Excerpt
SUMMARY: In Nevada, the debate on immigration reform has consequences beyond the political. Facing a mixed bag of law and executive action, many live with the fear that their families will be divided by deportation. Gwen Ifill reports on personal stakes at the heart of the political fight.
JUDY WOODRUFF (NewsHour): The divide over immigration was a major theme of this year’s congressional elections. But the issue is not just roiling politicians.
As our Gwen found on a weekend trip to Nevada, the president’s policies and Republicans’ opposition to reform has meant difficult splits within many families.
GWEN IFILL (NewsHour): Far from Washington’s politics, positioning and policy, here’s what the immigration debate looks like, a Saturday afternoon gathering of friends and relatives at a family-owned restaurant little more than a mile from the Strip in Las Vegas.
Susana Flores, the owner, is a legal resident who tried unsuccessfully to teach me how to make tortillas.
(LAUGHTER)
GWEN IFILL: Susana’s sister, Rocina Sandoval, who works as a waitress, is not here legally. She could easily be deported.
ROCINA SANDOVAL, Nevada (through interpreter): I would like some kind of documentation so I could work legally and help the family more.
GWEN IFILL: Most of the family members have lived in Las Vegas for decades. Rocina’s son, Juan Salazar, joined his parents here when he was just 7 years old. He is now covered by President Obama’s 2012 executive action which protects so called dreamers, young people who arrived in this country illegally when they were children.
He runs a pool business with his father, Juan Sr., and attends a local community college. But good fortune has its limits, even for a dreamer.
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