Save Pablo and His Family
Sign my petition to stop his family from being deported
I first met Pablo five years ago when we both worked for a childcare center in Seattle. He’s the same age as my son Thomas. I was immediately attracted to his sunny personality and sense of humor. He loved taking care of the three-year-olds (who exhausted me) and was an enthusiastic co-worker. Although he was already fluent in English, he wanted to learn Japanese and Korean as well. When I told him I used to teach Japanese, he peppered me with questions. But between his smiles, once in a while, he would confide in me his troubles.
When Pablo was growing up in Venezuela, his mother knew their lives were in danger. Her status as a doctor would not protect her son. His awareness that he was attracted to the same gender made him the target of hatred from the authorities who were already persecuting anyone who defied them. According to Wikipedia:
The 2013 Venezuelan presidential election was widely disputed leading to widespread protest, which triggered another nationwide crisis that continues to this day.[29]
Venezuela has experienced democratic backsliding, shifting into an authoritarian state.[3] It ranks low in international measurements of freedom of the press and civil liberties and has high levels of perceived corruption.[30]
In 2014, Venezuela entered a recession,[119] and in 2015, had the world's highest inflation, surpassing 100%.[120] In 2017, Donald Trump's administration imposed more economic sanctions against PDVSA and Venezuelan officials.[121][122][123] Economic problems, as well as crime, were the causes of the 2014–present Venezuelan protests.[124][125] Since 2014, roughly 5.6 million people have fled Venezuela.[12
Pablo and his mother fled to Seattle and applied for asylum. While working full-time to support his mother, Pablo earned a Masters degree on-line and found another good job allowing him and his mother to move to a larger apartment in West Seattle. Later Pablo’s sister and brother-in-law joined them with their toddler daughter Alma and nine-year-old Luciano. They were also granted asylum. Pablo was finally reunited with his sister after years of uncertainty. Pablo’s sister and brother-in-law also found full-time jobs while his mother cooked for everyone and took charge of the children.
I spent Christmas Eve with Pablo and his family. They welcomed me, the only American, with delicious homemade delicacies. They had invited other relatives who had fled to California for the holidays, and so we were all crammed into the three- bedroom apartment. But no one minded. Everyone was so happy to see each other after such hardship. Pablo proudly showed me his immaculate apartment where somehow all these people slept. Luciano who was like any boy with his video games, was fascinated with my Christmas present - a simple kaleidoscope. He had never seen it before. Meanwhile, little Alma fell in love with the stuffed animal toy I gave her. I knew how quickly these children would learn English and become American.
But now my worst fears were coming true. There was now a real possibility little Alma and her family would be incarcerated and or deported. The new administration had already revoked Pablo’s sister’s asylum case. A lawyer filed a lawsuit and a judge is now reviewing their case. Pablo knew that any day he and his mother might also be torn from their home.
I urge you and everyone you know to sign this petition to stop this tragedy from happening - again. Eighty years ago, my relatives Henry and Grace Uyeda were forced out of their home in San Francisco and incarcerated in Manzanar, a barbed-wire prison. The government now is using the same flawed reasoning used to justify the removal of 120,000 Japanese American men, women and children, many of whom were US citizens.
Please add your name to my Petition to Halt the Destruction of Immigrant Families