Juan Marquez, an illegal immigrant, takes a moment during an interview at a law office in Overland Park, Kan. Marquez met his wife Kecia in Kansas City, Kan., and the two were married in 2004. Now Marquez has decided to return to Mexico and start the legal immigration process while his wife stays in Kansas and waits for his return.

Kecia Marquez, married to illegal immigrant Juan Marquez, is overwhelmed at the realization that her husband of four years will head back to his native Mexico, possibly never to return to U.S. soil. The Marquezes made the decision that Juan should return to Mexico and go through the proper immigration process to become a citizen. If Juan is not allowed to return, Kecia will move to Mexico.

Overland Park ? When Kecia Sales and Juan Marquez were married, they were like scores of other couples: very much in love with plans to live together for the rest of their lives.

But it wasn’t to be.

After their December 2004 marriage, he told her he had been living illegally in the U.S. since 1999. After leaving Mexico, Marquez made his way to her hometown of Kansas City, Kan., where they met and married, and she took his name.

They became one of an estimated 2 million mixed families, where at least one member is a citizen or lawfully living in the country and at least one member isn’t. The vast majority of those families, according to the Pew Hispanic Center, involve an illegal parent and legal children – yet another shade of this country’s ongoing immigration conundrum.

That he’s among some 12 million illegal immigrants didn’t change Sales’ love for Marquez. They lived in her hometown with a couple of dogs, and both worked to make ends meet.

“It didn’t bother me,” she said. “It doesn’t make him any worse of a person.”

But Marquez, 26, and his wife, 40, finally decided he should return to Mexico and begin the long, uphill fight to re-enter the country legally.

Legislation

Marquez’s decision came as Kansas and some 40 other states try to pass legislation this year dealing with illegal immigrants because Congress has failed to act. It’s a move Hispanic advocates say affects more than illegal immigrants.

“It impacts also documented immigrants because families tend to be of a mixed status. Hurting one individual hurts the entire family. It creates an unwelcoming atmosphere to all immigrants, whether legal or not,” said David Ferreira of the U.S. Hispanic Chamber of Commerce.

El Centro Inc., a Hispanic advocacy group in the Kansas City area, said its 2006 survey showed 63 percent of Hispanics questioned said they lived in some type of mixed family status.

‘Doing the right thing’

Why Juan Marquez came to the United States is a familiar tale. He wanted a better life for himself and his family, which includes two younger brothers, his mother and disabled father back in Hidalgo state.

“They have no money for food. My parents don’t work,” he said. “I wanted to do whatever I have to do to put on the table for my family.”

He said each week he sent $100 to his family – a practice known as “remittances,” which the Inter-American Development Banks says accounted for $23 billion sent to Mexico in 2006.

The couple talked about the decision for him to return to Mexico in the office of their immigration attorney, Mira Mdivani, shortly before Marquez left last month.

“You don’t feel safe in the streets. You don’t feel safe anywhere because of a lot of things going on right now,” Marquez said. “The police pull you over for no reason.”

“I want to be free, to go wherever I want to go and not be scared. In the long run, it will be worth it. We can have a better life and we won’t be scared anymore,” he said.

When he was in the U.S., he worked at construction jobs, doing everything from picking up trash to cleaning sewers and provided about two-thirds of the household income.

Kecia Marquez said she worried daily that her husband would be arrested at work by immigration agents, so much so that she called him three or four times a day to check on him.

Her worries continue about whether he will be allowed back in the United States anytime soon.

“It’s stressful, very stressful, because I don’t know if he’s coming back. It’s just that I’m sure we’re doing the right thing. This is my home, and I want it to be here with my husband,” she said as both teared up.

‘Unforgiving’ law

Mdivani said because Juan Marquez entered the country illegally and stayed more than a year, the law bars him from coming back for 10 years, unless the government approves a waiver request from his wife. She said Juan Marquez will file that request this month with the U.S. Consulate in Juarez, Mexico, and wait, maybe for up to a year, for an answer.

“The law is extremely unforgiving,” Mdivani said. “But I think Kecia has a compelling case. She takes care of a disabled sister and uncle. She won’t have the opportunity for any kind of decent job there, and she will lose the house.”

If the waiver is denied, Kecia Marquez says she will move to Mexico.

“That’s what I’ll have to do. That’s my husband. I have to go where he goes,” she said. “I love him, I can’t forget about him.”