The identity of the second-grader student who questioned Michelle Obama about the massive deportations of undocumented immigrants in the United States, has being made public by the media in Peru.
The parents of Daisy Cuevas are Peruvian immigrants living in Maryland.
The parents of Daisy Cuevas are Peruvian immigrants living in Maryland.
Daisy Cuevas runs along the first ladies of Mexico (left) and the United States (right) on May 19, 2010. Photo by Getty ImagesDaisy Cuevas is the Indigenous student who declared publicly to Michelle Obama that her mother Natalia Julca is an undocumented immigrant. This happened last May 20th at the New Hampshire Estates Elementary School in Maryland, during a visit of Obama with Mexico's first lady Margarita Zavala.
The names of the student and her mother had been confirmed by local news and reliable sources on the same day of the events, but that information wasn't disclosed out of discretion and in order to protect Natalia Julca from deportation.
Last weekend, the Peruvian TV station Frecuencia Latina interviewed the relatives of Daisy Cuevas in Lima, Peru after a tip was sent probably from the Peruvian community in Maryland. The TV report included the names of the family, current location and dates of their arrival to the U.S.
This video shows part of that report, and it has been posted by the Lima-based newspaper El Comercio. These images include Daisy Cuevas' oldest sister and grandparents speaking of their hopes that one day they will see Natalia Julca again:
Natalia Julca migrated from Peru in 2002 not knowing that she was pregnant of Daisy Cuevas. Here he met with her husband who had come earlier. The family now lives in Silver Spring, Maryland, right outside of Washington, DC. Daisy Cuevas is 7 years old and she was born in the United States, but she has an older sister living in Peru.
Reliable sources at New Hampshire Estates Elementary School have confirmed that Daisy Cuevas is attending school normally, but they are not aware of the whereabouts of her mother. Also sources have confirmed that Natalia Julca used to be a volunteer at the local non-profit CASA de Maryland.
The future of the Cuevas-Julca family is now in hands of the Immigration and Custom Enforcement. Even if ICE has stated that Natalia Julca will not face action but I believe that ICE is just waiting for the right moment to search for Natalia Julca whom -I've been told- has moved out of her home in Maryland.
Will this be another case like Elvira Arellano in Chicago? I only hope that Daisy Cuevas will grow up next to both her parents, here or in Peru.
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This is a sad case that reflects on the reality of many Indigenous peoples of the Americas, who have to leave their homes to find better opportunities in other countries, even if it means to migrate illegally. I hope that Natalia Julca gets to stay in the U.S. with her daughter.
ReplyDeleteI would be wonderful to keep all families together. As a conservative thinker and a parent - I am not for tearing children away from their parents. But the punch in the stomach still remains. That there are millions of people that reside in the US illegally. Millions of illegal immigrants that all US tax payers are held financially accountable for. This is unfair and I agree that something should be done about this. This has been said by many others and sounds like a good thing but will our government take the necessary steps to solve the problem? That is allowing illegal immigrants to obtain the proper documentation so that they can live here freely and provide a better life for their families and pay taxes. In process of doing this - the government would have to hire thousands of new employees to accomplish this new initiative. Millions more people would be paying into the tax systems, immigrants that were once illegal would not have to participant in illegal activities because now they are legal and of course many businesses would flourish just because more people would be using their products and services (like car insurance, medical insurance etc....)
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