DENVER — For 16 years, Jorge Zaldivar Mendieta’s kids couldn’t relax.
Their dad was either away from them in Mexico and fighting to get back to them in Colorado, or they were together but didn’t know when U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement might detain him.
His daughter Josefyna, 27, choked back tears as she recalled trying to figure out where she could hide her dad if ICE showed up. Twelve-year-old Francysco, with tears streaming down his face, talked about how sad and angry he was when his father was taken into custody during his last ICE check in.
But with beaming faces Friday afternoon, the Zaldivar family announced in a news conference a long awaited victory: Jorge won his immigration case and had become a permanent legal resident of the United States. Jorge thanked his family, attorneys, community and various faith and nonprofit groups that worked to support him. Much of that has been attributed to his wife Christina who has advocated for Jorge and other immigrants at the local, state and federal levels.
“Through this process … I am hopeful that people have understood that immigrants come here to work and be part of their family and that we are here because we’re contributing,” he said. “So we need to support a path to legalization including DACA and we don’t want to see any more (anti-immigrant) bills.”
Jorge, a 47-year-old who has been in the country for more than two decades, has been married to his wife Christina for 17 years and they have five U.S. citizen children. He first crossed the border without authorization in 1997, thinking he would stay temporarily as he worked to make money for his family. But then he met his now-wife and they had children.
Attorneys have said that even though the Zaldivars have been trying to obtain legal status for Jorge that whole time and that his case was one that met the legal requirements for approval, they’ve been met with inefficiencies and administrative errors. Jorge has no criminal history, but he came to the attention of federal authorities after he crashed his car into some guardrails in Jefferson County in 2008 when Colorado’s 2006 SB 90, or “show me your papers” law was in effect.
Although Jorge was getting closer to winning his case, according to attorney Laura Richter, he was deported in January 2020.
“The law didn’t change,” Richter said of when he was deported. “The government changed. The administration changed.”
Nearly every immigrant without legal status became a priority for deportation under the Trump administration.
In October of last year, something unusual happened. Jorge was brought back on humanitarian parole for a hearing — a result of recent Supreme Court decisions and new legal representation. Hundreds of thousands of dollars, years of advocacy and rallies, and numerous court filings later, the family now has some relief. ICE stopped fighting his stay and a judge approved his appeal.
“They stole years and money from me and my husband, stuff that’s irreplaceable, time that they can’t give back to us,” Christina Zaldivar said. “So how do you replace that?”
Zaldivar said a start would be close immigration detention facilities, take ICE out of communities and to change unjust laws. She and her children spoke about the damage done to children in their situation and how they want to see changes so that other kids don’t continue to face the same trauma.
Christina and her family plan to continue their advocacy work on reforming the immigration system through partnership with groups such as the American Friends Service Community and the Colorado Immigrant Rights Coalition.
On Saturday, community members and activists plan to rally at the Colorado State Capitol to share their experiences and advocate that the U.S. Congress pass two bills that would change immigration enforcement and restore access to an immigrant registry, creating a process for permanent residency.
“Christina and Jorge have been key leaders in Colorado, helping overturn anti-immigrant laws that hurt our community and working with other members of AFSC’s Not 1 More Deportation members to pass policies that make us stronger rather than separating us,” said Gabriela Flora, program director of the American Friends Service Committee in Colorado, in a written statement. “Congress must act today to pass the registry bill and New Way Forward so no more Coloradan families experience the horrors the Zaldivar family has lived.
