Harrisonburg, Va.­­—Harrisonburg Virginia Organizing leaders Maria Peña and Maria Del Carmen Valdez attended a media conference in Washington, D.C. today to discuss how they and their families will be directly affected by the administrative relief offered by President Barack Obama’s recent executive action on immigration.

Peña shared at the conference how the executive action on immigration has helped her and her family.

“Since I arrived in the United States, I have been an active and productive member of my community. I am involved in my church and my husband and I own a small business that pays taxes and employees two part-time U.S. citizens,” said Peña. “My visa expired and I have not been able to obtain a status because of our broken immigration system.”

Valdez has a 6 year-old daughter who is a United States citizen, non-citizen children, and two children who are living in Mexico that she has not seen in 14 years. Her mother also lives in Mexico.

“Because of President Obama’s action, I will no longer be afraid of being separated from my children that are in the United States,” said Valdez. “I hope that this will also give me an opportunity to see my other children and my mother who is very ill. We must still keep fighting for comprehensive immigration reform with a path to citizenship because we need a permanent, real solution.”

Valdez and others attended the media conference today to call on Congress to take steps toward comprehensive immigration reform with a path to citizenship instead of working to undermine the relief efforts of the President.

To interview Maria Peña or Maria Del Carmen Valdez or a spokesperson for Virginia Organizing, please contact Amanda Pohl at 804-337-1912 or amanda@virginia-organizing.org.

Virginia Organizing is a non-partisan statewide grassroots organization that brings people together to create a more just Virginia.

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