We want to share with you a story from Tony— a Planned Parenthood supporter, patient, volunteer, Mexican immigrant, and all around amazing human being. Tony is from Ascension, Chihuahua, Mexico and came to the United States when he was 14 years old.
"Immigration is a difficult issue to solve, and there are as many experiences and individual situations as there are immigrants. But what I know is that we love this country, and all immigrants deserve to be treated with dignity and respect. That is one of the key reasons that I volunteer my time with Planned Parenthood. Because I believe that healthcare is a universal human right, one that many people where I am from are denied. I am grateful to Planned Parenthood for providing reproductive health care services to low-income and immigrant families, many of us would not be able to access any health care without Planned Parenthood. But also because, just as I have worked to help immigrants in my community live with dignity and respect, Planned Parenthood helps individuals live their most authentic and best lives, with dignity and respect, regardless of their sexual and reproductive health care needs.
Education, for me, has always represented the key to achieve a better quality of life for myself, and those closest to my heart. I had the privilege of graduating with an associate’s degree in Computer Science, a Bachelor's, and then a Master’s degree in Business Administration. Even with all of my education, my status in the United States as an Undocumented Immigrant put me at increased risk for deportation, to a community I had not spent significant time in since I was a young teenager. I grew up in the United States, in Albuquerque, and have learned to love this country and have done what I can to give back to the community that raised me. Which made it so much more difficult in 2015 when, as part of my process for obtaining legal residency, I had to leave back to Ascension for 7 months. I was fortunate, I was able to obtain legal residency and am here now with a legal residency status, and work for the State of New Mexico.
I am a proud to be an openly gay immigrant man, and proud to say that I Stand with Planned Parenthood. And I thank Planned Parenthood for standing with DACA students and all immigrants in our communities."
Let us be clear - Immigrants like Tony are a part of the Planned Parenthood community and we support immigrants of all statuses.
We were heartbroken to hear of the Trump administration's plan to end DACA (Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals). DACA has helped so many young DREAMers access health care, get driver's licenses, receive an education, and work to provide for their families —nearly 7,000 people in NM alone—and without DACA, their fate and ability to remain in this country is unknown.
We have amazing groups, right here in NM, doing the work to protect our communities & fight for DREAMers. Please click here to learn more about the NM Dream Team, and here to learn more about El Centro de Igualdad y Derechos.
If you haven’t done so, please consider making a call to your representative to tell them that you support DACA and that it is crucial for them to fight for our DREAMers.
We stand with DREAMers and with immigrants of all statuses. Immigrants are a part of the Planned Parenthood family — and we will fight for their safety and protection, no matter what.
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