Mixed status immigrant families pay to stay

Many immigrant families are made up of both U.S. citizens and unauthorized residents. Since there are few pathways available to unauthorized immigrants who would like to legalize their status, these families may be separated from one another by the enforcement of U.S. law. Karen Deines reports.

A mission shared, a flock divided

Over half of the inmates at the McHenry County Correctional Facility, in Woodstock, are immigrant detainees. Jail officials, activists and clergy are working together to meet their spiritual needs as they are locked away from friends and family. But as Greg Trotter reports, there is a subtle division between those who believe in the mission's success and those who feel the immigrants are being denied access to their faiths in their darkest hours.

Helping detainees turn to the god of their faith

Interview with David Warren, an 80-year-old humanitarian aid worker, who visits immigrant detainees in the McHenry County Correctional Facility in Woodstock twice a month. He talked with Greg Trotter about the challenges and rewards of his mission.

What deportation leaves behind

Interview with Joanna Cebulski, whose husband was deported on April 10, 2008, after being held in detention for six months. She talked with Kahrin Deines about picking up the pieces since his deportation, pieces that include property they accumulated over 18 years in the U.S., three sons, and decisions on what to do next.

A timeline of three families' experiences with immigration in the U.S.

An audio timeline of three families' experiences of U.S. immigration law, from arrest to detention to deportation.  The parents in these families are either unauthorized U.S. residents, or they once were.  They have all been in the U.S. since the early 90s, and they all have at least one child who is a U.S. citizen.   

A prayer from immigrants who feel shunned

They came to sing, pray and share stories of losing their deported loved ones. It was a rally and a prayer service, a protest and a celebration, at the Holy Family Parish church in May 2008. But mostly, Greg Trotter reports, it was a gathering of spiritual people who feel shunned from the table of American society.

Familias de inmigrantes con estatus mixto pagan para permanecer aquí

This is the story, "Mixed status immigrant families pay to stay," translated into Spanish. Karen Deines reports; Shelly Hubman translates.


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