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friday reflection 25 august 2017

8/25/2017

Immigrant facts to ponder
Over the past months, this column has offered both theological reflections on immigration and how we are called to be as a people of God, as well as some options to consider in response. In this article, I’d like to offer some facts to consider about immigrants.

The Pew Research Center published an article entitled “5 facts about illegal immigration in the U.S.” (April 27, 2017), which listed five facts:

There were 11 million unauthorized immigrants in the U.S. in 2015,
Mexicans may no longer be the majority of U.S. unauthorized immigrants.
The U.S. civilian workforce includes 8 million unauthorized immigrants, accounting for 5% of those who were working or were unemployed and looking for work,
Six states account for 59% of unauthorized immigrants: California, Texas, Florida, New York, New Jersey and Illinois.
A rising share of unauthorized immigrants have lived in the U.S. for at least a decade.

You can read the entire article here: http://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2017/04/27/5-facts-about-illegal-immigration-in-the-u-s/.

Another article, “Key Findings about U.S. Immigrants,” can be accessed here http://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2017/05/03/key-findings-about-u-s-immigrants/. Among other findings, this article states that about one-fourth (24.5%) of the U.S. foreign-born population is here illegally, with about the same percent (26.6%) in the U.S. legally as permanent residents. Nearly half (44.1%) are naturalized.

The plight of citizen children of undocumented parents is especially dire. The American Immigration Council has published an article on this subject entitled “U.S. Citizen Children Impacted by Immigration Enforcement,” which offers several facts:

4.1 million U.S. citizen children under the age of 18 live with at least one undocumented parent, according to estimates of 2009-2013 census data.
Not surprisingly, Immigration enforcement—and the threat of such actions—can negatively impact a child’s long-term health and development.
The detention or deportation of a parent puts children at risk of economic instability.
U.S. citizen children may end up in the child welfare system following the detention or deportation of their parent; and
U.S. citizen children may end up in the child welfare system following the detention or deportation of their parent.

You can access this article here: https://www.americanimmigrationcouncil.org/research/us-citizen-children-impacted-immigration-enforcement.

If you have any questions or contributions, please email me at DeaconNancy@diosanjoaquin.org.

Deacon Nancy

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friday reflection 11 august 2017

8/11/2017

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Give public declaration of physical, spiritual, moral, and financial support.

Many of our congregations proudly display the message “All are welcomed,” or another “There will be no outcasts.” Have you ever wondered what this means, really means? In other words, when Jesus says “Feed my sheep,” does he literally mean, provide food to those who are hungry? To those who must choose between paying the rent, keeping the electricity on, or feeding their families? Or when the Episcopal Church says “There will be no outcasts,” do we really mean to include those who have over-stayed their visas to work the fields, clean hotel rooms, or construct buildings and are thus categorized as “undocumented aliens?” I hope so!

For our public statements to be meaningful, we need to be specific and be prepared to let our actions speak loudly. In earlier articles of this Sanctuary series, we have suggested educating ourselves on issues of citizenship, creating safe places for all, supporting efforts of agencies that can educate our brothers and sisters in fear of deportation about their rights, and collaborating with those agencies who have the expertise to assist with obtaining legal status. But congregations can also offer assistance in other ways:

Hold prayer vigils for those seeking citizenship.
Contribute to an established local “Legal Defense Fund” to provide assistance with legal costs of obtaining citizenship and/or legal defense at deportation hearings. Your area Faith in the Valley organizations may have established such a fund.
Pray for families that are separated due to immigration status of parents with citizen children.
Pray for those in danger of deportation – both those with legal status, and those without legal status.
Work with your area Faith in the Valley organization in their advocacy and public policy actions.
Publically state your support for working towards just immigration reform through policy statements, letters to the editor, and other public forums.

The spirituality of Jesus is firmly grounded in his actions. Jesus was not content to merely speak of the commandment to love one’s neighbor as oneself: Jesus’ spirituality was firmly grounded in action. Jesus healed the sick of their diseases, raised the dead, and fed the hungry. And he did this in a very noisy and public manner.

We are called to do no less.

If you have any questions or contributions, please email me at DeaconNancy@diosanjoaquin.org.

Deacon Nancy

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