May Day immigration rallies keep pressure on U.S. Congress
Episcopal News Service. May 3, 2007 [050307-01]
Staff
Immigrant-rights groups around the United States marched on May 1 to urge Congress to pass legislation that will make the immigration system one that balances enforcement with acknowledgment of the need for an expanded program to permit foreign workers to enter the country legally.
Immigrant-rights and faith-based advocates of reform, including the Episcopal Church, have consistently pressed for allowing those immigrants without documentation the chance to earn credit toward permanent status if they are employed and meet certain additional requirements.
“The Episcopal Church has solid, far reaching policies which embrace an immigration system that does not separate families, respects the dignity of workers by giving them access to legal membership in our society, and which balances a reasonable regard for enforcement with a recognition that the U.S. needs foreign workers and therefore should give them a legal means of offering their labor,” said Richard Parkins, director of Episcopal Migration Ministries (EMM).
Parkins expressed hope that, as the immigration debate goes forward, “the thousands of Americans who have marched and advocated for a just immigration system will remain faithful to the cause and insist that Congress respond accordingly. A fair and balanced bill is within reach; but it will be a hard fought victory as the enforcement only advocates are determined and well organized. Faith communities must be no less so.”
In the wake of stepped-up efforts by the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to pursue undocumented workers through a series of roundups around the United States, some Episcopal clergy and lay activists have been among those speaking loudly against the inhumane consequences of these raids. The raids have separated families, often leaving children without parents as breadwinners were placed in detention or deported.
Parkins said that the flurry of activity around seizing and punishing undocumented workers “illustrates the shortsightedness of the enforcement only approach -- an approach which we have long insisted is the wrong remedy for our broken immigration system. We are now witnessing the vigorous implementation of enforcement tactics which are both inhumane and, in the final analysis, an unworkable and unsustainable solution to remedying the ills of our immigration system.”
The zeal of authorities in rounding up migrants has resulted in a revival of the sanctuary movement. The movement offers refuge to casualties of raids where families are likely to be separated or where other hardships could be visited upon individuals who have struggled to maintain their families, often for many years. Responding to the basic needs of such persons or providing them with counseling and related services is considered important for those in communities which could be torn apart by the detention or deportation of its members.
In responding to the efforts of Episcopal parishes to act on behalf of the victims of such raids, Presiding Bishop Katharine Jefferts Schori, in an April 17 pastoral letter, told Episcopal Church members that “we are called to find ways to protect and care for those strangers in our midst, who are often shunned by others. We must welcome these strangers in our own congregations and communities, and we must call upon our government to enact just immigration reform.”
Jefferts Schori's letter echoed the stance of the Episcopal Church on immigration issues. The 75th General Convention adopted Resolution A017, stating its fundamental immigration principles.
The Executive Council also passed resolutions a year ago (INC/NAC044) and in June 2005 (NAC032) which supported comprehensive immigration reform and advised members of the church to follow the call of the Baptismal Covenant to "seek and serve Christ in all persons" in ministering to illegal immigrants, despite any laws that would criminalize such assistance.