VTMBH Article: Body
Francisco Antonio Peña Guaba, the Consul General of the Dominican Republic in New York City, is preparing for a fight. He has already strengthened his reserves by calling upon community and legal organizations that work with the estimated eight million undocumnted immigrants in the United Statesto support him in the creation of an amnesty program for undocumented Dominicans.
Our community comprises one of the most numerous and hard-working groups of all Latinos who come to the United States in search of the American Dream. President Hipolito Mejía recognizes this and has circulated a petition calling for a special legalization program amnesty that permits us to work and support our families in the U.S. as much as in the Dominican Republic, said Peña Guaba.
The majority of undocumented Dominican immigrants live in New York, New Jersey, Massachusetts, and Florida. According to Peña Guaba, President Mejías support for this program represents the first time in Dominican history that a president has taken such action in support of immigrants in the U.S.
Mejía called for amnesty for Dominicans during his October visit to Washington when he met with Secretary of State Colin Powell and New York Governor George E. Pataki. He asked that the United States government show Dominicans the same goodwill they have shown other Latino immigrants who have been awarded amnesty, namely Salvadorans, Hondurans, and Guatemalans.
Peña Guaba also emphasized his support for movements in New York and 16 other states to procure a general amnesty for Latino immigrants, as well as U.S. Representative Richard Gephardts proposal to grant amnesty to immigrants residing in the U.S. for more than five years. Recently both the Congress and the White House have been overwhelmed by hundreds of thousands of letters in support of such a program.
Any initiative that supports amnesty for Latinos, and especially for Dominicans, will always be welcome and will receive our unconditional support, said Peña Guaba. He added, we are behind all efforts to obtain legal residency for all immigrants in the U.S., and especially in New York where a large number of Dominicans live.
Our community comprises one of the most numerous and hard-working groups of all Latinos who come to the United States in search of the American Dream. President Hipolito Mejía recognizes this and has circulated a petition calling for a special legalization program amnesty that permits us to work and support our families in the U.S. as much as in the Dominican Republic, said Peña Guaba.
The majority of undocumented Dominican immigrants live in New York, New Jersey, Massachusetts, and Florida. According to Peña Guaba, President Mejías support for this program represents the first time in Dominican history that a president has taken such action in support of immigrants in the U.S.
Mejía called for amnesty for Dominicans during his October visit to Washington when he met with Secretary of State Colin Powell and New York Governor George E. Pataki. He asked that the United States government show Dominicans the same goodwill they have shown other Latino immigrants who have been awarded amnesty, namely Salvadorans, Hondurans, and Guatemalans.
Peña Guaba also emphasized his support for movements in New York and 16 other states to procure a general amnesty for Latino immigrants, as well as U.S. Representative Richard Gephardts proposal to grant amnesty to immigrants residing in the U.S. for more than five years. Recently both the Congress and the White House have been overwhelmed by hundreds of thousands of letters in support of such a program.
Any initiative that supports amnesty for Latinos, and especially for Dominicans, will always be welcome and will receive our unconditional support, said Peña Guaba. He added, we are behind all efforts to obtain legal residency for all immigrants in the U.S., and especially in New York where a large number of Dominicans live.