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| This is Rosaly (12) who is fighting for the release of her Mother and now wakes up every morning with the image of their mom being taken away in handcuffs. Bertha has been detained in Eloy for 6 months, in the same detention center where two detainees committed suicide less than a month ago, far from their families and communities. |
The Senate recently passed S.744 the Border Security, Economic Opportunity, and Immigration Modernization
Act. This was a historic and momentous step towards addressing our
current immigration system. But while we focus on the passage of such legislation, we need to remember the day-to-day consequences of our
country’s immigration policies. We must remember that the separation of
families is still occurring. That as a result of flawed and punitive
immigration enforcement policies, more
than 1,100 mothers, fathers, brothers, and sisters will be deported every
single day thereby affecting the mental and physical health of nearly 5
million American children whose parents are undocumented. Today, families will
continue to be separated and the fabric of our communities forever impacted by
the loss of yet another one of our brothers and sisters.
Children are often the unintended victims of our flawed
immigration system. Some children may be too young to comprehend the complex
immigration system that has led to the deportation of a family member but they certainly feel the pain of
having to live without the love and care of someone dear to them. They are the
ones who have to live without the people with whom they are supposed share
all their precious childhood moments. All the tears, the smiles, the playful
hugs and kisses, all of these are unfairly taken away from them. At such tender
ages they must face the reality that their parents, and they themselves, are
often criminalized for not being born in this country. At such tender ages,
they are forced to deal with the heartbreak, pain, and anger that result from a
system that often punishes the most vulnerable—the ones whose voices we often
forget to listen to.
It is for them that we must advocate. Because you cannot
disentangle their health, well being, and happiness from the well being of our
communities and of our country as a whole. As Christians we value and respect
the sanctity of human life, the right of families to remain together, and the
right of children to live free of uncertainty and fear, free of terror and
harm.
But what can we do?
We can begin by educating ourselves on the impact that
family separations have on our communities as a whole. You can read a report here.
The report details the physical, psychological, and economic consequences of
family separations.
Learn about the issues affecting our immigrant communities
including the increased number of deportations. A few weeks ago, a delegation
of researchers from Mexico’s northern border visited Washington D.C. to share
findings on human rights violations in U.S. detention centers and along the
U.S./Mexico border. Their report details an increase in the number of family
separations due to interior enforcement programs like Secure Communities and
287g. These programs have contributed to
the unprecedented number of deportations under President Obama and many groups
have called for their termination.
Most importantly,
NOW is the time to make sure that our voices are heard! It is
important that we lift up our voices and advocate for the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.)’s public witness on immigration which calls for legislation that respects the
dignity of all children of god and that follows the priorities of our General Assembly policy. The faith community has worked tirelessly to pass a bill in the Senate. It is not perfect but we can still work to ensure
that we obtain laws reflective of our values and principles as
Christians.
The House has yet to put forth a comprehensive bill. Several piecemeal bills have been introduced to the House
Judiciary Committee but they will negatively affect our immigrant communities. Now is the time to amplify our voices and let them know that action is needed, and that it is needed now!
