COLLEGE STATION, Texas — Last week KRHD spoke with Karumi Duran, an Aggie alumna who’s been struggling to remain in the united states due to a misunderstanding involving DACA immigration policy.
This Friday, Duran, her husband Robert Reyes and their daughter Allison met with the political office that’s been championing her case in Washington, D.C.
"It makes me feel happy to finally meet him and know who he is and all the hard work that he put into our case," said Duran. "Because I know it wasn’t easy, and it was a lot of hard work.”
Duran has been home from her forced stay in Mexico for a week now.
She is back in the U.S. on humanitarian parole after making a trip to Mexico in pursuit of an American citizenship interview, not realizing that her crossing of the border for this errand broke the terms of her DACA status.
U.S. Congressman Pete Sessions [R-TX] is determined to help her find a long-term solution.
"She thought she was doing the right thing to leave, and in fact, it was not the correct thing," commented Sessions. "And I want her to understand that Congress must not just begin taking on this problem with serious intent, but to make sure that these Dreamers understand their responsibility as we work through the process.”
Duran’s case is just one of many that a special member of Sessions’ office had taken interest in. Carolina Sivoli, the daughter of Italian and Venezuelan immigrants, is passionate about using Sessions’ power to help families trying to gain citizenship.
"This case was, like everybody knows, very difficult," Sivoli said. "And we believed that justice needed to be served. So, for this family to be reunited. She has been in the United States since she was seven years old, she went to school here, she married an American citizen. So of course we wanted to help.”
Duran and Reyes say they still don’t know what the future is going to hold in terms of the young mother gaining full citizenship. For now, they’re just focusing on soaking up every moment they can as a family.
“In terms of the future we’re just thinking about our family, happy that our family is together right now," said Reyes. "And we’re going to enjoy that time together.”
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