OMAHA, Neb. (AP) - The widower of an Omaha police officer killed in the line of duty is trying to provide for his family, but one challenge he faces is a long road to U.S. citizenship.
In an interview (https://bit.ly/1LZIO6e ) with the Omaha World-Herald, Hector Orozco broke down and wept as he spoke about 29-year-old Kerrie Orozco, who was fatally shot May 20 while attempting to arrest a fugitive on a felony warrant.
In the wake of his loss, the 33-year-old Hector is trying to provide for his family as a single father while navigating a long path to citizenship. Hector Orozco crossed the U.S.-Mexico border in 1999, at age 17. Leaving was not easy, he said, but it was something he felt was necessary to succeed.
“Not only for me, but for anyone, it’s something big,” he said. “Just being a citizen of the United States, because you work for years and years just to have something.”
U.S. Rep. Brad Ashford said he will push for a law that would expedite the citizenship process for spouses of first responders who are killed on the job. Ashford said his proposal will be called the Kerrie Orozco Act.
“We want, I think, as a nation, people like Hector Orozco to have a little bit of a nudge, a little bit of help to get them on the track, so that they can find a permanent job, take care of the baby, provide for day care,” Ashford said. “I think we want to lift that family up.”
Hector Orozco’s attorney, Kristin Fearnow, agreed that speeding up Hector’s citizenship would help give the family security.
“It’s very easy to take for granted, when you are a citizen of the United States, the inability to plan your life when you’re living in a legal limbo and you don’t have certainty about what’s going to happen,” Fearnow said. “I think the stress of that cannot be underestimated.”
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Information from: Omaha World-Herald, https://www.omaha.com
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