SANTIAGO DE CALI, COLOMBIA – Given the recent humanitarian crisis created by mass migration in the hemisphere, Illinois State Senator Martin A. Sandoval recently made a fraternal and official public relations tour in Cali, Colombia, by invitation from Councilman Fernando Tamayo Alberto Ovalle.

During his visit, Sandoval participated in the very much anticipated inauguration of the new passport processing headquarters, officiated by the Governor of Valle del Cauca, Dilian Francisca Toro Torres and by Colombia’s Minister of Foreign Affairs, Carlos Holmes Trujillo García.

"The vision and leadership of this great Governor with the opening of this office is an example to follow," said the legislator. “This is innovative, we do not have this in the United States, because there the public has to go downtown and spend all day in a government office. This I will take as an innovative example for my country.”

Later, Sandoval held a private working meeting with Governor Torres Toro and Foreign Minister Garcia Trujillo to exchange cooperation strategies and discuss current migration issues such as the displacement of Venezuelans to neighboring countries, Ecuador, Peru, Chile, Brazil and Colombia.

Sandoval, son of immigrants and resident of the Southwest Side of Chicago, is a veteran defender of human rights of that community in the United States. Now, he is also worried about the uncertain future of the thousands of Central Americans who continue to travel great distances defying death in search of the 'American Dream'.

“Colombians are the South American community with greater representation in Chicago,” said Sandoval to the local press. “As a representative of Latinos in the South and North America it is important to generate bonds of friendship and understanding.”

Following the meeting, Sandoval also held an active agenda with regional and national media to talk about the worrying migration issues and the possible options that could be achieved through effective international cooperation.          

SANTIAGO DE CALI, COLOMBIA – During his recent visit to Cali, Colombia, Senator Martin A. Sandoval was awarded with the highest decoration granted by the Municipal Council of Cali to people or institutions that through their career, dedication and work contribute positivity not only for that nation but to the world.

“It's my first visit to Colombia and I have taken my first step here in Cali. From the State of Illinois, in the United States of America, today I come to tell you with humility that I’m betting on community. I’m betting on the immigrants. Just as you in Cali bet on education and youth,” said the US legislator before receiving the Santiago de Cali Medal ‘Cruz de Oro’. “I also come to invite you to Chicago and the State of Illinois, the land of Abraham Lincoln. The land of Hillary Clinton, of Ronald Reagan and my former colleague and roommate in the Illinois Senate; and former president of the United States of America, Barack Obama. You honor us with this invitation, both to my wife Marina who comes from Michoacán, Mexico, and myself—your humble servant—son of migrant parents who crossed the border in 1959, crossing the Rio Grande and arriving in the Promise Land in Chicago, Illinois.”

Senator Sandoval took the opportunity to also emphasize in his speech the importance of education and hard honest work to get ahead and fulfill one’s dreams.

“I should be in Guanajuato, Mexico taking care of goats and cows like my father did as a kid,” said Sandoval. “But, instead, thanks to the hard work and dedication of my humble father whom arrived in Chicago without knowing how to write his name, I was able to become the first Mexican Senator in the Midwest of the United States to serve Illinois.”

The legislator reiterated before the council and before the people who attended that solemn ceremony, that his vocation has always been to serve his community.

“From a young age. Since my beginnings as a seminarian, a federal public servant, a County Commissioner, and Senator of the State of Illinois for 16 years, my vocation has been of service to my community. Maybe it's a very small trajectory and we still have a lot to do, but, just as you, I’m betting on our youth and education,” declared Sandoval. “Like you, I believe that education is paramount, and that's why as a Senator in my State of Illinois, I have been part of the construction of more than a dozen schools in my district. One of which is named after my sister, Socorro Sandoval, who was a teacher in her community.”

To finalize his speech, the Illinois legislator said that We must not leave for tomorrow what we must do today.

“The future is today, not tomorrow. As public servants we have to live each moment as if it were our last. We must not leave for tomorrow what we must do today. Former Mexican President Vicente Fox would say, 'Today, not tomorrow!' And so, I say every day as a senator, thinking that there is no tomorrow, but today,” proclaimed Sandoval. “I will never forget that my first footsteps in Colombia were precisely in the city of Cali. I will never forget your honors. I will never forget your people, your village and your warmth. This will not be the only time Cali will see this migrant senator who comes to visit them from a faraway land like Chicago, Illinois.”