Posted on 08/15/2008 6:12:23 AM PDT by Tennessee Nana
Fallout from the April immigration arrests at the Pilgrim’s Pride poultry plant in Chattanooga will be felt for months to come, and it will affect the entire community, local officials say.
“This is something that’s going to be going on for many more months,” the Rev. Mike Feely, director of the St. Andrews Center, a resource for Chattanooga’s multicultural communities, said Thursday. “It’s not just somebody else that it’s happening to. It’s our community, our neighbors, our church members, children who are in school with our kids. These are people that are part of this community, as well.”
In an effort to raise awareness of the needs of the families affected by the arrests, the Hispanic Displacement Relief Coalition held a public information session Thursday morning at Miller Plaza.
“We are so used to things happening, and the next day there’s a new crisis,” Mr. Feely told about a dozen members of the community and social service groups. “Well, this is an ongoing and continuous crisis, and we wanted you to be aware of it.”
The coalition was created “to support the Hispanic community by advocating on their behalf and raising public awareness of the gifts they bring to the social and economic well-being of our region,” according to a news release.
During the four-month period after the Pilgrim’s Pride arrests, more than 15 organizations have donated more than $50,000 in money and supplies, said Rebecca Whelchel, executive director of the Metropolitan Ministry of the Episcopal Commission of Southeast Tennessee.
“They were fed; they were given diapers, clothing, all the supplies they had been providing for themselves just a few weeks earlier, but now had no way to access,” Ms. Whelchel said.
But “the struggle continues. The emergency funds are drying up (and) the families will continue to need the assistance of the social service agencies,” she said.
Darlene Williams, who was having lunch at the pavilion in Miller Plaza, said she wasn’t aware of the process that illegal immigrants go through and found the coalition information very helpful.
“I didn’t know it was maybe months before they went to court or what happened,” said Ms. Williams, who works at Northeastern Mutual Insurance Co. “I thought they checked it and either you went back or you stayed here.”
The Rev. James Vick, coordinator for the Hispanic Ministry for the Catholic Deanery in Chattanooga, said the community needs to keep up with what’s going on.
“This is not just a problem they see on (television), this is a real problem. We are dealing with mothers, fathers, brothers and sisters, that children are involved and that compassion has to flow no matter what,” he said. “It’s not a matter of legality; it’s a matter of helping people who are in trouble.”
Why are illegal aliens "drying up" the coffers of the state of Tennessee ????
Pilgrim’s Pride News PING
Our TN coffers are being “dried up” by illegal aliens PING
It’s about time we start tabulating the bill and taking it out directly from Mexico - in oil. They don’t like it? Tough.
Gang of 10 member Bob Corker(r) was Mayor of Chattanooga before becoming a US Senator.
Now, it's Pilgrim's Pride. Hopefully Purdue isn't in the habit of hiring these illegals who, after all, are the scum of the society south of the border?
this is a typical response from today’s liberal ministers...they were too young for Selma and have been looking for an issue ever since.
Bottom line here is that Tennessee taxpayers are, in effect, subsidizing the Pilgrim’s Pride Corporation’s labor costs. Bet none of those taxpayers ever voted in favor of that subsidy. The compassion may be flowing, but so is “other people’s money.”
Illegal Hispanic needs?
They needs to go home. The home located beneath the US border.
utter CRIMINAL ENABLING.
This is nothing but a socialist pushing the agenda of the left.
He might as well call a crisis for police work because criminals have been removed from the community.
These ministers are political bottom feeders.
They are scum who are trying to build their political future on the wallets of the poorest of the poor.
“blame them” blah blah blah, is their talking points.
The only thing missing the the official all sharpton bull horn.
Don’t come here illegally. Don’t hire those that do. Put the blame squarely upon those who worship greed and prosecute them. Track down and send back the those that come anyway. Stop putting the blame on enforcers of our laws. Pay a decent wage to legals and citizens.
“They were fed; they were given diapers, clothing, all the supplies they had been providing for themselves just a few weeks earlier, but now had no way to access,” Ms. Whelchel said.
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This is not done for the framilies of regular criminals...
Oh, silly me...
Regular criminals are only American citizens...
These illegal aliens should have just been sent back home...
Aiding and abetting illegal aliens ..a crime...comes to mind...
The usual sob story from the drive by media
“It’s not just somebody else that it’s happening to. It’s our community, our neighbors, our church members, children who are in school with our kids. These are people that are part of this community, as well.”
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Ahhh, NO Mr Feeley, they are not...
These illegal aliens are part of the Mexican et al community...
Yeah...
I reaized later that I hadnt popped the obligatory (BARF ALERT) into the title...
Perla Treviso ..... I even remember her name from previous sob stories. The Chattanooga rag trots her out to make the tears flow for the illegal aliens
Woe be tide there be a voice of opposition to such compassion...
She does call me now and again ...
but usually I have to call her...
Last time she did an article on Feeley she called me..
Even better---US taxpayers provide the nuclear umbrella for Mexico---scot-free.
We need to issue an ultimatom----no nuclear umbrella unless they stop throwing their illiterates over the border.
Folks around here arent doing all that well either w/ price increases brought on by high energy costs. Now theyre called on to support ILLEGAL aliens who are in a fix brought on by their own doing. They came here KNOWING it was wrong. They got work using STOLEN id. They got caught and now we’re supposed to feel sorry for them? I don’t think so....
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