Kim Schepers is a member of the Gonzalez Group, a group of community members in Jefferson City, Missouri, who have come together to support and lobby on behalf of the Gonzalez family.

Jefferson City, Missouri is a quiet little town in the heart of the country. It’s a place where kids still address adults as “Mr.” and “Mrs.”, where neighbors look out for one another and where strangers wave as they pass on the street. Despite these small town qualities – or maybe because of them- our community finds itself in the center of a national political fight to keep an immigrant family being deported.

I never aspired to be a political activist any more than Marvin, Marina and Marie Gonzalez aspired to become undocumented immigrants. Marvin and Marina Gonzalez are parents from Costa Rica who came to the United States looking for a better life for their daughter Marie. I’m a stay-home mom with four sons under the age of seven, mounds of laundry, a few gray hairs and a nice life in Jefferson City. Our lives have become intertwined because Marina teaches my 6 and 7 year olds Spanish at Immaculate Conception Grade School.

Recently, I, along with the parents of over 500 other school children, had to explain to our children why their Spanish teacher (one of their favorite teachers) has to leave the country on July 5. “Why do Mrs. Gonzalez and her family have to go back to Costa Rica?” “Why can’t President Bush change the laws so they can stay?” my sons asked. “Mommy, it’s JUST NOT FAIR!” they said through tears as I struggled to explain a broken immigration system to them.

How do I help them understand that it doesn’t matter that the Gonzalez family came here legally from Costa Rica on a visitor’s visa in 1991, sought legal advice to gain citizenship, followed that legal advice only to discover that it was inaccurate and then got caught up in the changes in immigration law that came about as a result of September 11, 2001? How do I explain to my kids that Homeland Security doesn’t care that the Gonzalez family legally obtained social security numbers, owned their own business, paid taxes for ten years, purchased a home and truly believed that they were on their way to their American Dream?  My boys couldn’t possibly understand the intricacies of a political system that allows the best interest of a constituency to be overshadowed by the political interest of the elected official or the loopholes in an immigration system that allows marriage for the sake of citizenship but can’t help those who won’t compromise their moral integrity. How do I explain that even though our community has collected over 3,000 signatures on petitions of supports, written hundreds of letters and made hundreds of phone calls to our Federal legislators, received the support of city, county and state government and attracted media attention on the local, national and international level, it still isn’t enough to persuade our Senators to work on a Private Bill.

What my sons do understand is that Jefferson City is a much better place because Marvin, Marina and Marie Gonzalez live here. Each member of the Gonzalez family has made significant contributions to our community. Marvin served as a courier under Gov. Holden in 2001. One of his duties was to open the mail for the State Capitol during the anthrax scares. Marvin performed his job every day with a dedication and resolve that few “American Citizens” would have.

Marina volunteers as a Spanish teacher at Immaculate Conception School. Because of her program, our kindergarteners through 6th graders are learning a foreign language. My kids love learning Spanish from Mrs. Gonzalez. They don’t yet realize the impact that learning a foreign language will have on their futures. They just know that Mrs. Gonzalez is a great teacher who loves her students and makes learning fun.

Marie graduated from Helias High School with honors in 2004. Because of her current situation, she was unable to attend college this year so she has chosen to focus her energies on immigration reform. She is the National Spokesperson for the DREAM Act. She has been to DC to speak on immigration issues. She has testified at the State level here in Jefferson City. She was featured in the 2004/2005 January issue of Latina Magazine as one of the Top 10 Latina Women of the Year. She has appeared in newspaper articles and on television/radio programs across the country and internationally. She is currently involved with Center of Community Change, Josh Bernstein and the National Immigration Law Center and National Council of La Raza. These organizations are planning a media event in Washington DC sometime in June to coincide with the reintroduction of the DREAM Act in the House. The Gonzalez family will be a featured family at this event.

As a family, the Gonzalez’s have volunteered with Habitat for Humanity, Samaritan Center, El Puente, Cinco de Mayo Committee, Community Blood Bank, Red Cross, Knights of Columbus, Young Life, Teen Encounter Christ,  Helias High School and Immaculate Conception School and many other organizations. They tutor children in Spanish. The Gonzalez’s help a local couple who have been plagued themselves by tragedy. They have donated countless hours of time and support for a wife who is blind and for the husband  left a quadriplegic after a tragic auto accident. They have taken Young Life Groups to build houses for Habitat for Humanity. They have translated at hospital for Hispanic women having babies. They work with our children each summer in Vacation Bible School. They have helped countless people in our community in numerous ways.

Citizenship implies working towards the betterment of the community one lives in through participation, volunteer work and efforts to improve life for all citizens.

The Gonzalez family is the epitome of  this definition. The family came to the United States looking for a better life. In their quest for that life, they have made the United States and especially Jefferson City,  a much better place.

I believe that if enough people stand up and say, “What is happening to the Gonzalez family is JUST NOT FAIR!”  Maybe, just maybe, we can affect a legal system that wants to send them away.  As a community, we are asking for your help in our plight to keep the Gonzalez family here. We would encourage you to contact your legislators to ask them to either sponsor a private bill for the family or to contact Michael Chertoff, Secretary of Homeland Security, to ask for deferred action in their case.  Thank you for your efforts!