My name is Ana Raquel Martínez Merritt, I am a first generation Mexican American immigrant and citizen of the United States of America. I am writing this petition to request that the U.S. Attorney General and the President of the United States overturn my mother’s and brother’s inadmissibility status. 

I became a first generation immigrant because I simply fell in love. I fell in love with a really good man and a wonderful church family in a lovely small town. 

I never imagined leaving my country, family, friends and everything that made me who I am behind, but this happened to me. This country has given me so much but at the same time it has taken away so much of who I am.

Especially around the holidays, which is a time to celebrate with friends and loved ones. It is important to bring awareness about the broken families, like mine, who suffer in silence during this time since they have been kept separated from their loved ones by senseless and old immigration laws. For these families, the holidays and a new year means time lost, life experiences that have come and gone that couldn’t be shared with loved ones that will never come back . Moments like these are the most sad times of the year for me because even though I have been very blessed, I can’t help but to imagine a much happier life with my mother and brother by my side. They are my family, they’re part of who I am and I need them. 

We have suffered our separation over two decades and as I’ve tried to overcome this predicament by following the law, I’ve come to find out that nothing yet has been put into place for people in my situation to petition for a waiver or any type of reunification for immediate family. It has been a true hardship due to the fact that I can’t travel often to go see them or even stay very long, consideringmy responsibilities to my family, career, and it’s just too hard for a family of 4 to travel so far that often.

There has been a latent need for a major immigration reform for many years as the last one the country had was in 1986 and this is some of the reasons why we need another one now.

As of today, a citizen of the United States of America is able to petition for a close relative with the form I-130; however, even though this petition gets approved, it does not help overcome any inadmissibility status that a consular officer puts on a person’s record. This status is being used more often and becoming a common denial pretext, without necessarily meeting the criteria because there’s no real way to legally refute it. You can only ask for the reasoning, but you can’t fight it, it is for life. Petitions are never guaranteed, they can run into thousands of dollars and they can take many years to even get processed.This is not ok. 

Further to this, not all U.S. citizens qualify as sponsors for the waivers for inadmissibility and they are also not very diverse. Whoever set these standards into place needs to remember that all U.S. citizens' rights are equal under the constitution but for some reason they are not under the immigration law. 

For instance, the I-601 waiver form is often used for some cases of inadmissibility, such as for Inadmissibility for Fraud or Misrepresentation; however, it does not qualify U.S. children or siblings to be sponsors. Something that is baffling because the following waivers under the same umbrella do qualify them:

• Inadmissibility Due to a Communicable Disease of Public Health Significance under INA Section 212(g)(1)
• Criminal grounds of Inadmissibility under INA section 212 (a)(2)
• Immigration Fraud or Misrepresentation under section 212 (a)(6)(c) but not under section 212 (a)(6)(c)(I)
• Inadmissibility due to Physical or Mental Disorder and Associated Harmful Behavior under INA Section 212(g)(3)
• Inadmissibility Because of Immigrant Membership in a Totalitarian Party Under INA Section 212(a)(3)(D)(i)
• Inadmissibility for Smuggling under INA Section 212(a)(6)(E) or for Being Subject of Civil Penalty Under INA Section 212(a)(6)(F)

Since my mother was deemed inadmissible for life for overstaying her tourist visa two decades ago, she hasn’t been able to come back into the country at all. The only family I had left who was able to travel to visit me was my brother; however, about two years ago he got deported at the Fort Lauderdale airport. We believe this was an act of racial profiling, because my brother had done nothing wrong. There were also other men who were detained with him and grouped together in the same room for about 24 hours without food, drink or any reasonable accommodations. He was never offered any legal representation and I wasn’t even able to speak with him, even though I got the phone call from the immigration officer at the Fort Lauderdale airport in Florida. I kept on attesting to him that my brother had done nothing wrong and that I had sent a letter of invitation with him stating that he was staying with me and everything else he needed to know. Despite all of my pleading, he decided to still deport him. My brother got the treatment of a criminal or worse since criminals can get legal representation. Additionally, my brother was coerced to sign a declaration without the slightest grounds of proof, to make sure he wouldn’t be allowed to ever re-enter the country legally. At present time, there’s nothing within the immigration law that would allow me as a U.S. citizen to challenge this. According to the law, the only one who is able to do something is the U.S. Attorney General or the President of the United States. Otherwise, I have lost my family forever. 

To give a little perspective, an immigration officer is not so different from a regular police officer. Their main duty is to enforce the law and protect society from threats; however, they have made a clear mistake because neither my mother and brother are a threat. They never meant any harm or usurpation of the law. However, unlike a police officer, no one can make use of the legal system to dispute any wrongdoing that an immigration officer may have done. Due process is not necessary when making determinations on someone’s legal status or making deportations. Their determinations are absolute. 

This is why an immigration officer’s determinations should be allowed to be challenged in the legal system and they should be made accountable because their decisions are life changing. For me and my family it has been mentally, emotionally, physically, financially and professionally devastating. It has also been very challenging for me to take on the task to research and meet with several immigration lawyers to ultimately find out that NOTHING EXISTS within the immigration law to help reunite us because the last major immigration reform took place 36 years ago. 

If a professional at law isn’t able to challenge another’s determinations on people's lives assuming that their findings are always correct, then we have a serious problem in the legal system. This is what has been happening with the immigration law and should not be ignored anymore. 

Human traffickers make millions taking advantage of the vulnerability of this situation because good people have put their lives in these people’s hands, hoping and praying to finally be with their loved ones— all without really knowing if their dreams will come true or if they will remain just a dream. The problem is still within the law, not just at our borders.

As a daughter, sister and mother I am pleading for your support to help me to be able to finally reunite with my mother and brother simply because they are part of me and my family. We deserve a second chance at being a family again.

I’m seeking for the dream to become a reality, for the happiness and the freedom of a mother to be able to embrace her children and to grow old with her grandchildren with tears of joy on her face instead of pain and anguish, by overcoming these barriers and limitations and finally being home. 

Please sign this petition if you stand by family reunification, for U.S. sponsors for waivers to be able to challenge visa determinations, for all U.S. citizens to qualify as sponsors for waivers and if you believe that an immigration reform is needed now.

I would like to thank Congressman Hal Rogers of Kentucky’s 5th District, House Representative Nima Kulkarni of Kentucky’s District 40, as well as Mayor Stanley Howard of Salyersville, Ky. Thank you all for your support.