SF Labor Council Passed a Resolution in Support of the Cuevas Family on 6/14/04

Last night the San Francisco Labor Council passed a resolution in support of the Cuevas family. It has been faxed to Boxer and Feinstein.

BACKGROUND

The Cuevases are among hundreds of families in the Bay Area and thousands in the country who have tried to legalize their status only to find themselves in a legal quagmire that leads to deportation The family of five has lived illegally in the East Bay since 1996 and is now on final order of deportation. They hope Feinstein will sponsor a private bill on their behalf before the Bureau of Immigration and Customs Enforcement orders them to report for deportation to their native Philippines. That order can arrive at any time.

Delfin Cuevas arrived in the United States in 1984 on a visitor's visa. His wife, Angelita, and their toddler children followed in 1985. They overstayed their visas and applied for asylum in 1996, when the children were still minors. Their case was turned down by an immigration judge in 2000, by the Immigration Board of Appeals in 2002 and by the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco in December.

The adult children- say they were not aware of their undocumented status until deportation papers arrived in December. They speak only English and remember little about the Philippines.

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Passed by SF Labor Council on Monday June 14th...

Resolution in Support of the Cuevas family.

Whereas Delfin Cuevas is an immigrant who has come to the US and worked hard as a State Employee and member of SEIU Local 1000 to provide for his family,

Whereas he has been trying to for years to legalize his and his family immigration status.

Whereas he and his family's lives would be endangered by their deportation to the Philippines.

Whereas the US is a country built on the labor of immigrants and the Cuevas family is seeking to have the same right to pursue life, liberty and happiness and in recognition of the fact that he and his family are productive members of society,

Whereas an injury to one is an injury to all and the Cuevas family has come under attack under the Patriot act repressive policies and part of anti-immigrant repression.

Therefore be it resolved that the SF Labor Council go on record in support of the Cuevas family right to reside legally in the US and to write Boxer and Feinstein and forward this resolution on to the California State Federation of Labor to do everything possible to legalize their status.