Farmworkers (mainly the
newest wave of immigrants) are not an issue to address, but people that I care
about, fellow inhabitors of this world and citizens of God's kingdom. I am
grateful for this privilege of becoming friends with some of these hardworking
families. I dont usually write so 'politically', but when politics impact
people, 11 billion undocumented people in fact, it's hard to keep quiet! :) I
want our country’s policies to treat all people humanely and fairly,
acknowledging the incredible contribution they are in fact making. Our
country’s Social Security benefits $6.8 billion dollars every year from the
work of undocumented workers who indeed pay income taxes and yet don’t qualify
to receive refunds.
Unfortunately fear is increasing in the
undocumented immigrant community. Between the Arizona law in Supreme Court this
week and Secure Communities program that was enacted statewide in the beginning
of April, fear is unfortunately somewhat understandable. Last summer, several
of us from Tierra Nueva joined other immigrant rights leaders in meeting with
our Skagit County sheriff and police chiefs to persuade them to not join this
program. However recently, Immigration Customs & Enforcement (ICE) got
their foot in on the state-level and it is now a statewide mandate. This
means that when people are booked into Skagit County Jails (with probable cause
for arrest but no conviction), their fingerprints are not only sent to FBI but also
to ICE.
Contrary to the goal of ‘removing criminal
aliens from our communities’, as we know, not everyone arrested is guilty. So
unfortunately it means that innocent people will be deported, splitting
families and making it even harder to survive on minimal employment, let alone
the level of trauma. Although this may seem to address the ‘problem of
undocumented workers’, it in fact ignites fear in the community. People are
less inclined to call the police for emergencies, which compromises our
communities’ safety. Even though it doesn’t give police the ‘right’ to
ask for documentation, that is the word that has spread and something I’m
trying to tackle at late-night phone calls and home visits. “No, the
police don’t have the right to stop you without reason or even ask for your
documents.” No, racial profiling is not legal. At least, not yet.
Please join with me in interceding for humane US
policies, and click on the below links if you want to advocate for some
options on the table.
To participate in a current action
opportunity through Sojourners' Christians for Comprehensive Immigration
Reform, click here
or to sign a petition for Obama
through Witness for Peace, click here
