an American cousin.
He was caught and slapped with a lifetime ban from the U.S. for a false claim of citizenship. His mother later paid a ‘‘coyote’’ — a smuggler — to bring Carlos to the U.S., his lawyer says in the documentary, and he made a life in the Chicago area.
Advocates of immigration reform say the lifetime ban is too severe for actions by a minor. U.S. officials came around on this last year, cracking open a door for exceptions for some who broke the law as minors and giving Carlos and Amy hope.
Houston-based immigration lawyer Laurel Scott, who has appealed Carlos’ case to immigration authorities based on the revision, said by phone they must prove Carlos lacked the mental capacity to understand the consequences of his attempt. He also has a strike against him for his unlawful presence in the U.S., though he ended it voluntarily in 2007.
“At least now we have a shot,” Scott said.
The hopes of an American family are riding on it.
Email: MarlenGarcia777@gmail.com
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