Posted on 07/03/2004 11:53:53 AM PDT by ambrose
Local immigrant family remembers former President Ronald Reagan for legislation
By: Steven Lopez 06/30/2004
This week one local Hispanic family is remembering former President Ronald Reagan for actions he took to pass the Immigration Reform and Control Act of 1986 (IRCA).
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The Lopez family of Channelview believes it was one of many hallmarks of the Reagan administration. Along with his contribution to end communism, they believe he gave many immigrants a chance to live the "American Dream."
After coming to the states from a war-torn El Salvador, Luis and Morena Lopez began their life like any other immigrant in this country -- poor and lonely.
"Since we first stepped foot onto the land of opportunity, we have struggled and fought our way to the top," said Morena.
Before coming to the U.S., they had already planned how they would survive.
Luis said they stayed with friends, but sometimes the conditions were not always the best.
"Sometimes we had to live in apartments with four or five families," he said.
Not only did they have to deal with the cramped quarters, but they also had to endure the daily struggle of communicating with foreign speakers.
Morena and Luis always hated having someone translate for them.
"There is nothing more we hated than not being self-sufficient. When we had people translate for us, they could make a fool of us and we would be none the wiser," they said.
In order to know what was going on, Morena and Luis tried to become active in the English speaking community by taking English classes and exclusively watching the local English television stations. Having a 1-year-old son increased the need for learning English.
"Money had always been tight. We had to pinch every penny we received," said Morena. "We couldn't even afford a 'beater' car," she joked.
They lived with bare essentials. "We walked everywhere," she said. "We were so tired from walking all the time. We always had blisters on our feet and then having to go to work didn't make it any easier," said Luis.
Luis' first job was as a chef at Luby's Cafeteria, while Morena worked in the laundry of a nursing home. For immigrants, these were the only readily available jobs available.
Their biggest struggle was staying in the United States. But that quickly changed when on Nov. 6, 1986, Reagan convinced Congress to pass the ICRA.
Under the amnesty provision, illegal aliens who lived continuously in the United States since before Jan. 1, 1982, could apply to the Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS) for legal resident status by May 4, 1988, the application cutoff date.
Once they heard about this they quickly jumped on the opportunity.
"Mr. Reagan is one of the best presidents to have served this country," said Morena "and being a Republican, he broke the typical stereotype that Republicans do not help out the minorities."
Having barely met the requirements they believed they could have the family that they always wanted. However, it wouldn't come without a price. A lot of time was spent waiting in line at the INS, to get an appointment.
"With a 1-year-old son, this wasn't easy," she said. They took turns waiting in a car they borrowed to get to the INS office.
After two years , they were finally granted their permanent residence, and were able to secure better jobs. After five years, Morena, Luis and their son Oscar applied for their citizenship.
"Now that we were citizens of the United States of America we knew that we were that much closer to living the American Dream," said Luis.
Morena now works for the Galena Park ISD as the general operations clerk, and Luis is a consumer goods transportation engineer for Schneider National.
Their oldest son is attending Oklahoma University and their youngest is at Stephen F. Austin.
IMMIGRATION ACT: The IRCA states: "Nationals of other countries that have unlawfully resided in the United States since before January 1, 1982, apply within the time allotted (May1, 1986-May 1, 1987) and are otherwise admissible can receive temporary status in the United States."
Um, shouldn't that be "native speakers?"
BINGO! That caught my eye too.
When I was a 17-year-old in the Navy and we visited pre-Castro Cuba, I joked with a Chief Petty Officer, "Lookit all them furriners!". The joke fizzled. He verbally bitch-slapped me with "YOU'RE the foreigner here!". That's what some these folks should recognize.
Cutting them a little slack, I guess they meant the language was foreign to them, but it still rankles me.
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