Immigrants uncertain about future in U.S.

letter-sBy Ruby Thomas, Record Staff Writer
With the election of President Donald J. Trump has come fear and uncertainty for millions of undocumented people who call the United States home.

Among the president’s campaign promises, were building a wall along the United States and Mexican border, deporting undocumented immigrants convicted of crimes and dismantling DACA — the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrival program created in 2012, allowing for temporary relief of deportation and work authorization for certain young people who were brought to this country under the age of 16.

While the campaign and the presidential election played out on the national stage, the feelings it stirred are being felt much closer to home, according to those who work with immigrants. Father Joseph Rankin — vicar for Hispanic ministry in the Archdiocese of Louisville — said during an interview earlier this month, that over the past year Hispanic adults and children have come to him crying, worried they will be deported.

Father Rankin, who is also pastor of St. Rita Church, said deportation of families creates a “strange situation” for the children, often U.S. citizens, who are forced to return to their parents’ native country. “It would be unfair and tragic for the children to be sent back to a country where they are not citizens. Many don’t speak the language and have never been to that country.”

The fact that President Trump said his administration will seek to remove criminals, is lost on the immigrant families who are living in fear, said Maria Scharfenberger, who works with Hispanic families at St. Bartholomew Church.

Many of the individuals she has contact with are feeling “tense, fearful and hesitant to leave their homes” and rightly so, she said. Even under President Barack Obama’s administration, innocent people were caught up in immigration raids against criminals, said Scharfenberger, who is also a licensed marriage and family therapist.

Catholic News Service (CNS) reported in a Jan. 13 story that 2.5 million undocumented immigrants were deported in the last eight years.

Scharfenberger added that parents are hesitant to send their children to school.

“Things like ‘you’re going back’ and ‘you’re not wanted here anymore,’ have been said to kids at school,” she said.

Father Rankin said he tells fearful individuals that no one really knows what might happen and he also tries to give them a “civics lesson.”

“The president does not have the final word,” he noted. “There are two houses of Congress and a Supreme Court which gets to decide on an issue like immigration.”

Scharfenberger said she advises immigrant families concerned about deportation to “make a plan, so that others around you can know what to do.” She suggests they gather important documents, such as copies of birth certificates, and teach their children what to do in case of a raid.

Father Rankin said that parishioners at St. Rita are making their voices heard by signing close to 700 postcards asking for “just and compassionate immigration reform.” The cards will be delivered to the offices of Senator Mitch McConnell, Senator Rand Paul and Representative John Yarmuth.

Father Rankin said the cards are an attempt to let legislators know that “immigrants bring wonderful gifts and talents to the country and to get them (legislators) to be more compassionate.”

Concern for refugees
President Trump’s campaign promises also have created uncertainty for refugees. CNS reported in November that the president called for a ban on Muslims entering the country until a system for “extreme vetting” of refugees could be set up.

Catholic Charities Migration and Refugee Services is inviting the public to take action on behalf of refugees with a letter-writing campaign, said Shelley Dewig, capacity and outreach coordinator for Catholic Charities.

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These posters and letters will be delivered to the offices of Kentucky’s representatives in Frankfort Feb. 16. (Record Photo by Ruby Thomas)

A letter-writing event drew about 100 people to St. Francis of Assisi Church on Bardstown Road Jan. 23 to write letters which will be delivered to Kentucky lawmakers on Feb. 16, Refugee and Immigrant Day at the Capitol.

Catholic Charities Migration and Refugee Services is also sponsoring an online campaign seeking 10,000 signatures, said Dewig. The petition which will be available until Feb. 16 can be accessed at https://goo.gl/forms/o1r31Mi1LHKYh8sb2.

Colin Triplett — director of migration and refugee services at Catholic Charities — said there have been no official indications so far that refugee arrivals will change under the new administration.

Despite the uncertainty some are experiencing, Triplett said he’s hopeful the number of arrivals will increase under the Trump administration the way it did under the administrations of presidents George W. Bush and Barrack Obama.

The goal is to resettle 700 in the city of Louisville this year, he said.

“Refugees have core family values, they want the best for their children and want to live in a free society.” “They are not ‘the other,’ ‘incomprehensible,’ or ‘foreign.’ They are just people,” said Triplett.

Prayer and unity
Father William Burks, pastor of St. John Paul II Church, said what the nation needs right now is “hope.” Father Burks celebrated a special Mass to pray for hope and unity in the country on Jan. 20, inaguration day.

During this time of division in the country it is important to “rely on the Lord,” said Father Burks.

“We wanted to make sure the kids (of St. John Paul II Academy) know we rely on the Lord and that he wants us to have respect for everyone,” said Father Burks.

“Everyone is important and everyone is touched by God’s spirit.”

He pointed out that the nation’s motto is E pluribus unum —Latin for “Out of many, one” — and the state of Kentucky’s is “United We Stand, Divided We Fall.”

Even more important, he noted, is that “Christ wants us all together, different people touched by different gifts.” Father Burks said he is hoping the fears people are feeling “turn out to be unfounded.”

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