Immigration plan gives separated families hope

• An estimated 11 million undocumented immigrants live in the U.S.
• Pathway to citizenship would be a boon for country%2C advocates say
• Critics wary of proposal that would provide amnesty to people in the country illegally

NASHVILLE, Tenn. -- Fatima Bautista has been married for 10 years to her husband, Efraim, but she hasn't seen him in 10 months.

Eight years ago, Efraim, a Mexican citizen, was denied access to a visa by the U.S. government to cross the border. Weeks later, his pregnant wife, a California-born U.S. citizen, legally crossed the American border so she could give her son a life with opportunities she said he could find only in America.

Now Fatima is the mother of two curious children, a 7-year-old boy and a 3-year-old girl, who are beginning to ask why their father lives thousands of miles away.

It's not a question she can easily answer.

"We never expected this," Bautista said in her suburban Nashville home. "I have the right to have my family here. For me, seven or eight years is enough."

Bautista will comb through any potential reform for specific provisions that can reunite her family in Tennessee, where her oldest child has started school. But she is especially encouraged by immigration legislation President Barack Obama and several congressmen announced last week.

"If we work together, we can make things happen," she said. "Now I see they want to finish something. They want to make this happen."

A Pew Hispanic Center report from 2010 estimated that more than 11 million undocumented immigrants live in the United States. The same report estimated that 140,000 such immigrants reside in Tennessee, 95,000 of whom are considered laborers.

A potential pathway to citizenship for some of them could be a boon for the country for reasons both pragmatic and idealistic, said Renata Soto, the executive director for Conexion Americas, a local group focused on improving the lives of Latino families in the region. Residency and citizenship could lead to greater tax revenue as more and more immigrants come out of the shadows.

"These are families eager to play by the rules," Soto said. "It's time for us to be more honest about how we benefit from their work. It's time to recognize they deserve to be a full member of their community."

From what reaction she has seen and heard in the past two weeks, she thinks this could be the year for real change.

"People are very, very excited," she said. "This means change for people who saw life as dead ends and closed doors."

Bautista hopes that change would unite her family.

She has not seen her husband since April, before her family's restaurant closed. Because her kids often get sick and need care, Bautista said she hasn't been able to hold a job consistently. She said she has had to apply for benefits for her children, something she never wants to do again.

"If I have my husband here, we can both work and share responsibilities," she said.

Her story has a familiar ring in Middle Tennessee.

Grecia Esparza, an undocumented 18-year-old from Nashville, at least has more hope than she had a year ago. She's applied for the President's Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program and plans to apply to Fisk University for the fall semester.

She said both decisions were urged by her family. Instead of applying for both programs, she wanted to go back to Mexico to be with her mother, who was deported years ago when she tried to apply for residency.

Esparza hasn't seen her mom in eight years.

Even now, the high school graduate has trouble channeling what goes through her mind when asked about the separation from her mother.

"I guess there's a lot of emotion," she said. "It's unbelievable the sacrifice she made for us, leaving her family and going back."

In her mind, any reform that could be passed by Congress has to be fair and reasonable. But its value to her hinges on a single factor.

"I have to hold to every piece of hope I have to see her again," she said.

On the state level, efforts to restrict immigration have been led by state Rep. Joe Carr. The Lascassas Republican has filed several high-profile immigration bills during his three terms in the General Assembly, including legislation similar to bills passed in Alabama and Arizona. Those measures allow police officers to ask any person they stop about their immigration status and detain those they feel could be illegal immigrants.

Carr doubts that any new federal immigration reform bill could have much impact until laws already on the books are enforced.

"I think what we have is two opposing viewpoints trying to find a way to deal with the problem that starts with the federal government not enforcing their own laws," he said.

Carr said he is wary of any proposal that provides amnesty for people already in the country illegally without tightening control of the nation's borders — even though reports have shown that crossing the border illegally has been tougher under Obama than ever before. According to the White House, an increase in resources on the border has led to a 50 percent drop in illegal border crossing attempts since 2008.

But Carr says without even more security, the president and Congress might repeat the same mistake the Eisenhower and Reagan administrations did.

"We've done this periodically throughout the course of the country's history, and we'll do it again," he said.

In the upcoming session, Carr said he plans to co-sponsor a bill that would ban undocumented immigrants who have received federal waivers through the deferred action program from receiving driver's licenses. Another measure would consider undocumented immigrants a flight risk while on bail.

Soto says legislative efforts to make it harder on immigrants won't be effective and don't deal with many of the economic issues she says Tennesseans want addressed.

"Those elected officials are in denial and not awakening to the idea that immigration isn't an issue that's prevalent for Tennesseans," Soto said.

The driver's license bill would specifically affect Esparza. She said it represents a mentality that's unrealistic.

"It's unfortunate people think like that," she said. "(The bill) is unnecessary."

Unnecessary or not, people such as Bautista and Esparza will continue to watch and fight for reform.

For Bautista, that timeline could be more limited. Her husband will try to apply for a waiver to come back to the country in two years. Until then, she hopes Congress can give him a legal way into the country.

In her mind, the timing couldn't be more right.

"We can feel it," Bautista said. "We can feel they want to do something. If they don't do it this year, it won't happen."