Yesterday I got lost in southwest Tucson. It's Sunday afternoon and I am searching for a Roman Catholic Church on W. Ajo Way between two freeways. I consult my map and finally lost in an industrial park stop to ask for help. A young couple smile and say that Tucson has a strange way of organizing its streets and direct me on my way.
I arrive at the church late by my North American standards, but the meeting is just starting. The room is full of Latino families - father, mother, children and babies. The Forum is sponsored by the PIma County Interfaith Council and Scholarship AZ (the Dreamers). The local priest prays us into the session with a petition to God to provide human rights for all in the oom.
Everything is in Spanish - the powerpoint presentation, question and answer session and the fact sheets. It is frustrating, I understand the Spanish, but there is no microphone, the two women presenters have soft voices and hard to hear above crying babies. But this forum is not for me and the three other Anglo faces but the people who want and need accurate information about the application process.
Questions fly from the audience to the two women and the Anglo lawyer who only speaks English (double translation for the two women). "How do I know if I have a criminal record? What if I was deported twenty years ago but returned ten years ago? What if I have a I-130 petition in process? Will the government return my documents? What documents do I need to submit? When would I hear after I apply?"
I arrive at the church late by my North American standards, but the meeting is just starting. The room is full of Latino families - father, mother, children and babies. The Forum is sponsored by the PIma County Interfaith Council and Scholarship AZ (the Dreamers). The local priest prays us into the session with a petition to God to provide human rights for all in the oom.
Everything is in Spanish - the powerpoint presentation, question and answer session and the fact sheets. It is frustrating, I understand the Spanish, but there is no microphone, the two women presenters have soft voices and hard to hear above crying babies. But this forum is not for me and the three other Anglo faces but the people who want and need accurate information about the application process.
Questions fly from the audience to the two women and the Anglo lawyer who only speaks English (double translation for the two women). "How do I know if I have a criminal record? What if I was deported twenty years ago but returned ten years ago? What if I have a I-130 petition in process? Will the government return my documents? What documents do I need to submit? When would I hear after I apply?"
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