By Anna Gustafson
For most of the 14 years Corona resident Diana has been alive, she has been terrified her family could be split apart.
While Diana and her two brothers, one of whom is a U.S. Marine, are citizens, her parents are undocumented immigrants from Mexico who now work in house cleaning and deli businesses in Queens. Her last name has been withheld.
The eighth-grade student, who just landed a full scholarship to the prestigious Andover Academy in Massachusetts, said she wants to see immigration reform that would implement a path to citizenship for people like her mother and father.
“There is the constant fear that our family could be torn apart,” said Diana, one of a couple of dozen people who participated in the “Night of Prayer and Action for Immigration Reform” at St. Leo’s Church in Corona last weekend. “If my parents are deported to Mexico, what will become of my brothers and I? There needs to be reform so no child will have to be as afraid as I have been.”
Prompted by Arizona’s recent law that allows officials in that state to ask anyone for immigration papers and detain them if they are suspected of being in the country illegally, St. Leo’s hosted the event that ran from Saturday night into Sunday morning and included prayer, song and dance.
“This is a peaceful response to the Arizona law,” said Father William Hoppe, the pastor at St. Leo’s, a congregation predominantly made up of immigrants.
Hoppe noted the Queens Congregations United for Action, a group that includes St. Leo’s and which helped to sponsor the weekend event, compiled a book of testimonials from immigrants about the need for reform and plans to deliver it in person to U.S. Sen. Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.), who was invited to St. Leo’s last weekend but could not attend.
“We’re advocating for workers’ rights, unification of families, a path to legalization and the elimination of unjust legal incarcerations,” Hoppe said.
The Rev. Janis Paliks, a pastor in the Brooklyn Congregations United who spoke Sunday, said he had been unfairly detained in June 2009 and has since been dealing with the emotional ramifications from being thrown into a cell with no explanation as to why.
Paliks said he and his lawyer went to meet with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement about his green card and was taken by surprise when officials separated Paliks from his attorney and began to question him about his legal status in the country. Paliks said he had all his papers in order and is currently on his way to becoming a citizen.
After being detained for a day, Paliks was released after several pastors from Brooklyn Congregations United spoke with ICE.
“I started to experience depression after this,” Paliks said. “I had a fear of leaving home. It was lots and lots of stress for friends and family here and in Latvia. There is fear and you feel like you are a criminal when you are not.”
Reach reporter Anna Gustafson by e-mail at agustafson@cnglocal.com or by phone at 718-260-4574.
