You could have heard a pin drop at the town hall meeting at Saint Pius V. Catholic Church on Saturday, Nov. 15, 2008, when U.S. citizens spoke about family members who were deported. Many people cried as they heard the testimony of families ripped apart and deported back to their original homeland by the federal Immigration and Customs Enforcement department (ICE). In the front of the room, where the town hall meeting was held, there stood a shrine dedicated to the families whose loved ones were taken from their homes.

There on display were posters of families with a family member blotted out, representing those who were sent back and remain absent from the family. The meeting was hosted by US Rep. Luis V. Gutierrez (D-IL). Among these families that were torn apart was Maria Garcia-Lynch. Lynch is a US citizen married to Dominico Papaianni, who was one of the many people that came on a visitor’s visa to America and didn’t leave. Lynch and her son Richard both dressed in black and with tears in their eyes, stood in front of the meeting telling their story.
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