In Immigration News This Week

Ian Danley writes that We are On God's Side in Huffington Post today. He says, "Believing that youth are partners in our community development work rather than problems to be solved, we have found profound leadership capacity in our young people. Our undocumented youth, along the way, have led us all." Read the whole piece here.

Pulitzer Prize winning Jose Antonio Vargas tells his story in My Life as an Undocumented Immigrant the New York Times.

"I’ve tried. Over the past 14 years, I’ve graduated from high school and college and built a career as a journalist, interviewing some of the most famous people in the country. On the surface, I’ve created a good life. I’ve lived the American dream.

"But I am still an undocumented immigrant."

Opinion on Associated Baptist Press has a piece called Scapegoating behind anti immigrant laws:

"Jesus said that insofar as people offer a cup of cold water to one of the least of these his brethren they have done it to him and insofar as they have refused to do it for the least they have refused it to him (Matthew 24). Does anyone really think Jesus didn’t mean illegal immigrants by 'the least of these my brethren?'"

In Whittier, CA we participated in an interfaith event on immigration sponsored by the Whittier Area Interfaith Council. I gave a talk on immigration and introduced one of my friends, a graduate of UCLA, to talk about his experiences in the US after he was brought to the United States when he was only 4 years old.

The Los Angeles Times featured an article on the problem of a lack of labor in states like Georgia where state laws on immigration have made it more difficult for employers to find workers to harvest crops in New Latino South: Fewer Hands in the Field.

The Los Angeles Times has also done op-ed pieces on immigration including: Immigration: Changes to Secure Communities are for the Better. "John Morton, director of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, deserves credit for acknowledging that the program is in trouble and for providing a fix." Also, Help for Young Immigrants, "By some estimates, nearly a million young people in this country are living in a kind of immigration limbo. The United States is the only home many of them have known, but because they were brought here illegally as children by their parents, they live in fear of deportation."

[Update: Pastor Ian Danley's On the Underground Railroad is posted on Define American.] 

Father's Day Blues by Crissy Brooks

I ran into Bernardo on Monday. Bernardo is my neighbor. He is also an immigrant laborer, a husband, and a father. We met a few years ago when we worked on a daylaborer center together. We run into each other from time to time and this week it was apparent he was not doing well.

Bernardo’s wife is ill in Mexico. His son has dropped out of university. When things were good here and work was plentiful, he was able to support them. He was able to pay the rent, buy the medicine and pay his son’s tuition. The sacrifice and costs of being separated seemed to be worth it. But now there is little work and his wife’s health is declining. Bernardo feels like he is failing them and the added stress of being so far away was a visible burden I could see as he spoke of his family’s situation.

Families being separated because of economic hardship is not a new narrative. Some of the best Blues music of the south was born out of this harsh reality. During the Great Migration of the 1910 – 40’s, approximately 1.75 million African-Americans moved north where there was work, often separated from their families. The common theme of the Blues- “my baby’s gone and I will be soon…” wasn’t about a woman just walking out on him. It was about the socio-economic reality of being separated by necessity to find work. She (or he) left to work in the North. The music is great and telling because it gives voice to the authentic pain. The pain of being apart from those you love, the pain of making choices in desperation, the pain of the social realities that led to the situation.

I wonder what gives voice to Bernardo’s pain. Perhaps that is why I write about him here, to give the pain of his separation a voice. I understand that he had a choice. I understand that for generations many people migrating for all different reasons had choices. But I am not sure how much of a choice “starve here or leave your family and find work” really is. I have heard poverty described in terms of the availability of choices. If those are your two choices, I suppose you are quite poor.

Sunday, June 19^th is Father’s Day and I can’t help but think about the thousands, even millions of fathers out there like Bernardo. Fathers separated from their families because of their lack of available choices. Fathers who are sacrificing to provide food, education, and medical care, for the ones they love. And I wonder what my response to them should be?

What would I do given those choices, what would you do? It is easy for me to judge the choices of others. I consider myself quite resourceful and creative, sure that I could come up with some solution. But I have not had to face the choices that many of my neighbors like Bernardo have faced. Though we live in the same place, our realities can be quite different. Our challenge now is to build a new shared reality together that will hopefully be plentiful in choices for all of us.

An interfaith conversation on immigration: Loving the Stranger

Tuesday, June 21 · 7:00pm

Whittier First Friends Church

13205 Philadelphia Street

Whittier, CA

The interfaith council is hosting this conversation about the immigration issue. Glen Peterson will make a presentation from a Christian perspective from Hebrew and Christian holy writings on how to treat the stranger and make some applications to the current situation.  

See the Facebook event page to RSVP and for more information.

For more information feel free to email me at gpeterson [at] capacitypartnership [dot] com.

Guest Blog: Jar of Mayo

Sara Johnson is on a walking trip in northern Mexico near the border with the United States. This is the first in a series about her experiences there. 


Some of my most vivid childhood memories swirl around time in the water. Splashing in a pool for hours on end gave way to my nickname, "The Fish." On one particular pool day my mom packed a lunch for our family. We would be hungry after a full day of sun, sunscreen and pool time.  She packed all sorts of picnic foods. Sandwiches, chips, watermelon... and a jar of mayo? I remember seeing the jar and wondering why it was in the ice chest. It seemed so odd. 

My mom had a plan. She knew what she was doing. Time, love and energy went into packing the perfect lunch. Now here sits this jar of mayonnaise, a supposed random item to bring. But to my mom it made perfect sense. She knew someone would want it. She packed it with the hopes of satisfying someone's hunger. It was an intentional act of love. 

Now here I was, almost 20 years later, in the middle of the arid Mexico desert. This trip's focus was exploring the myriad complex sides of the immigration crisis. On a merely human level we can all see that people are dying. Moms, dads, little children, grandmas and grandpas are crossing the desert and wasting away- of thirst, starvation and medical injuries.

There are simple things we can do to prevent these deaths. One of them is providing water. That's what I was doing in the desert, filling large barrels of water for migrants to drink. (I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink. Matthew 25:35)

Walking through the desert I came across a worn trail many weary travelers had used to stop, rest and eat. And then I saw it. A half-full jar of mayonnaise. 

Just a jar of mayo, right? But to me it represented a mother's love for those she cared for. I imagined a woman preparing food for the long journey ahead. Tears welled up like little pools in my eyes as I imagined a mother carefully and tenderly packing a lunch in preparation for their trek through the desert- sojourners in a foreign land. 

Someone packed this jar of mayo with the hope of it providing sustenance to those they loved. And now here it was, half-empty and abandoned.

Many half-empty, abandoned dreams are walking in the desert right now. Some are on the verge of death. There are dry, dusty mouths in the desert. Please pray they find water. And remember, humanitarian aid is never a crime.

This piece has been cross posted at Undocumented.tv/blog and piece of paz. 

Sarah Jackson lives in Denver, Colorado with immigrants from El Salvador. She is striving to be the hands and feet of love, justice and mercy as she lives with the poor and marginalized in the community. Every day she intentionally believes in the intoxicating love which travels beyond borders. Follow Sarah’s blog or connect with her on Facebook.

Please note that the views expressed by guest bloggers represent their own personal views, and not necessarily those of everyone associated with Loving the Stranger or any institutions with which the blogger may be affiliated.

Assemblymember Roger Hernández on Immigration (CA AD 57)

California Dream Act (AB 131) Passes Assembly on May 5, 2011. It is now headed for the California Senate.

From the 57th California Assembly District's Roger Hernández web site:

(Sacramento) – Assemblymember Roger Hernández (D-East Los Angeles County) joined the rest of his fellow Democrats in the Assembly to support Assembly Bill 130, the California Dream Act, when it came up for a vote on the floor of the State Assembly. Assemblymember Hernández told his colleagues AB 130 is needed so undocumented college students can apply for and receive financial aid. Assemblymember Gil Cedillo (D-Los Angeles), author of AB130, has introduced a similar bill every year since 2005. Former Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger, a Republican, vetoed the legislation repeatedly. Here’s more from Assemblymember Hernández in this Assembly Access video.

California's 57th Assembly District falls within eastern Los Angeles County and includes the cities of Azusa, Covina, Baldwin Park, Industry, Irwindale, La Puente, West Covina and the unincorporated communities of Avocado Heights, Bassett, Charter Oak, Citrus, East Arcadia, Hacienda Heights, Ramona and Valinda.

Governor Jerry Brown has already said that he would sign this kind of bill when passed by California's Assembly and Senate.

Find out how your California Assemblymember voted and thank him or her for supporting eligible students. How will your State Senator vote? Find your senator here and let him or her know that you support the California DREAM Act. 

For more on other California legislators and congressional representatives and positions on immigration see what America's Voice has to say about Congressman Elton Gallegly (R-CA) here.

I hope this becomes a recurring series of informational posts on State and Federal legislators and their positions on immigration, immigration reform and DREAM Act related issues. If you'd care to submit a blog post on this topic or another immigration and faith related issue, see our guidelines here.

STREET POLITICS--a guest blog

 …from David Schmidt

           About once a month, I voluntarily subject myself to the psychotic rantings of the anti-immigrant blogs and websites that pockmark cyberspace. More important than their comedic value or any masochistic tendencies of my own, I feel it necessary to hear what our opponents are saying. If we who are on the side of solidarity and inclusion are aware of the accusations being levied against immigrants, we will be more prepared to respond to these attacks, thus inoculating the general, confused U.S. public against any potential appeal they may have.

           Most of the time, I find outright lies, distortions and falsehoods that can be easily countered with the facts: “immigrants take our jobs, degrade our culture, bring crime and disease, bankrupt our hospitals, make our hallways smell of garlic and cilantro,” etcetera, etcetera, ad nauseam. [more after the jump]

Dr. Daniel Carroll R. - Immigration and the Bible

A sixty minute video teaching on immigration and the bible can be purchase from Urban Entry Video.



Dr. M. Daniel Carroll Rodas, who celebrates his heritage from both Guatemala and the United States, is Distinguished Professor of Old Testament at Denver Seminary.

Dr. Carroll blogs about immigration and other matters here.