Cruz Family

Today I begin a journey on a project that I hope will shed light on an aspect of immigration that does not get much press.  Politically, there is much talk and grandstanding on the issue of immigration.  Yet, we do not hear much about the immigrants themselves.  This project seeks to bring forward the stories of those living and working in our community who are struggling with the stigma of being an immigrant.  My hope is to offer insight and awareness so that others may come to understand, appreciate, and relate to the lives our fellow brothers and sisters live, seeking to find commonality in our hopes, dreams, and fears.

This past week I was welcomed into the home of the Cruz Family - Fransisco, Gissella, Jacqueline, and Allison.  Tucked in a little neighborhood in Jasper, this cute cape cod was adorned with pictures of weddings, the kids and family.  Fransisco, an assistant supervisor at Masterbrand in Ferdinand, and Gissella, a nurse at Memorial Hospital, have been together as a couple for 16 years.  Both originally from El Salvador, they did not meet until they lived in Huntingburg- Gissella was literally the girl next door!

For this couple, family is the focus.  With two young girls, Jacqueline in 1st Grade and Allison in preschool, Fransisco and Gissella have their hands full with the energy and excitement for the world that comes with young growing kids.  As a couple they have made the decision to sacrifice so that the kids can have a parent always available.  Gissella works 12 hour shifts at the hospital on the weekends so she can be present during the week for the girls.  Fransisco takes full time duty on the weekends.  And though it was tough on him when the girls were younger, he says he's found more comfort getting out and about with the girls now.

Daily life is certainly a juggling act as Gissella is now working on her Nurse Practitioner degree.  She says it is hard finding time to get it all done, often working on her studies after the girls go to bed.  But that is also when she and Fransisco have time for one another, and she wants to honor that time as well.  All the hard work will be worth it, as the degree will help their family become more secure financially.  So they work through this schedule knowing it's only for a few short years.

So on the surface, the Cruz family eats and sleeps and faces the same challenges of family life as most Americans.  Yet, underneath, they endure challenges only known to immigrant families.
Contrary to what people see on the surface, both Gissella and Fransisco are not Mexican.  They come from El Salvador and came to America by two very different paths.  Gissella immigrated to the U.S. with her parents and brother, twice - first to Washington DC and then 8 years later they arrived in Huntingburg, Gissella at 14 starting high school as  freshman in a new country with no friends and only 5 other Hispanics in the school at the time.  Fransisco, on the other hand, came on a journey with his brothers, sneaking into California packed in the back of a truck, bodies layered and smashed like sardines.  After a some time in LA, he left the chaos of the big city behind and moved to Huntingburg where other family had settled, finding a community more in line with the life he had left behind in El Salvador.

Gissella and her family have U.S. Citizenship, and Fransisco has legal protection under the Temporary Protected Status (TPS) granted as a result of a major earthquake that hit El Salvador in 2001.  Yet, as we talked, Fransisco hinted of his concern for all the rhetoric that is put out in the news and worries about what immigration reform will look like when a new president is elected.  Gissella spoke of her concern of the perception people have for Hispanics as criminals and how this impacts the conversation on immigration.  She admits there are criminals who are immigrants, but she would suggest dealing with those individuals.  Most immigrants are working, contributing members of society who love God, pay taxes , and want to raise their kids in a safe environment so they too can move in the direction of their young dreams.

The story of this couple is a classic American story.  They both had parents who wanted better lives for their children and who sacrificed everything for a chance their kids could have something more.  Gissella's father gave up a restaurant he owned in El Salvador to come work in a factory in Huntingburg, limiting his own dreams for his kids.  While Fransisco's parents sent all their boys ages 11-18 on a dangerous journey for the chance they might find a better life, sacrificing their own parental connections and longings.  How many of our ancestors came by similar circumstances; to escape war, poverty, lack of opportunity?  How many of our ancestors endured racial slurs and unwarranted attacks simply because of the language they spoke or the way that they looked and dressed?  Can we too not related to the story of Gissella and Fransisco?  If it were not for the risks our relatives took, we would not be the people we are today.  And American would not be the country it has become.