Posted on 06/22/2007 2:35:26 AM PDT by 2ndDivisionVet
Fear, persecution, prejudice, families divided. This is the reality of thousands of immigrants - legal or not - who left behind country, culture and friends to search for the American Dream.
But more and more Americans are repelled by the harsh tactics being used against them - and are raising their voices.
"A lot of children have been brutally separated from their families," said the Rev. Dr. Donna Schaper, the senior minister of Judson Memorial Church in Greenwich Village. "This is un-American; family values don't stop at the Rio Grande."
She is one of the founders of the New Sanctuary Movement.
"We launched it on May 9 because something had to be done about the increasing detentions, deportations and raids," Schaper said. "Morally, we could not remain silent any longer."
Energetic and articulate, Schaper is not one to mince words.
"Why invade people's homes at dawn? Is it necessary to be so mean? What happened to this country's generosity and kindness?" she asked.
According to Schaper, the New Sanctuary Movement is national and is growing rapidly. It began in New York, Los Angeles and Chicago and, last weekend, congregations in Miami, Detroit, Dallas and New Haven joined it.
"In New York, we began with nine congregations, and now we have 17," Schaper said. "No religion can watch the meanness of what's happening without doing something about it. This is an assault on religion itself."
U.S. churches have a long tradition of taking the role of sanctuaries - for runaway slaves and Vietnam War draftees on the run, and in the 1980s for Salvadorans fleeing their country's civil war.
Schaper said that this time it is different.
"We are doing it in the open; we want to show who are the people being punished by these anti-immigrant policies," she said. "We want everybody to see that they are parents and children and families."
Jean Montrevil, a 38-year old Haitian immigrant awaiting deportation, is one of those people. A devout and dedicated family man, according to Schaper, he is a permanent legal resident.
He has four children, all of them born in this country. His wife, Janei, 29, is an American.
Montrevil came to America 22 years ago. He owns a religious supplies store and runs a van service. Yet a drug conviction 18 years back is being used as the reason to deport him - no matter that he has lived an exemplary life since then.
"I hope for his case to be reopened and for him not being deported," said Montrevil's wife. "He is a good man and a good father. I don't know what will happen to the children without him."
"This punishing mentality - what good does it do?" Schaper asked. "He is completely rehabilitated, and nothing will be gained with deporting him."
Schaper spoke with the Daily News on Tuesday at the offices of Service Employees International Union Local 32BJ, where a forum on local responses to the U.S. immigration crisis was being held.
Local 32BJ is the largest property service workers union in the country, with members from 64 countries who speak 28 languages. It has been very active in the campaign for comprehensive immigration reform.
"I am here today to show support for immigrant workers," Schaper said.
She had eloquently expressed that support - and the logic for the sanctuary movement - in a recent Op-Ed piece in the Hartford Courant.
"How dare U.S. citizens let immigrants paint their nails, mow their lawns, raise their children, clean their homes - and then call them criminals?" she asked.
How, indeed?
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Albor Ruiz has been a columnist for the Daily News since 1997, but joined the paper in 1993 as the first Latino member of its Editorial Board. Ruiz was also the editor-in-chief of El Daily News, the first bilingual newspaper in the country. Throughout his career, Ruiz has never lost sight of the struggles of Latino immigrants. Whether writing for English- or Spanish-language media, Ruiz' journalistic mission has been to provide a voice for those whose stories often go untold by the mainstream media.
aruiz@edit.nydailynews.com
>>Yet a drug conviction 18 years back is being used as the reason to deport him - no matter that he has lived an exemplary life since then.<<
The amnesty people says that’s the only reason he is being deported, but we don’t know all the facts here. For example, he may have lied on his application about the drug bust, and there may be other blemishes on his record.
>>Just the drug bust is reason enough to deport him under U.S. law. I’m glad the authorities are doing their job in this case. Living in America is a privilege, not a right if you’re not a citizen!<<
Yes, but the idea is to cast US laws and procedures in an unfavorable light, so I would not be surprised if they are not presenting all the facts.
if they want sanctuary...let them all move back to mexico!!!
NO AMNESTY....NO CITIZENSHIP....NO MORE ANCHOR BABIES.....NO SOCIAL WELFARE BENEFITS!!!!
they are not citizens...they are illegals!!!!
Just say NO to Illegal Alien Amnesty!! Keep calling!! It’s NOT OVER!!
U.S. Senate switchboard: (202) 224-3121
U.S. House switchboard: (202) 225-3121
White House comments: (202) 456-1111
Find your House Rep.: http://www.house.gov/writerep
Find your US Senators: http://www.senate.gov/general/contact_information/senators_cfm.cfm
Americans don't take too kindly to law-breakers running amok, waving Mexican flags, and demanding "more and more and more."
These illegals arent looking for the American Dream. They dont wish to become Americans. If they wished to become Americans they would learn to speak English.
They dont want the Ameircan dream they want to turn America into a Mexican cess pool, only with jobs.
They’re not even honest enough to properly frame the debate. The issue isn’t immigration, it’s illegal immigration. And these idiots know it!
Hey, that happens when people break the law here and we don't complain about it. There are a lot of American families broken up when the father is thrown in prison for criminal behavior. Them's the breaks. Too bad for the kids, but mom probably liked to hang with the 'bad boys.'
Mexican women should only marry men who promise not to break into the USA and break our laws.
An American value is respecting the law. You don't.
"A lot of children have been brutally separated from their families,"
I agree that has to change. I support a constitutional amendment which says that if you come here illegally, squat down and have a baby, that baby will not automatically be an American citizen.
This way we'll deport both you and your baby, keeping the family intact.
No, an immigrant has a desire to become a permanent resident. You don't. These are more correctly known as anti-illegal-alien policies.
You know, those who break the law to get here, work for cash, send it home, and don't pay taxes, who don't bother to learn our culture and our language and have no intention whatsoever of becoming U.S. citizens.
Those people.
Oh, cry me a river...we'll use it as a moat.
I’m sick of criminal invaders breaking our laws, then making babies that they can hold up as human shields, to keep from being deported!
I have seen this minister and her druggie on Fox. There are 600,000 illegals in NYC and she prides herself on helping two. Big deal.
One very small Quisling-fish in a big lake full of giants.
Sounds like they are going to share with us the Mexican nightmare rather than the American dream.
Thats exactly what is happening.
We are sending all the good jobs out of the country and importing Mexicans to do the bad. In the end it will be Americans without jobs.
“I agree that has to change. I support a constitutional amendment which says that if you come here illegally, squat down and have a baby, that baby will not automatically be an American citizen.”
Absolutely. We should amend the Constitution so that at least one of a child’s parents must be a citizen for it to have citizenship. Its past time to throw out absolute birthright citizenship. No more anchor babies.
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