Holy Cross/IHM's Letter to McCain and Obama

The immigration committee at Holy Cross/IHM Parish is in the midst of a letter campaign. Committee chair Jose Alonso wrote a letter on the topic of immigration which was read by another committee member during announcements at the 10:30 Mass at Holy Cross yesterday. Parishioners had the opportunity to sign copies of the letter after Mass ended--a bunch of us stood around with clipboards and copies of the letter in English and Spanish. Copies will be sent to both presidential candidates; I just got an email saying over 300 letters were signed and returned. The letter drive will continue next weekend at the 9 a.m. Mass at Immaculate Heart of Mary.

Here is the English version of the letter:

“This country does not care about liberty when there are immigration raids taking place.”
- A teenager from the Back of the Yards, Chicago, IL

Recently, several Mexican-American youth from our parish, Holy Cross/IHM, in the Back of the Yards traveled to Philadelphia with our pastor, Father Bruce Wellems. During the trip, the group visited one of the greatest symbols of this country: the Liberty Bell. One young man stood near the Liberty Bell, but he would not look at it. The rest of the group was busy taking pictures, while he stood apart with his head down. Having visited several historic places, our pastor thought that perhaps he was just tired. He then approached the young man and asked if he had seen the Liberty Bell. The young man then made the comment stated above. How can there be true freedom when the government is rejecting the poor and those who are oppressed? How can this be a nation who cares about the freedom of others when they unjustly chase immigrants?

These questions reflect one of the most pressing concerns of the Back of the Yards today, a community comprised predominantly of Mexican-American immigrants. Even now, more than 100 years after Upton Sinclair documented the struggles of immigrants in this small neighborhood on the southside of Chicago, the immigrant spirit of hope lives on. However, the hope that our great country represents is endangered when our community is threatened with tearing apart its families, depriving its children of the right to an education in this country, and losing the opportunity to earn a dignified living.

Admittedly, there was anger in the young man’s statement. Our pastor responded to his statement by reminding him that the Liberty Bell is cracked. It is not perfect, and so too, with freedom – we are still a people who are not completely free. We are still searching for a way to respect the rights of all people and healing is needed. It will take time, but it can only happen with the efforts of those who truly care and believe that freedom, safety and respect of all people is possible. He represents the next generation of Americans and his statement represents the need to reaffirm the values that this country was founded upon. Our pastor was able to point to the following biblical quote inscribed on the Liberty Bell, to comfort the young man, “Proclaim LIBERTY throughout all the Land unto ALL the Inhabitants thereof.”

We are asking for you to be courier of the values reflected in this quote by supporting just immigration reform. This country has a history of compassion towards immigrants and we are now asking you to continue that tradition. We are asking that you be an advocate for our community by: (1) supporting the unification of our families; (2) defending the opportunity to have our children educated in this country; and (3) preserving our chance to earn a dignified living. Thank for your time in reading this letter. Good luck and God Bless.

For more specifics on the kinds of situations many of my neighbors and fellow parishioners are facing, I highly recommend this 2006 article from U.S. Catholic.

Immigrants, Aliens, Dreams

First, I want to apologize for the long delay between posts. I wasn't feeling well last week and then went out of town over the weekend. I'm still not really 100 percent, so I'll let Greg Michie do the heavy lifting today.

About a month ago, Greg posted a reflection on the Teaching Excellence Network website about the DREAM Act and how badly we need it to help undocumented youth have a reason to pursue academic excellence. Greg used to teach here in Back of the Yards. Here's a little of what he had to say about their chances of going to college:

I tried to help my students see college as a real possibility down the road. And I tried to impress upon them that, clichéd or not, working hard and doing well academically would give them more options after high school.

Turns out that I lied.

You see, most of my former students are from Mexican immigrant families, and some—more than I realized at the time—are undocumented. So even if they remain focused, stay out of trouble, study, and graduate from high school with exceptional grades, going to college is still a long shot at best. For many, it’s simply not possible.

Along with Greg, Senator Dick Durbin and many others, I've said it before and I'll say it again: children who were brought to this country by adults should not be penalized for decisions over which they had no control. The United States should not waste the talent, intelligence and energy of these young people by preventing them from going to college and building a life in the only country many of them have ever really known. Local communities like Back of the Yards are held back when our youth are told they can't pursue their dreams to the fullest. The DREAM Act would fix this by giving young people who arrived here before age 16, have lived here for five years, stayed out of trouble and completed high school conditional legal status while pursuing college or the military. Whatever else you think about broader issues of immigration, this looks to me like a winner for everyone.

It also took me until just now to post a comment that came in about Brady Girl's Radio Arte essays. Here's what Andrea had to say:

She is describing illegal aliens, not immigrants. What honestly amazes me is that (1) she doesn’t seem to be aware of the difference and (2) you don’t point that out in this post.


It pains me to state the obvious, but even though I wasn’t “born here” I “have health insurance”, “get paid like actual citizens” and was “able to get a visa to go and visit family”.


Defenders of illegal immigration, who can’t or won’t see the difference between having “papers” and not having them, put off people (like me) who do and end up hurting their own cause.

I responded to Andrea back at the Brady Girl 2 post--feel free to check back. My basic point was that I've personally known way too many people who have fallen in and out of legal immigration status for various bureaucratic reasons, to the point where I don't personally see the line as starkly as Andrea does. People who come to one country from another are immigrants; sometimes they are in the country legally, sometimes not. I myself came pretty close to being an illegal alien in France--I had to leave briefly in the middle of my stay and come back on a new 3-month tourist visa in order to reside there legally.

By the way, the immigration committee at Holy Cross/IHM appears to be gearing up for some new activity. Stay tuned.