Carlos Canales is an immigrant rights organizer with Casa Freehold in Freehold, New Jersey. He is an immigrant himself from El Salvador, who traveled here undocumented in 1986. When he first came to the United States he was stopped at the border and spent two months in immigration detention, separated from his 4 year old daughter and his wife. He remembers that it was a dehumanizing experience, “because they only remember you as numbers.” He states, “I hope that President Obama’s heart softens, and understands that immigrants are here to work and help our families.”