Letter to Mr. President Barack Obama – TPS for Guatemala
Mr. Barack Obama
President of the United States of America
White House, Washington DC
cc. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton
Secretary of Homeland Security Janet Napolitano
President Álvaro Colom of the Republic of Guatemala
Honorable President Obama:
We, leaders and members of the Guatemala Peace and Development Network (GPDN) and allied organizations, cordially address ourselves to you, after practically seven months of efforts and expectations regarding a TPS for Guatemalans in the United States. We want to reiterate, this time for the holidays, our constant request to your government: we kindly ask you to grant the TPS to Guatemalans in the United States as a Christmas present to Guatemalans both abroad and in the country.
We understand that all issues referred to immigrants, particularly undocumented immigrants, were difficult to address during the period leading to the elections for Congress last November. As it happened when the TPS for Guatemalans was requested to President Bush after the calamity produced by Hurricane Mitch, this humanitarian instrument was again held hostage by the Republican Party by creating a political anti-immigrant climate. This time, even after your Administration sacrificed important immigration initiatives, we regret that the final result of the elections was that Republicans took control of the House of Representatives and achieved more power in the Senate.
Under the new conditions of Congress we fully understand that any positive reforms to the Immigration Law are going to be very difficult to obtain. We now fear that it would be ungrateful and unfair laws like the Arizona SB 1070 the model for the migration reform, instead of, for example, the original Dream Act. Before the new Congress is sworn in, however, you have in your hands the protection of Guatemalans who have come to your country to work and contribute to its development. They have also sustained with their remittances the survival or millions of relatives back home, as well as prevented the economic collapse of the Guatemalan state. Our immigrants in the United States were called in 2004 “unheralded heroes” by then-President Oscar Berger, but they have never been adequately supported by the Government of Guatemala nor welcomed by the U.S. Administrations. We believe it is time to do justice to them.
Distinguished President, by separate mail we will be sending a copy of the many letters written to you, the President of Guatemala, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, Secretary for Homeland Security Janet Napolitano, as well as the letters sent by Guatemalan children on Thanksgiving to your wife, Mrs. Michelle Obama. We are still waiting for the first response, and we know that President Colom continues to wait for the opportunity to personally talk to you about this issue. It is not a response just to the few people who are signing this letter. More than 30,000 people joined our campaign, despite the fact that the Government of Guatemala, based on the advice of the U.S. Embassy in Guatemala, made the decision not to promote efforts among individual migrants and civil society at large. You must be aware, Mr. President, that millions of Guatemalans know of the request of a TPS made by President Colom to your government on June 4th, and expect in 2010 an answer, a positive one, for this Christmas season.
Your Administration can write a new page of history regarding Guatemala. We trust in your condition as a wise and courageous Democrat leader.
Sincerely,
Red Por la Paz y el Desarrollo de Guatemala (RPDG), Asociación de Morazanecos Ausentes en EE.UU. (AGMAUSA), Mujeres Iniciando en las Américas, Voces de Mujeres de Guatemala, Mujeres Abriendo Caminos, de Los Ángeles California, Alianza de Organizaciones Guatemaltecas de Houston, Texas: Consejo Comunitario Guatemalteco, Comité Guatemalteco, Ligas Unidas de Futbol, Voces Unidas Por los Inmigrantes Dallas TX, REDGUA Denver, CO, Oscar Sandoval, Chicago, IL, América Calderón, Washington, DC, Casa de los Migrantes, Las Vegas, NV, Consejo Político Baktun 13, Hermandad del Cristo Negro de Esquipulas, de NY-NJ. Iq Balam en West Palm Beach, FL y Fundación Guatemalteca Hispanos sin Fronteras en Miami, Florida, Guatemala Human Rights Commission –USA-, Hermandad del Señor de Esquipulas de Miami, Florida, UDEFEGUA GUATEMALA y FUNDACION SOBREVIVIENTES y miles de guatemaltecos y amigos de Guatemala de diferentes países.
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