LOGAN SQUARE — When Monica Soto-Espinoza's father died a year ago, she couldn't return to Mexico for his funeral.
Soto-Espinoza, 37, hasn't been able to care for her 85-year-old widowed mother. She sends small amounts of money when she can.
On Tuesday the Logan Square resident heard the news that she and 5 million other undocumented immigrants who are parents of U.S. citizens hoped to hear: The Supreme Court was considering the case that would spare them from deportation.
"I would be lying to say I was not afraid [to speak out], but I believe in democracy and believe in the government," said Soto-Espinoza, a mother of three with a baby on the way. "Just by telling my story and being brave, I think is giving all my brothers and sisters a voice. I want them to know they are not alone.”
For the last two months — before the court ruled that it was going to hear the challenge to President Obama's immigration actions — Soto-Espinoza has been working with the Logan Square Neighborhood Association to educate community members on their rights as immigrants and how to navigate the legal process of gaining legal status.
The group, known as the LSNA Community Navigators, met Tuesday immediately after the Supreme Court news to discuss its plan to keep the community informed.
"There is a lot of uncertainty in the community because there's a lot of anti-immigrant sentiment in the media," said Marcelo Ferrer, a resource coordinator with the association. "I think it makes people very much reserved and cautious and even to the point of fear.”
That fear stems from hearing about U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement raids.
It can be hard to persuade someone who is undocumented to file paperwork with the government after learning of raids in neighboring communities such as Rogers Park, Albany Park and Melrose Park, Ferrer said.
"We are getting all these requests for 'know your rights' training because there is so much fear," said Ferrer, a 48-year-old who's been with the association for 10 years. "Perhaps these raids, the scale of them has been low, but it creates so much fear in the community. The impact is really big.”
The measures the Supreme Court are considering will be argued in April and decided by the end of June.
"It's been a good morning," Ferrer said Tuesday. "As of today we are cautiously optimistic. That is the sentiment that everybody feels."
By the time the case is heard, the community navigators hope to have trained local leaders and parents who will take that knowledge of immigration rights to their school and church communities.
There are about 30 community navigators.
"The idea is training the trainer so they can then go and prepare another group of parents who might then be able to do the training with other groups," Ferrer said.
So far more than 800 people have gone through the association's community information sessions to learn what the process of gaining legal status entails.
The group has also helped more than 300 young people apply for deferred action against deportation who entered the country before their 16th birthday as well as set them up with immigration lawyers. The group is often referred to as DREAMers.
The executive action taken by the president would allow millions of undocumented parents of legal citizens or lawful permanent residents to apply for a similar deferred deportation program and provide them with work permits. It also would expand the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program for children.
That action has been stalled due to legal challenges.
Rep. Luis Gutierrez, who has been leading the push for immigration action in Washington and whose 4th Congressional District includes Logan Square and much of the Northwest side, said he expects the Supreme Court to rule in favor of Obama's action.
"Opponents of immigration and the president’s executive actions have tried to run out the clock on his presidency and want immigrants to remain in limbo, living and working here but always under the threat of imminent deportation," Gutierrez said in a statement after Tuesday's announcement. "Most Americans would prefer that long-term immigrants with families and lives in the U.S. come forward to register, pay to be fingerprinted, and submit to a rigorous background check."
Soto-Espinoza, who is working to educate other immigrants on their rights, agreed with Gutierrez, and said the reason she was speaking up was to represent all of the other hardworking members of the community who are afraid they will be deported.
She started working as a community navigator about two months ago.
"I feel like we were losing hope," Soto-Espinoza said. "We don’t see any light. We were just in the shadows. For us to hear about this opportunity, I think it gave us hope. They are saying, 'We see you as a human being. We know you have your human rights. We know you are more than a number. You are actually a human being.' "
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