Unfortunately, there are more. Just last week, Graham Ellis of Waimea, a 67-year-old British
national and leukemia patient, heard a knock on his door. It was two
Department of Homeland Security agents who have come to begin the
deportation process back to the U.K. after Graham had made Hawaii his
home for over 36 years. After a few short minutes of conversation in
front of his wife, Dena, who is an American citizen, Graham agreed to
turn himself in at a field office in Honolulu the following day. Now, like Mr. Ortiz, Graham is a pillar within our community in
Hawaii. But unlike Mr. Ortiz, Graham had already made the decision to
return to the U.K. because he feared that deportation was inevitable
under the heightened threats faced under our current immigration
policies. Graham had made the decision to leave by the end of summer,
thinking that these remaining months would give him time to get his
affairs in order, and say good-bye to the community and the home that
he grew to love for so long. A circus performer by training, Graham spent much of his life in
Hawaii teaching children from low-income and at-risk communities circus
arts, bringing smiles and laughter to their faces and their lives. He served on the Puna Community Council, and was the founding
president of the Kalapana Seaview Estates Community Association. In his remaining final months, he had planned to make a trip to
Kauai, where he would instruct his last group of young, passionate
students at a 2-week
superhero-themed circus camp before shutting it down for good. Our immigration system is broken. We need a pathway to citizenship
for immigrants to ensure people who deserve to be here can find a way
to be a part of our great country. We need real immigration reform that
keeps families together and integrates hardworking, tax-paying
immigrants into our community. We need to preserve, protect, and
restore the values that underlie the greatness of our country. I stand with Andres and Graham and the millions of hardworking
immigrants who built our great Nation; and I stand with these
immigrants who live in my community, who live in my district, and who
have a proven record of upstanding contributions to our community. Mr. Speaker, I yield to the gentleman from Florida (Mr.
Keywords matched
immigration immigrants deportation