Rally shows range of issues in push for immigration reform
The Valley Catholic immigration reform
April 23 , 2013 9
Families focus of gathering at SHCS to call for immigration reform
By Roberta Ward
A Family Vigil for Immigration Reform was held April 10 at Sacred Heart Community Service ( SHCS ) in San Jose which focused on creating pathways to citizenship , reunifying families broken by current immigration laws , and protection of workers . The event was part of the National Day of Action .
Speakers told their family ’ s immigration story , many of them representing diverse parts of the world , all now in Santa Clara County . As part of the call to action , those assembled were asked to use their cellphones to call their legislative representative to promote immigration reform .
Poncho Guevara , Executive Director of SHCS , said , “ Among the most powerful changes we can make to lift working poor families out of poverty would be reform of our immigration system .
“ Some 180,000 residents in Santa Clara County live in a constant state of fear and vulnerability . Many were brought here as small children , and have spent their entire lives here . Most want a chance to contribute more to our community and our economy . This year is the best chance for substantive reform .”
As families gathered they shared immigration stories , showing posters they had created on the subject .
A young woman whose family is from Korea told of their experience of three generations of immigrants , now all in the U . S ., but “ it was a challenge to make that happen ,” she said .
A young adult Iranian woman , recently married , spoke about her family ’ s experience of coming to America in her youth , only to return to Iran for nine years and return to the U . S . She spoke no English then and had to relearn it ,
‘ Among the most powerful changes we can make to lift working poor families out of poverty would be reform of our immigration system .’
but successfully moved on . She now is dealing with immigration issues regarding her husband .
A Hispanic mother with two young children spoke of her fears of possible deportation that could affect her family . Another young Latina told of being brought to the U . S . by her parents when she was seven years old . “ Now our family is torn apart ,” she said .
Rally shows range of issues in push for immigration reform
By Patricia Zapor WASHINGTON ( CNS ) -- At a massive rally on the West Lawn of the U . S . Capitol April 10 , the underlying demand -- comprehensive immigration reform -- came with different primary interests for different people .
A look at the range of issues underlying the effort to produce a bill that can pass in both the Democratic-controlled Senate and the Republican-controlled House helps explain why it ’ s taking so long for a bipartisan Senate panel to produce a bill , reported to be 1,500 pages long .
Among issues being cited that day :
• Make it easier to reunite families ; stop separating family members through deportation .
• Allow undocumented immigrants to get driver ’ s licenses .
• Enact the DREAM Act--Development , Relief and Education for Alien Minors -- a federal bill that would grant many undocumented youth access to
People brought hand-made posters to Family Vigil .
legal residency and federal financial aid .
• Shorten waiting times for legal immigration and increase the number of visas for unskilled workers .
• Give people who are living in the shadows a chance to legalize their status and stop hiding for fear of deportation .
• Protect the labor rights of those who lack legal status .
One news conference focused on the parents of young adults who would be affected by the DREAM Act , which would provide a path to legalization for those who were brought to the United States as children and remain in immigration limbo , lacking permission to live and work in the U . S . but disconnected from their homelands .
A Jesuit priest from Arizona talked about the people he meets . “ We at the Kino Border Initiative watch in disbelief as we receive women deported to Nogales ( Mexico ), while their husbands are repatriated to distant points of entry along the U . S . -Mexico border because of the Department of Homeland Security ’ s Alien Transfer Exit Program ,’” said Father Sean Carroll , executive director of the Kino Border Initiative , a Jesuit ministry and education program .
“ These women endure serious trauma because of separation from their husbands , since they are alone in an unfamiliar city and vulnerable to exploitation and violence at the hands of organized criminal syndicates ,” the priest said .
Other families remain separated , with parents deported to Mexico and minor children -- often U . S . citizens -- left in the care of extended family or foster homes , said Father Carroll .
He cited a November 2011 report of the Applied Research Center , which said 5,100 children were in foster care because their parents were in immigration detention or had been deported . “ This reality falls far short of what Scripture teaches regarding care for the widow , the orphan and the stranger ,” he said .
Woman shouts during a rally in Los Angeles calling for immigration reform Gloria Flores shouts during a rally for immigration reform near Sen . Dianne Feinstein ’ s office in Los Angeles April 10 . Supporters of immigration rallied across the nation and at the U . S . Capitol urging passage of legislation that would include a path to citizenship for an estimated 11 million undocumented immigrants . ( CNS ) www . dsj . org