Happy Mother’s Day!
New Jersey,-By Patricia Campos-Medina
The month-long celebration of Mother ‘s Day has its roots in the ancient cultures of Greece and Rome, where the goddesses Rhea and Cybele, symbols of motherhood and fertility, were honored. Today, we continue that tradition, celebrating our mothers for their love, sacrifice, and for fighting for a better future for their children. And if you’re a mother like me, I’m sure your children celebrate you every day for all you do for them and their future.
I want to continue this beautiful ritual honoring my mother Hilda and all the immigrant mothers who, like her, left everything in their country to build a better life in the United States.
My mother was 34 years old and had four children when the civil war broke out in El Salvador. Like many families at that time, ours endured a painful separation that lasted almost eight years. I remember missing her terribly as a child, but now, as a mother, I can’t imagine the pain she felt when she left us in the care of our grandmother María. Still, I know she gave her all: working under harsh conditions as a hotel maid, saving every penny to pay the lawyers so she and our father Jorge could regularize their immigration status and eventually reunite us here in the United States with my siblings and me.
I’ll never know exactly what those years were like for my mother; like many women of her generation, she never talks about that period of her life or complains about the past; “These things happen, and you survive for your children,” she tells us.
However, today I see with my mother’s eyes how difficult those long years must have been for my mother. In my professional life as a union leader, I have seen too many women, like my mother, suffer from family separation caused by an unjust immigration system that denies them the opportunity to be with their loved ones. I have been by their side as they fight for their labor rights and for immigration reform that would allow them to be reunited with their children and live with dignity.
So this month, as I celebrate my mother’s love and sacrifice for our family, I also want to pay tribute to all the immigrant mothers who work tirelessly every day to raise their children — whether here in the United States or in their home countries — despite a system that often turns its back on them.
I thank you, mom, for your love, your sacrifice, and your unwavering commitment to our family. I thank you for supporting my dreams as a leader; for your wisdom, love, and daily dedication in helping me raise my children, raising them to become two loving and caring young people . I love you for all you’ve done for us and for what you continue to do to keep our family together.
Happy Mother ‘s Day to all the women who fight for their families!
Editor’s note: Patricia is a community and political leader. She ran for a seat in the US Senate from New Jersey in 2024.
