By Donna Lamb

Holding homemade posters bearing such messages as, "Deportation = America's Cruelest Civil Proceeding" and "ICE: Don't Take Away My Mommy," United States-born children (i.e. US citizens) whose parents face deportation, vigiled in front of Senator Chuck Schumer's Manhattan office last Sat. to demand he support his constituents by introducing the Child Citizen Protection Act in the Senate.

Elijah (top center), an 11-year-old youth leader from Families for Freedom, was there with his sister Nyasia (top left). They were both born in Brooklyn, and their father faces deportation to Jamaica. "It's not easy, knowing your father can be deported at any time," Elijah told the crowd. "My father has been here for me and my family from the day I was born. He has been a positive influence in my life and has encouraged me to achieve in everything I do. I love my father strongly, and it is my right to have him here."

One of the event’s emcees was Rose (right), a New York City public school student whose father faces deportation to Mexico. At a recent City Council Immigration Committee hearing, she presented invaluable testimony regarding her gnawing anxiety about losing her father and how the situation affects her badly on a daily basis. At the rally, Rose instructed the audience, "Get your cell phones out, everyone. It's a Saturday, so we have free minutes. We are going call Senator Schumer right here and leave him a clear message."

Standing with the youth were faith leaders, politicians and parents such as Betsy Dewitt, Campaign Coordinator for Families for Freedom. A single mother after her husband's deportation to Italy, DeWitt informed the cameras, "The Child Citizen Protection Act (HR 1176) is the best-kept secret in the immigration debate. Regular people have worked tirelessly to tell our elected leaders what we need. Last month our City Council listened. Today we need Schumer to get on board."

The Child Citizen Protection Act was introduced in the US House of

Representatives by Congressman Jose Serrano and has over thirty sponsors there. In March, the New York City Council passed, through a near-unanimous vote, a resolution in support of the legislation. The Act would not remove anyone from the deportation rolls; it would simply give immigration judges the authority to consider the best interest of a US-born child before deporting their immigrant parent, so long as the immigrant is not deportable for security reasons and has not engaged in sex trafficking.

In his statement, Council Member Kendall Stewart, chair of the Immigration Committee and a native of St. Vincent, urged lawmakers to be practical. "How can we say we stand for family values when we have laws that tear families apart?" he asked. "These children need positive role models, a stable home and loving advocates to guide them in life. They are the future of our state and our nation. This legislation will create a win-win situation for everyone, native-born and immigrant alike."

Council Member John Liu, the first and currently the only Asian American to be elected to the City Council, declared, "Countless families are literally being ripped apart by often dehumanizing immigration laws and procedures. The Child Citizen Protection Act allows the process to include humane consideration of the children's welfare during deportation proceedings, particularly when the children are US citizens. It's imperative that we, as a nation, live up to our family values and not take actions that, in the end, harm children more than anybody else."

"Most immigrants are separated from their families without a real day in court," stated Father Juan Carlos Ruiz, a leader of the New Sanctuary Movement in New York. "Homeland Security has raided homes, worksites and prisons, uprooting long-term residents and leaving children stranded at daycare. This cruel and unusual punishment of children must stop."

As other speakers at the rally pointed out, in the last decade, over 2 million people have been deported. Nationwide, 15 percent of families are of mixed status in which at least one parent is a non-citizen and one child a citizen. In New York City, where a third of the City’s residents are immigrants, the deportation system has been devastating. In the past, families often confronted this system in silence; however, today there is a growing call for change, as instanced by this vigil.

For more information, contact Families for Freedom at (646) 290-5551 or visit the website at www.familiesforfreedom.org .