Mario Gomez and Nivia Lucas

Mario Gomez and Nivia Lucas

We arrived in Reno from our home country, Guatemala.  Mario got here first, he came in 2004 and then I came in 2006.

We had met in Guatemala and had a daughter.  She was three months old when Mario left to come to Reno.  Two years later, I followed and she had to stay behind until we were able to get her.  She is now in the fourth grade and going to school here in Reno.

The separation was hard on us and on our little girl, but we came here looking for a better life.  The very bad economic situation in Guatemala was the main factor for us to migrate to the United States.  When you add the violence and the corruption, we had to leave.

We wanted a better life for our daughter and for us.  We came here looking for work.  It was not easy, but we persevered and found work and we are still employed.

Both Mario and I finished high school in our country and I have finished 2 years of college.  We both thought we knew English, but it has been hard to learn the language.

We both want to get our high school equivalency (GED) in order to be better with our English so we can continue to improve.

Immigration Reform for us will mean stability.  Our dream is to move forward, raise our children, buy a house and have more opportunities to succeed.  We want to have our own business, so we can help create jobs for others.  That is our dream.

We would like to encourage Congress to please pass comprehensive Path to Citizenship.  It would be a great benefit to keep our families together.