Gualaceo (wala SEY yo) and Chordeleg are small towns high in the Ecuadorian Andes.These are very tight knit communities filled with people who make a living mostly in agriculture and ranching. They are also communities from which many young people have emigrated (mostly as undocumented persons) to the United States. Parents and other family members are very interested in the immigration process and how to obtain visas to visit or live in the US. It was against this backdrop that my colleagues and me recently presented a Town Hall on the visa and immigration process in Gualaceo. I met with the town's Mayor and we discussed how important immigration and immigrants are to the town and its citizens. Much of the town's economic development relies on the remittances from their sons and daughters in the US. According to the Mayor, over 6,000 of the town's 48,000 residents now live in the United States. Following last week's announcement by President Obama about changes to our immigration regulations, this is a very dynamic and interesting time to be serving on the front lines of the immigration issue. Stay tuned!
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| Gualaceo's marketplace |
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| Chordeleg's Cathedral |
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| A packed house for the Visa Town Hall |
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| Answering Question about immigration and visas |
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