I was part of the group of Catholics that’s working for comprehensive, compassionate immigration reform that met with Congressman Frank Lobiando (R-NJ) at his Mays Landing office on June 7.
I didn’t speak much at the meeting – my job was to quickly summarize our immigration reform efforts in the Diocese of Camden so far: 1,500 attendees at a Mass in Support of Immigrant Families celebrated by Bishop Sullivan in Vineland on May 3; more than 14,000 postcards from Catholics to lawmakers collected in our 70 parishes, urging reform that includes family unity provisions and an earned pathway to citizenship for the 11 million undocumented immigrants who are in the United States today.
The human side of the immigration reform issue was truly on display at the meeting. First, we heard from Maglorio, who came to this country from Mexico and started working in restaurants. He learned how to cook and now owns a small business. He pays his taxes. He just got a GED, and has hopes for college. He hopes his children can go to college, too. “We’re living the American Dream,” he said. “We just don’t have documents.”
The room fell silent for a few seconds after Maglorio finished with that sentence. It was a powerful moment.
Then, we heard about a young woman named Elizabeth, who sat at the table fingering her rosary beads during the meeting. The father of her 3-year-old son was deported when the baby was six months old. There’s a deportation order out for Elizabeth now. She is required to wear a tracking ankle bracelet around the clock, and to check in with immigration authorities every Tuesday. She’s afraid of what will happen to her son – a U.S. citizen – if she is deported.
I know she broke the law by coming to the United States, but there are such tight restrictions on who is allowed to enter the country in pursuit of a better life. The waiting list is years and years. My ancestors from Russia and Ireland would most likely have been denied entry if the restrictions were the same when they came as they are today.
There has to be a better way to welcome a young woman who just wants a better life for her family.
It was inspiring to listen to the priests and nuns in our group who are serving people like Elizabeth in their parishes, who have story after story about family separation and the fear of living in the shadows. Father Rene Canales, who works with immigrant communities in Swedesboro and Carneys Point, summed it up well: “Immigration reform isn’t an issue. It’s a face and story,” he said. “When you see the pain so many people are in, the politics begin to fade away.”
We know that in the political world this issue is a thorny one with so many complications. But as Sister Kathy said, we believe the love of God called upon in prayer is strong enough to overcome any challenge or division. The combination of hard work and God’s guidance make all things possible, including the passage of compassionate, comprehensive immigration reform.
A group of 45 South Jerseyans prayed outside the office as we met. It was stirring to hear their Hail Marys and Our Fathers through the wall as we talked. The sound was muffled, but it was clear they didn’t once stop.
They have been gathering to pray for compassionate immigration every day for a month now. The moral urgency to get comprehensive immigration reform passed comes through in each story of struggle and hope they tell.
The brokenness of our current immigration system hits home for them and for so many other New Jerseyans – about 550,000 undocumented immigrants live here, which is fifth-most in the country, and more than states like Arizona, Nevada and New Mexico.
Michael Jordan Laskey is director, Life & Justice Ministries, Diocese of Camden.
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