Stronger Together: Why Margie Gonzales is fighting for immigrant families and Hillary Clinton.
Nevadan Margie Gonzales believes that every family should have a chance to seek a better future and succeed in America. When her own life changed after marrying her Filipino-American college sweetheart, Margie found her voice fighting for immigrant families. Now, she and her sister are working to elect the first female president, Hillary Clinton, who is fighting to keep families together. See what’s at stake for them in this election.
Separated by the Atlantic Ocean
Margie: “I came to the United States in 1994. I got married to an American Citizen and my husband petitioned for me to come here, so for me, it wasn’t difficult to come to America. However, it was a different story for my sister Cindy. She waited for a long time.”
Cindy: “Our family was petitioned by our sister-in-law in 1985 and our children were very young then. They were six, four, and two years old. I received the petition’s approval in 1996 and we were very excited to move to the U.S., but a few months later we received a letter stating that the visa was unavailable for us. Since then, we had to wait to finally get our approval to move to the U.S.”
Margie: “By a while, she means 23 years.”
Cindy: “It was very frustrating to wait 23 years. Eventually, our children turned 21 and they were unable to join my husband and I when we moved to the U.S.”
Margie: “The struggle we have now is that my sister and her husband have to petition their children, but they can only petition the ones who are not married–which is only the youngest. We are separated by the Atlantic Ocean. I believe that our future president Hillary Clinton can make the waiting times shorter so that families like mine can be unified with their children.”
A new home
Margie: “When I was younger, It was never in my mind to move to the US. But since I got married, my priorities changed and I had to be there for my husband. That is the reason why I had to come here and start from the bottom.
While living in the Philippines, during Bill Clinton’s administration, the President and the first lady Hillary Clinton, visited the country. During their visit– out of all the places that Hillary Clinton could have gone to– she decided to visit a haven for abused children. That’s one of many reasons why in 2007, when Hillary Clinton announced that she was running for President, I decided to not be a quiet voter and went to the Hillary Clinton’s local campaign offices. I volunteered by making phone calls. Now, I heard she was running for office again and I joined again, with the same devotion and passion.”
Now is the time
Margie: “The Philippines has had two women presidents, so it will be a historical moment for the U.S. to have the first female President. As a woman, I will be so proud to see this day. It’s time! And It’s not just any woman, it’s Hillary Clinton. Fully qualified to be President from day one.”
