Immigrant of the Day: Maria Martinez (El Salvador)

The Caucus: The Politics and Government blog of the N.Y. Times reports on our Immigrant of the Day, Maria Martinez, who came to the United States from El Salvador six years ago to rejoin her mother, a poultry worker in rural Virginia. An undocumented immigrant scheduled for deportation on August 27, Martinez, with two former teachers, visited lawmakers in Washington D.C. to discuss immigration reform on the same day that President Obama raised the issue with congressional leaders (which Bill Hing reported on yesterday).

In 1990, an earthquake devastated El Salvador and Martinez’s parents left to find work in the United States. Her mother, Olivia, was afforded temporary protected status. In 2003, Olivia Martinez paid  smugglers to bring her daughter to the United States. Three years later, she applied for legal status for Maria. Earlier this year, she was notified that the U.S. government had denied the petition.

Maria Martinez knows that her lobbying for immigration reform probably will not help her individually.  However, her circumstances should be a reminder that any delays in immigration reform will have real consequences on real people like Maria Martinez.  Patience may often be a virtue but undue delay unquestionably is not.

KJ