‘Best Present I Have Ever Gotten for Christmas’

Christmas has been a bittersweet holiday for Gloria Zapata since she left her younger son, Maykell, in Nicaragua 11 years ago to start a new life in Los Angeles.

Zapata had two small children and was unmarried when she fled the war and poverty of her homeland. Zapata left Maykell with her sister, hoping to be reunited with him someday.

But for 11 years, her illegal status has kept her from bringing him to this country.

“Every year, I’ve have felt like there has been something missing during Christmas,” she said.

This year will be different. Gloria and her son were among three Nicaraguan families who were reunited last week in Los Angeles under a 1997 amnesty law that allows Nicaraguan and Cuban refugees and their children to gain permanent resident status.

“We can now spend Christmas together, as one family,” Gloria said as she caressed her 14-year-old son’s face.

The reunited families met for the first time at Los Angeles International Airport last week, thanks to the efforts of the U.S. Embassy, the Immigration and Naturalization Service and Casa Nicaragua, a social services agency in South Gate.

At least 50,000 Nicaraguan and Cuban refugees have applied for amnesty under the Nicaraguan Adjustment and Central American Relief Act of 1997. The children who were reunited with their parents were among the first in Southern California to gain permanent resident status under the law, according to immigrant rights advocates.

Tears welled up in the eyes of Leonardo Alvarado-Reyes when he explained how he left his daughter Liudmila in Nicaragua 13 years ago when she was only 1 1/2.

Alvarado separated from Liudmila’s mother, but over the years he kept in touch with his daughter by phone.

“I kept telling her that we would be together some day,” he said.

Liudmila said the reunion with her father was “the best present I have ever gotten for Christmas.”

Immigrant rights officials noted that the deadline for applying for amnesty is April 1.

Julio Cardoza, executive director of Casa Nicaragua, said the amnesty process could take up to nine months for a child. He estimated that about 100,000 Nicaraguans and Cubans--many of whom live in Southern California--are eligible for amnesty.

“We have demonstrated that this law does work, but people have to apply quickly,” he said.

The Nicaraguan Adjustment and Central American Relief Act gave blanket amnesty to Nicaraguan and Cuban refugees, most of whom fled left-wing regimes in the 1980s. But the law stipulated that Salvadorans and Guatemalans, most of whom fled right-wing governments supported by the Reagan and Bush administrations, must apply on a case-by-case basis.

Among those reunited was 14-year-old Dilcia Hudiel-Pineda, who had been separated from her father, Alfredo, since he left her in Nicaragua 13 years ago to find work in the United States.

“I never thought I would be here,” she said, smiling at her father.

When Gloria Zapata fled Nicaragua, she was only able to bring her older son, Dixon, now 16, to Los Angeles. Upon arrival, she found a job cleaning houses and eventually became a licensed beautician. She met and married her husband in Los Angeles and had a third child, Jennifer, who is 11.

But she didn’t forget Maykell, who was living with his grandparents. She called him, promising to bring him to the United States. Over the years, Maykell said he lost faith that he would ever be reunited with his mother.

When he finally hugged her at the airport, he said he felt “the greatest happiness ever.”

“I have lived with my grandparents for all this time,” he said. “They love me, but it’s not the same as being with your own mother.”