Delfin and Angelita Cuevas arrived as tourists to the US in 1984-85 along with their three young children (all six years old and under), Donna, Dale and Dominique. Mr. and Mrs. Cuevas decided to settle in Fremont, CA to leave behind the economic and political turmoil of the Philippines, eventually buying a home there. Donna recently graduated with a Psychology degree from Cal State University, Hayward. Dale and Dominique are students of San Jose State University. In 1996, learning that immigration law would soon change, Mr. and Mrs. Cuevas filed for asylum with the hope of being referred to an immigration judge before the new law, Clinton’s Illegal Immigration and Immigrant Responsibility Act (IIIRA) took effect on April 1, 1997. Because thousands of other immigrant families did the same, the Cuevas family found itself caught in the backlog and therefore subject to the new law. Their appeals were repeatedly dismissed, the final appeal being dismissed in December 2003. Delfin Cuevas was a member of SEIU Local 1000 up until April 2004, when he was forced to quit his job.

For several months, the Cuevas' Support Committee has been demanding that local congressional representatives introduce personal legislation for the Cuevas family, allowing them to legalize their status as permanent residents, and that legislators redress the nation's unjust, anti-family immigration laws and policies. Senators Feinstein and Boxer have both so far refused to act. "It's going to take a miracle (to stay)," says Dale Cuevas. Cuevas family supporters held a candlelight vigil on the evening of Wednesday, June 23rd in San Francisco, at the Citizenship and Immigration Services Field Office. Previous reports on the Cuevas family: 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | Waking from the American Dream