When Norma Galindo Gonzales was awakened by Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents at her Basalt home early May 1, a valley with a history of opposing perceived unfair immigration enforcement also was roused.
People rallied against the action in Glenwood Springs three days later. School officials and church representatives started writing letters of opposition. Local and state immigrants’ rights groups began stirring up a growing swell of protest that has served in the past to bring attention to other undocumented immigrants’ plights in the Roaring Fork Valley.
“What everybody here did when I was in detention was huge. I would not be out there without the pressure everyone put on the Department of Homeland Security,” said . He had been brought to the United States illegally at the age of 7 and had earned the respect of the community in the ensuing 20 years.His deportation was delayed while his case has moved through the appeals process.
Niebla is now one of those leading the fight to stop the deportation of Gonzales.
Gonzales’ case might not be receiving so much attention if one of her sons, Hector Morales, had not recently garnered so many public kudos for his accomplishments.
Hector Morales, 18, has been accepted to Duke University to study engineering and was one of 258 seniors around Colorado to be awarded a full-ride Daniels Fund scholarship. He is a member of the National Honor Society and is slated to graduate from Basalt High School on June 2nd.
“The Morales family should be celebrated as a model for all our families. We should be honoring them, not tearing them apart,” said Basalt High teacher and basketball coach Daniel LeBlanc.
Norma Gonzales was ordered deported in 2005 after she attempted to use someone else’s birth certificate to obtain a Colorado identification card. She had been living in the country at that point for nearly 15 years.
Gonzales has two sons who were born in the United States and are thus American citizens. Her husband is undocumented, but his brother has filed a petition to make him a legal resident.
“She had a moral dilemma. Do you stay and raise your kids or go back to a place that would be unthinkable to take your family to,” said Gonzales’ attorney, Ted Hess.
An ICE spokeswoman noted that ICE is committed to removing criminal aliens and last year removed a record 216,000. Thus far in 2012, 52 percent of individuals ICE has removed have been convicted-criminal immigrants.
ICE is operating under a new directive since last summer that stresses the removal of the most serious criminals. ICE includes immigration fugitives and those who have ignored deportation orders in the priority category for removal.
Nancy Lofholm: 970-256-1957 or nlofholm@denverpost.com
