About

Love, Hope and Borders is a blog created by Jose and Haley Galarza to document their story of working through the legal immigration process toward Jose’s U.S. citizenship.

Jose was born on October 26th, 1988 in Aguascalientes, Mexico. In 1991, his parents immigrated to Rockford, IL in search of employment. Realizing that living in the U.S. would bring more opportunities for their children, Maria and Luis made a decision to stay in the country to raise their family. Jose is a graduate of Rockford East High School, holds a Mass Communication Certificate from Rock Valley College, and owns Granite Territory Stone Crafters, LLC a natural stone fabrication company in Rockford, IL.

Haley was born on January 4th, 1992 in Rockford, IL. Haley is the Executive Coordinator to the Mayor of Rockford. She received her associate’s degree from Rock Valley College followed by a bachelor’s degree in communication and advertising from Governors State University.

Jose and Haley met while taking courses in the mass communication department at Rock Valley College in 2011. They have been together for 9 years and were married on August 6th, 2016. They currently live in Rockford, IL and have a beautiful baby girl, Luisa Corazon who was born on January 17, 2019. They also have two crazy and lovable pitbulls, Marble and Paloma.

Learn about their journey, and ask questions! One of the main motivations of creating this blog is to educate others about the struggle of fighting for Jose’s citizenship.