Evan Shields, a reporter for the West Chicago Suburban Life filed this story on “Divided Families, Responding with Faith” a 1-hour documentary I shot and edited for the Chicago Sunday Evening Club. Coincidentally, I began my career back in the late 1970’s at the West Chicago Press! The program aired on WTTW, Channel 11, PBS, Chicago in October. You may view the full program at csec.org

By EVAN SHIELDS – eshields@shawmedia.com
WEST CHICAGO – A local elementary school teacher and her family were recently spotlighted in a documentary focusing on immigration reform.

Amy Godoy-Guerra and her husband, Carlos, were featured in the WTTW documentary “Divided Families,” which aired Oct. 16 and can be viewed online at www.csec.org.

Amy lives in West Chicago and works at Gary Elementary School and Carlos lives in Monterrey, Mexico. Carlos was brought to the United States as a teenager using improper documentation. As a result, he has been banned from the country for life.

“It’s seven years that Carlos has been basically out of the U.S. and I have been trying to get him back,” Amy said.

Tim Frakes, who filmed the documentary, said he found Amy and Carlos after talking to an immigration attorney who knew the family. The documentary was produced by the Chicago Sunday Evening Club.

The club supports documentaries that look at issues from a faith-based perspective, rather than a political one. Government institutions and politicians didn’t want to talk to Frakes for the project.

“While this debate gets held up for political reasons on the left and right, families are divided,” Frakes said. “It’s such a hot-button issue, immigration reform, I think people are waiting to see how it shakes out [before talking about it].”

Amy and Carlos have filed a request for a waiver that would allow Carlos to live in America. They filed their original claim in February, which was denied. They filed an appeal in August, which Amy said is expected to be resolved within six to eight months.

In all, Amy and Carlos and have lived in Europe, Mexico and South Korea, but due to financial concerns, Amy has returned to the United States.

The couple have two children – Lucas, 5, and Carolina, nearly 2 – who live with Amy. She said the family’s situation is difficult, because she’s essentially a single mother a lot of the time.

“There’s just a lot of moments where I think, ‘Only if Carlos were here, it would be much simpler,'” she said.
But Amy and Carlos video chat, and Carlos has a strong digital presence in the children’s lives.
The kids aren’t fully aware of the situation, and Amy said Lucas always asks when daddy is coming to visit.
“He wants him to come and play Legos and ride bikes,” she said.

Carolina won’t say much during video chats, Amy said, but she always asks when she’s able to “talk to daddy.”

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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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