The law professor I'm going to speak with, Caesar Hernandez, is really well positioned to do this because he's written some books about this. He's done many ted talks, and most importantly, he is a passionate professor and he wants to engage us in this conversation. And he tells great stories and he helps us understand the faces, the stories, the families behind these issues. But make no mistake, we are up against a lot
César García Hernández
@CCGH · 3:37
Hi, Deborah. It's a pleasure and an honor to join you and to join all of your listeners. Thanks so much for asking about my interest in immigration. Really, that is an interest that is very much born of my own life experience. I'm originally from South Texas, from MCCALLAN, Texas, border town in a heavily Mexican immigrants community. It's a very poor community even now, nonetheless, when I was growing up there
Deborah Pardes
@DBPardes · 2:13
And I can't help but wonder what keeps you going when things seem pretty tough. But you are so magnetic when you speak in your talks and you're so completely clear that there are paths forward. And I'm just wondering if we could start this conversation with a happy story of a situation that you were brought into from a legal perspective and you saw it through and things ended up really wonderful for the individual or for the individual's family. Can you stop start there?
Swell Team
@Swell · 0:15
César García Hernández
@CCGH · 5:00
The region of South Texas and northern Mexico where I was born and raised is one that relies, has always relied on the river, the river and the river. Whereas it's known in Mexico, the Rio Grabul has as the reason for its existence the lifeline, the literal lifeline in century's past. But to this very day, it still is the unifying force
Deborah Pardes
@DBPardes · 1:34
Caesar, thank you for this answer. It is a good ending. He didn't get deported, and he was able to be helped. And I have a first question and a second question from your story. First, is there a path to lead to citizenship through joining the military? Why isn't there one? It makes so much sense