ROGERS — In November, Bishop Anthony B. Taylor released his first pastoral letter to Catholics in the Diocese of Little Rock called, “I Was a Stranger and You Welcomed Me: A Pastoral Letter on the Human Rights of Immigrants.”
In the weeks that followed, staff members at St. Vincent de Paul Church gathered to meet and discuss the pastoral letter. It was at the end of one of the meetings that staff members were asked if they had any experiences related to immigration. A slender, dark-haired young woman, Soledad Hernandez, stood and told her story.
“I was arrested here in Rogers on June 26, 2001, at the bank where I was working because my social security number was false. An immigration officer and a private detective came to the bank and asked me for my documents, but I didn’t have anything. The officer asked me if I knew my rights, and he wanted me to sign a voluntary deportation paper. I said ’No.’ He said, ’In that case, you are going to need a lawyer.’”
At the time, Hernandez had lived in Rogers for 10 years.
Considering Hernandez a flight risk, the officers of the U.S. Immigration and Naturalization Service (now known as Citizenship and Immigration Services) “did not want me to post bond. I have four brothers in Chicago, one sister in California and one brother in Arizona.”
For the next five weeks, Hernandez stayed in the Washington County jail.
During Hernandez’ time in jail, several people reached out to her. Father Miles Heinen, a Vincentian priest working with the Catholic Charities Immigration Services in Springdale, and Sister Mary Paulita Philippe, a Dominican nun, were able to locate legal aid for Hernandez through the Northwest Arkansas chapter of the League of United Latin American Citizens.
Established in Little Rock in 1994 and in Springdale in 1997, Catholic Charities Immigration Services offer a variety of services to low-income families with regard to family-based immigration law. The current director, Frank Head, said the mission of the organization is “both ’to welcome the stranger among us,’ as we are instructed in the Bible, and to help unify families torn asunder by the historical situation we find ourselves in.”
In an unusual move in August 2001 U.S. Magistrate Beverly Stites Jones of Fort Smith set a $100,000 bond for Hernandez. It was the first time Jones had set bond for anyone facing deportation, according to a 2002 article in the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette. The leniency was due in large part to her church community, her family and friends.
“Father Miles told the judge I was a very nice person. I was a good citizen, a nice Catholic, a nice mom and a nice neighbor. Other people came forward too,” Hernandez said.
When the magistrate made her decision, Hernandez said, “She told the court, ’I am going to set up bond for this lady. I have a priest from the Catholic Church who said this person is a good citizen. People of the community have said she is a good mother.’”
The $100,000 bond was posted by family and friends, who signed their properties to secure the bond. At the hearing, the judge sentenced her to serve three years of probation.
In November 2001, Hernandez pleaded guilty in U.S. District Court to using false identification in order to obtain employment, which is a felony, the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette reported.
For nearly a year, Hernandez fought her deportation in Arkansas and Tennes see courts before the situation was resolved. But it took a toll on her and her family. Her marriage ended in divorce. Her children — a 13-year-old daughter and a 7-year-old son –were cared for by family members.
Hernandez said, “It was during this time that I get close to God in my faith. It is in hard times that you remember. I have a hard time wondering how my children were doing while I was in jail. I was sitting in jail thinking, ’I hope I have another chance to respect myself.’ My self-esteem was so down.”
It was during this year that Hernandez, fearing deportation, worked with her children to learn to read and write in Spanish “in case we had to go back to Mexico.”
In 2002, as Hernandez went through the final few months of her ordeal to gain lawful status, she and her attorney, Jon Comstock, went to the last hearing at immigration court in Memphis.
Hernandez said, “Before going into court that last time, Jon asked me if I was OK. I said, ’Yes, I am OK. I am very confident. If I lose the case, it means that God has something better for me in Mexico. Maybe he wants me to go back to my country. I am in God’s hands. You and me, we’re going to fight the case. We have already done what is humanly possible. So it is in God’s hands.”
Now Hernandez has her legal permanent resident card and is waiting to become a U.S. citizen. She has fulfilled the five years of residency required and is ready to apply to take her citizenship test.
Hernandez said, “When we were reading the bishop’s letter and I started talking in the meeting, it was nice to share with the staff — to show my appreciation during that hard time to those who had been with me. Now we have a bishop who will give us a chance.”
After she received her work permit, she began volunteering at the St. Vincent de Paul Church office. In June 2003 she was hired as the Spanish ministry secretary. Now she is the assistant children’s ministry coordinator for kindergarten to fifth grade.
“In December of 2003, I was able to get my little house. For the first time in 15 years of living in the U.S. I was going to have my own house for me and my children. I was full of joy. My co-workers gave me a microwave, a Christmas tree and presents for my children.”
Hernandez said she does not forget that those two years were the hardest years for her.
“With all the paperwork, the divorce, my church community has been there for me with all kinds of support — financial and emotional,” she said. “They remember what was going on in my office — the crying and the laughing. When I think, ’Where did all these blessings come from?’ I say, ’Just receive it — it is from God.’ I definitely have an angel on my side. Sister Paulita used to say that I had more than one.”
