“Don’t mistreat or oppress an immigrant, because you were once immigrants in the land of Egypt.”
We have been engaged in a tense - sometimes explosive - dialogue about immigration policy. What does it mean when we are given the above directive and find ourselves confronting 12 million undocumented citizens? How do we treat well those our culture tells us to fear? About 75 Presbyterians and friends came together in November to join the conversation.
At the program titled, “Welcoming the Stranger: Conversations About Immigration” participants had the opportunity to learn about the history of U.S. immigration policy. Since the very first immigration law passed in 1790, racial-ethnic background has been a determining factor in eligibility for legal residency and citizenship. For most of the 20th century a quota system was in place that exempted people from western Europe. Policy toward the turn of the century drastically changed the landscape of U.S. immigration, and a great deal of policy since the 1990’s has been developed by and for the for-profit prison industry.
Following the discussion about the history of immigration, we heard from the VACOLAO’s Government Relations Officer, Demas Boudreaux, with tips for advocacy. UPSem student Lauren Voyles, spoke of her experience as a YAV at the Mexico-U.S. border. Three residents who emigrated from Mexico shared reflections about what it’s like to be a stranger here. A US Citizen described her struggle to navigate the US “legal” immigration system with her African husband. All of the speakers then sat on a panel to answer questions from the very engaged audience.
We are told to welcome the stranger and care for the oppressed, but how?
In Virginia, we have the opportunity right now to advocate for our sisters and brothers from foreign lands; people who have been excluded from fully engaging in our culture and economy. Six state legislators have introduced bills to expand driving privileges to those currently excluded for no reason other than immigration status. As my husband - a Mexican immigrant who was undocumented for ten years - explains:
I felt like I always had one hand tied behind my back. Every day I worked in back-breaking labor to take care of my family. I would give anything - even my life - for them. But I didn’t have opportunities to make a better life for one reason - I couldn’t drive. If I drive without a license and get stopped for any reason - even just a tail light is out - I could find myself in jail and then deported, with my wife and son, who are US Citizens, left behind. That driver’s license that I finally got after ten years allows me to take care of my family like when our second baby was born in an emergency, to take my sons to daycare, to work at a better job, to be independent, to pick up something for dinner on my way home. My wife used to drive me to work and pick me up every day. She is a US Citizen, but that meant her hands were tied, too.
The transportation sub-committees will be hearing these bills, and I will be there offering testimony in their support. God’s will is to loosen the chains of oppression and these bills will free the captive hands of people like my husband. I will be there because this is one way to offer a better welcome, remembering that we were once strangers, too.
http://www.pewhispanic.org/2015/09/28/selected-u-s-immigration-legislation-and-executive-actions-1790-2014/
https://youtu.be/gF12SgkQKKk
https://vimeo.com/146642258
http://www.pcusa.org/news/2015/1/21/journeying-in-hope/
http://oga.pcusa.org/section/mid-council-ministries/immigration/immigration-legislation/
