The President of the International Longshore and Warehouse Union Local 10 (ILWU) Melvin Mackay, sent a letter to Secretary of State Hillary Clinton to ask her to immediately grant a visa to Adriana Perez for the purpose of visiting her husband Gerardo Hernandez in the US penitentiary in Victorville California.In his letter Mackay told Clinton about his disappointment when he found out that the US State Department has denied a visa, for the tenth time, to Adriana to visit her husband Gerardo Hernandez. He added that Adriana and Gerardo have not set eyes on each other for almost 11 years.
He asked Secretary of State “How could we as a nation that professes to be an example to the world on respecting human rights, deny this couple such a basic right that we all take for granted?” He said that the rejection of the request stating that Adriana somehow “constitutes a threat to the stability
and security of the United States” is beyond his comprehension.In his letter the President of the ILWU stated that “During his presidential campaign, then Senator Barack Obama, who I know personally, made a number of promises to us. Many of us agreed that we needed to change our approach to have a better relation with the world, particularly our neighbors in Latin America. Now is the time that this new administration put in action their words and moves forward to a new era.” He mentioned the element of cruelty to the denial highlighting that the latest negative response was given to Adriana on the same day as their 21st wedding anniversary.
Mr. Mackay ended his letter telling Clinton that this latest denial brings much shame to his personal values and beliefs and concluded, “Please Mrs. Clinton, let us leave this chapter behind, and immediately grant a humanitarian visa to Adriana Perez to visit her husband.”
