Separation difficult for families of migrants

By Kalari Girtley

After sharing a room for 18 years, Christopher Reyis now comes home to see a freshly made bed, where his oldest brother once lay.

“It was like having my best friend taken away,” Reyis, 18, said.

Reyis’ oldest brother migrated to the United States one year ago, and Reyis said he feels a void in his house. His brother left Morelia, Mexico for the United States to find a better job than the one he held in the city.

“I felt so bad but I knew this is necessary for him,” Reyis said.

Every year countless people such as Reyis’ brother migrate to the United States searching for a better life. According to The Pew Charitable Trusts Web page, 11.1 million migrants are estimated to have been living in the United States as of March 2005. This Web site reports that this number has grown to an estimated 11.5 to 12 million migrants for March 2006. In the March estimate, 66 percent of the undocumented migrants had lived in this country for 10 years, and 40 percent of them had lived here for less than five years, according to the Web site.

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Congress, along with the president, is trying to create a bill that will make it harder for undocumented migrants to gain citizenship. This potential bill has caused marches in the Los Angeles area according to the Los Angeles Times, and yesterday community members held a protest attended by hundreds of people. Lucia Reyis, Champaign resident, felt it was her duty to be a part of the protest.

“Some of us have been here since we were little kids,” Reyis said. “We were brought over here without a choice . they want to treat us like criminals, that’s not right.”

Reyis said the media does not tell personal stories, such as the story of Christopher Reyis, because she said they appear to want to ignore that side of the issue.

It is hard to find a good job that a person could support him or herself on, Reyis said of living in Mexico. A person who works in the United States could make more money in one week than a person who works in Mexico could make in a month. This, he said, is the primary reason why many Mexicans, such as his brother, migrate to the United States.

“When he left, my family felt as if they had a void in the house,” Reyis said.

Rene Bangert, student in LAS, said she feels that Americans think that too many immigrants may hurt the country’s economy, but she feels this is not true.

“They don’t recognize that a lot of the immigrants are here and they are contributing to the economy,” Bangert said. “They pay taxes but yet they don’t have any benefits. I think that people who are here and who are working should be legalized so they could receive benefits.”

She feels that the media stresses the Mexican element of the immigration issue, but there are immigrants from all different countries who will be affected.

Susan Ogwal, graduate student, brought her two-year-old nephew to the march. Ogwal said this event is important for her because she emigrated from Uganda when a war broke out several years ago.

“We actually fled war to come to the U.S. for freedom,” Ogwal said. “I can remember my parents and I struggled a lot with our family.”

She said it was a tough process to become a citizen because of the lack of money and information. She said because of her experience she supports immigrant rights, and does not want people to go through the struggle that she experienced.

Reyis said Mexico could fix the number of immigrants leaving for the United States, but the government is very corrupt. Reyis said the government makes it extremely hard on poor people so they have no other choice but to migrate to other countries.

“If the government provided better education for poor people, then they would not have to leave and go to other countries,” Reyis said.

Reyis said his last conversation with his brother before he left was emotional. He said his brother told him not to cry because he would be back, and he had to be strong for the family. Reyis was the oldest brother and had to look after the younger siblings in the family.

“When your brother is not with you, you feel like you are missing something,” Reyis said.

Reyis said he wants to stay in Mexico to be close to his family, but if times continue to be hard he might have to follow his brother’s move.

“I know my family would have a better life if I had a good job in the U.S,” Reyis said. “But hopefully, I can stay to look after my younger brother and sister.”