Parents, kids march for new immigration policy

Parents, kids march for new immigration policy

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Story Published: Apr 11, 2007 at 5:42 PM PDT

Story Updated: Apr 11, 2007 at 5:44 PM PDT

By KOMO Staff

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More than 300 people gathered in downtown Seattle on Wednesday to call for changes to the country's immigration policy. The marchers want a policy that protects workers, puts them on a path to citizenship and unites families.

At the march was Chayo Jortega and her six children. The children are all U.S. Citizens, but Chayo is not. She lives with the constant threat of deportation.

Chayo sells tamales to support her children. The family hasn't seen their father in five years.

The Jortega children were all born in Seattle and are U.S. citizens. Their parents left Mexico 20 years ago and came to Washington in search of work and a better life. But the couple never got their immigration papers.

Chayo says her husband feared deportation, panicked, picked up and took off to California.

"He ran away," she said. "Now I'm alone with six kids. I'm a single mom with six kids."

Now Chayo and her children are marching and hoping to keep the rest of the family united. The children fear they'll be torn from their mother. Breadwinners without papers can be deported at any time even if their kids are U.S. citizens.

"We might get taken away by child services and not see my mom anymore," said Cecilia Jortega.

The current law says Chayo has to wait until a relative - her oldest son - turns 21 before he can apply to help his mom become a U.S. citizen. But the White House wants to do away with that law. President Bush is pushing a bill to grant three-year visas to workers as long as they pay thousands of dollars. Those who want a U.S. citizenship would also have to return to their native country and get on a waiting list.

"She will be hiding and working with no legal papers but still needs to work to provide for her children," said Maru Moravillalpando with the Washington Community Action Network.

Chayo says the only help she currently receives from the U.S. government is medical coupons for her children. She says she's not looking for handouts and says she only wants to be able to stay in the U.S. and support her children.

There are some three million children in the country who, like the Jortegas, have at least one parent who doesn't have documents and could face deportation any day.

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