Review
Journal) August 21, 2007 — He's a cop.
The situation has brought to their young
marriage a serious undercurrent of fear and uncertainty.
"I'm scared they're going to come here one day
and just take me away," Yuvia, 28, said on Thursday while holding the
couple's 1-year-old son, Sebastian.
Cesar Urena, a 27-year-old U.S. citizen and
former Marine who served a tour of duty in Iraq, says he understands why
some might find the couple's relationship especially interesting considering
his law enforcement work.
"It's tough for me, because I'm in the
middle," he said. "I see both sides."
But Cesar wasn't worried about Yuvia's
legal status when they met in 2001. Yuvia, a Mexican national, was working
at a souvenir kiosk in a local casino at the time. Cesar was visiting Las
Vegas from California with some Marine buddies.
The two hit if off and began a
long-distance relationship. They fell in love, and Cesar eventually moved to
Las Vegas to be with Yuvia full-time.
They married about three years ago, and
have a second baby on the way.
The couple recently decided it was time to
get Yuvia's legal status in order. They contacted a local immigration
attorney to explore their options.
What they found out was that those options
are extremely limited, and could involve them being separated for up to a
decade.
Current U.S. immigration law requires that
a person make a lawful entry into the United States in order to adjust to
legal permanent resident status.
If a person entered the country illegally,
that individual would have to leave the country and then come back.
But if Yuvia leaves the country, she can be
barred from returning for up to 10 years because she lived in the United
States illegally, even though she's married to a U.S. citizen.
It's a dilemma many families of mixed
immigration status across the United States face: Remain here illegally, or
potentially be separated from loved ones for up to a decade in order to get
legal status.
For now, the couple has chosen the former.
Yuvia has no plans to return to Mexico.
"I might not be able to come back," she
said. "I'm not going to be separated from my family for 10 years."
Yuvia first came to the United States from
Sinaloa, Mexico, as a 14-year-old exchange student. She fell in love with
the country.
As a young adult, she made regular trips
back and forth from Mexico on tourist visas. But, she says, immigration
officials eventually determined she was living in the United States and
revoked her visa.
Yuvia chose to return anyway. Now she works
in a store at a local casino.
"I'm a good worker."
The couple could move together to Mexico
until Yuvia gets legal permission to come back to the United States, but
it's not an option Cesar is considering.
"I have to stay here," he said. "My job is
here. I would be lost in Mexico."
"You can't make a living there," Yuvia
said.
Both worry that potential immigration
reform in the United States could make things even more complicated for
them.
"It's going to get worse," Cesar said.
The couple hopes that the U.S. government
will someday consider granting some kind of amnesty for families in their
situation. They are happy to pay a stiff penalty for Yuvia crossing
illegally into the United States.
"Even if it's $5,000 or $10,000," Cesar
said. "It doesn't matter."
Cesar, whose family is from the Dominican
Republic, said he understands why people come to the United States from
Mexico and other countries, even illegally, in search of a better life.
"If you were in a country where things are
bad and it's hard to make a living, you'd do what you have to do to support
yourself and your family," he said.
