Dialogue on immigration reform continues locally

    We are all immigrants. That common thread ran through 12 different speeches on Nov. 23 as members of women’s religious congregations of the Archdiocese of New Orleans joined a crowd of supporters at Loyola University New Orleans for a Nuns Rally for Comprehensive Immigration Reform.
    The rally, sponsored by congregations in cooperation with the Jesuit Social Research Institute of Loyola, highlighted the fact that an immigration reform bill passed by the Senate in June languishes in the House of Representatives as more immigrants face deportation.
    “Over a thousand immigrants are being deported a day, devastating families and undermining communities,” said Susan Weishar, migration specialist for the Jesuit Social Research Institute. “In June, the Senate passed a comprehensive immigration reform bill. Now, the House must show it is capable of addressing our nation’s problems by taking urgent action on comprehensive immigration reform before Congress adjourns for the year.”
Congressional action urged
    The sisters voiced the need for action and asked attendees to fill out postcards to send to Congress. One by one, the nuns came to the microphone on Loyola’s front lawn, mentioning how their congregations came to the United States from afar to care for the sick, the orphaned and the poor. Now, they said, they are speaking up for those who still come to the United States, seeking a better way of life.
    Religious of the Sacred Heart Sister Anne Byrne reminded the crowd that her society began “as did so many American institutions – with an immigrant. Sister Rose Philippine Duchesne left her home in France in 1818 with a desire to educate the poor.”
    “The Religious of the Sacred Heart of the United States-Canada Province find our country’s immigration policies fall short of recognizing the dignity of the individual,” she added. “We see an extreme lack of compassion in these laws as applied to immigrants.”
    Sister of the Holy Faith Maura O’Donovan, one of the organizers of the rally, agreed. “We are aware of the way immigrants are suffering and are being harassed,” she said. “We are on the side of those on the margins of society.
    “We find a great lack of integrity in the way many of us respond to the present broken immigration system in the U.S.,” she said. “Many want cheap and willing labor but are unwilling to treat our brothers and sisters as equals, made like all of us in the image and likeness of God.”
    Sister Maura’s sentiments were echoed by all who spoke.
A path to citizenship needed
    “The Ursulines are concerned about the unwelcoming climate which seems to exist concerning the poorer immigrants seeking to be part of our country,” said Ursuline Sister Virginia Cirone. “We urge the members of the House of Representatives to vote on and pass the Senate’s comprehensive bill on immigration reform, which offers a path to citizenship for those already in the country as well as provides for better patrol of our borders.”
    “We are one with those who suffer as we stand united at the foot of the cross,” said Sister Ann Lacour, congregational leader of the Marianites of Holy Cross, who spoke of how the congregation’s founder, Holy Cross Father Basil Moreau, sent priests and sisters from France to America, where they were strangers in a strange land.
    “Today, as always, we stand as Jesus did with the marginalized of our world,” Sister Ann said. “Let us welcome the stranger as we look into the face of God.”
    And Sister of Mount Carmel Jane Remson read a letter from the congregation’s president, Sister Lawrence Habetz: “Today, the Congregation of Our Lady of Mount Carmel stands with all immigrants, with the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, with women and men religious throughout our country in asking the members of Congress for comprehensive immigration reform now.”
    The sisters made their call for immigration reform based not on politics but on faith. As Daughter of Charity Sister Anthony Barczykowski put it: “Catholic social teaching as well as our own founders, St. Vincent de Paul and St. Louise de Marillac, urge us to reach out to those who are most abandoned and unable to speak for themselves. … Immigrants are members of our society who need our voice and our assistance at this time.”
Welcoming the stranger
    Other congregations at the rally included the Missionary Sisters of the Sacred Heart of Jesus, whose speaker, Sister Regina Peterson, reminded listeners that “we must be open to all people because Jesus welcomed all and gave himself for all”; and Dominican Sister of Peace Theresa Fox, who added: “The current immigration system is so broken that it denies immigrants basic human and civil rights. We call for comprehensive reform that would provide additional and viable legal avenues for immigration, reunite families, legalize undocumented persons, and establish opportunities for permanent residency. … We follow the nonviolent Jesus, remembering that most of our ancestors were also alien in the alien land that is now the United States.”
    The sentiments and words of comfort were welcomed by another speaker at the rally, Erlin San Martin Gomez, who, through an interpreter, told the crowd how he was arrested in the parking lot of his apartment complex, fingerprinted, put in a van and not allowed to call his child’s baby-sitter to let her know he could not come home. He spent a month in detention awaiting deportation before his wife and members of the Congress of Day Laborers pushed for his release until the deportation proceedings could be investigated.
    It is people like Gomez who need the support of immigration reform, the sisters said. The rally was a reminder to immigrants that they are not alone.
    As Sister of the Holy Family Laura Mercier  said, “We will preach, teach, pray and fast and use whatever resources we need to assist you with your struggles.”
    Karen Baker can be reached at kbaker@clarionherald.org.