Woman affected by immigration policy weighs in on Obama announcement
RALEIGH (WTVD) -- Bittersweet is how Viridiana Martinez sums up what she expects to hear from President Obama Thursday night.
Martinez is a DREAMer. Her parents brought her to the United States illegally when she was young. She grew up in North Carolina. She went to school here, and now she is an activist/advocate for other undocumented immigrants.
She's got what's called "DACA" status - Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals - but that doesn't make her a U.S. Citizen. Martinez has temporary legal status, granted by another Executive Order President Obama signed in 2012.
What he's expected to do Thursday night would extend that temporary status to about four million more undocumented immigrants. Martinez' parents are also in the group that stands to benefit.
Obama is expected to give temporary legal harbor to the parents of legally born U.S. citizens. That's not Viridiana Martinez but it is her brother.
"He's in the Army," she explained. "He was born here. My parents would qualify for whatever is announced tonight. Had my parents not had a U.S. citizen child, they would not qualify."
That's where this issue takes a turn for the murky.
It turns out, President Obama's administration has deported more Hispanics than any other in the country's history -- sending more than 400,000 undocumented immigrants back to their countries of origin in 2012 alone.
Martinez says whatever action the President takes now, "There's going to be a lot of people left out; and a lot of people who have been here a very long time."
"This has never been about me and my family," she said. "It's been about my entire community. I know people personally that will not benefit from this. It's really hard to be happy about something like this and remember all the ones that were left behind."
