This 15" x 30" oil on canvas is another view of the migrant father who came from Mexico 16 years ago to support his family. He is dying...before he can see 'The Dream Act' (a bill that would enable his children to contribute to their new homeland as educated citizens) realized. But there is hope, because U.S. Rep. Luis Gutierrez (Dem.- Chicago) has gone on a 20-city tour to urge the White House to develop a fairer and more humane immigration policy. "Barack Obama--who once bemoaned when 'communities are terrorized by ICE immigration raids, when nursing mothers are torn from their babies, when children come home from school to find their parents missing, is on track to deport more illegal immigrants than any U.S president since Dwight Eisenhower and Operation Wetback in 1954. (That crackdown resulted in the removal of nearly 1 million people.) The Obama administration deported 800,000 people in its first two years." Gutierrez wants Obama to spare two groups of people with an executive power known as "parole-in-place"---illegal immigrants who have U.S.-born children, and college students who might have qualified for legal status under the Dream Act. Many Latinos believed in Obama's promise of "change" three years ago. They need to see it. For some, time is literally running out. (the portion in quotes is from a column by Ruben Navarrette Jr. from the Washington Post Writers' Group, May 13, 2011)
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