Image provided by: University of Oregon Libraries; Eugene, OR
About Portland observer. (Portland, Or.) 1970-current | View Entire Issue (July 22, 2014)
arise Fortiani» Page 6 (Observer July 22,2014 New Prices Effective May 1,2010 Martin Cleaning Service Carpet & Upholstery Cleaning Residential & Commercial Services Minimum Service CHG $45.00 A sm all d istance/trav el charge m ay be applied CARPET CLEANING 2 Cleaning Areas or more $30.00 Each Area Pre-Spray Traffic Areas (Includes: I sm all H allway) 1 Cleaning Area (only) $40.00 Includes Pre-Spray Traffic Area (Hallway Extra) Stairs (12-16 stairs - With Other Services)-. $25.00 Standing in Line is a Myth for Most of Us Area/Oriental Rugs: Our broken immigration system $25.00 Minimum Area/Oriental Rugs (Wooly. $40.00 Minimum Heavily Soiled Area: Additional $10.00 each area (Requiring Extensive Pre-Spraying) UPHOLSTERY CLEANING Sofa: $69.00 Loveseat: $49.00 Sectional: $ 109 - $ 1 39 Chair or Recliner $25 - $49 % Throw Pillows (With Other Services). $5.00 ADDITIONAL SERVICES • Area & Oriental Rug Cleaning • Auto/Boat/RV Cleaning • Deodorizing & Pet . Odor Treatment • Spot & Stain Removal Service • Scotchguard Protection • Minor Water Damage Services SEE CURRENT FLYER FOR ADDITIONAL PRICES & SERVICES Call for Appointment (503) 281-3949 D iana A nahi T orres - V alverde In a bustling room at the Third Presbyterian Church in Albuquerque, N. M., a group o f white and Latino pa rishioners gathered for a w ork shop on im m igration. T hey wanted to learn more about the issue. Julio Alvarez, a M exican im migrant, was there to answer their questions. “Why can’t im migrants just wait in line and move here legally? Isn’t there a process to do that?” one parish ioner asked. “The truth is,” Alvarez replied, “standing in line is a myth for the majority o f us.” Alvarez’s personal experience with our nation’s immigration sys tem illustrates this harsh reality. M e x ic o ’s w eak eco n o m y pushed A lvarez out o f his coun try in 1996. “ W hen I decided to im m ig rate to A lb u q u erq u e, N ew M exico, I had 5 pesos — or less than a dollar — in my pocket and a fam ily to feed,” he recounts. Upon his arrival, A lvarez’s by U.S.-citizen brother sponsored his petition for U.S. residency. As allowed by federal law, he included his wife, M yma, and their school-age son, Edgar, in his application. He hoped that all o f them could eventually reside in the United States legally. That was 16 years ago. Since then, Alvarez has es tablished a successful automo tive repair shop, bought a home, and saved enough money to send his child to college. But our bro ken immigration system has left him standing in that immigration “line.” And a recent Supreme Court decision just made things worse. It takes the Citizenship and Immigration Services agency an average o f seven years to grant immigrants green cards. Due to the structure o f the immigration system that imposes a per-coun- try cap, the wait now lasts more than two decades for Mexican immigrants. As long as the petitioners’ dependent children don’t come o f age during that period, they remain eligible for green cards. If those children turn 21 before the family reaches the front o f that proverbial line, a Supreme Court majority recently ruled, those young immigrants “age out.” They lose their place in the immigration line where they may have stood for most o f their young lives. T hat’s a brutal reality for the Alvarez family. Julio Alvarez has waited 16 years for his green card. He probably needs to wait two more years — or even longer. M ean while, Edgar will turn 21 and lose his place in the line he has waited on for more than half his life. If Edgar, an engineering stu dent at the University o f New Mexico, applies for his own green card, h e’ll be in his 40s before he gets to the front o f the line. Tens o f thousands o f people face this Orwellian predicament. The new ruling m akes con gressional action even m ore urgent. B ut H ouse M ajority L eader E ric C an to r’s stunning defeat to D avid Brat in his recent prim ary m eans that the already stagnated im m igration reform debate m ay hit a dead end on Capitol Hill. A ccording to conventional w isdom that ignores the prevailing view s in that V irginia H ouse district, anti-im m igrant fervor helped C an to r’s tea party challenger pull o ff a surprise win against a candidate who outspent him 40:1. This is bad news for Edgar Alvarez, who will turn 21 later this year. After he reaches that mile stone and graduates college, he may be forced to move to Mexico, a country he barely knows. If Edgar wants to stay here he has limited options: He can marry a U.S. citizen or resident. Or he can find an employer to sponsor his green card. Few employers make this commitment because it’s a costly and time-consuming process. If Edgar can’t find a path to shedding his undocumented sta tus, his New Mexican com mu nity will feel the loss. The young man engages in local politics and campus life. He pays taxes, men tors younger boys who are as piring engineers, and works as a public health advocate. How can the United States turn its back on the more than 560,000 talented, young adults that are in a situation similar to his? Our nation can certainly do better than that. Diana Anahi Torres- Valverde is the New Mexico Fellow at the Institute fo r Policy Studies in Washington, DC. The author changed the name o f the church and the names o f the members o f the "Alvarez fam ily” in this com mentary at their request.
