By Jamie Duffy
NJ.Com
September 16, 2009
More than four million children born in the U.S. live with one parent who is an illegal immigrant and could be deported.
There are another 1.5 million children who are living here illegally themselves, but have siblings who are citizens.
In the last ten years, more than 108,000 illegal immigrants have been deported leaving behind families.
Some people want this to stop.
"God is the father of all, documented and undocumented. No one is illegal," said Father Hernan Arias, pastor of St. Margaret's of Scotland R.C. Church on Speedwell Avenue in Morristown.
"Stop taking our fathers and mothers in prison. Stop breaking our homes," he said, before numerous candles were lit on a table signifying The Day of the Children/El Dia de Los Ninos, a state vigil organized by a group of churches and non-profits like the Salvation Army and the American Friends Service Committee.
In Morristown, it was the immigrant rights group Wind of the Spirit that served as the main organizer, providing signs that proclaimed "No Human Being is Illegal," in English and in Spanish.
At the St. Margaret's Vigil, Amparo Guevara tearfully related how her husband had been deported June 27 after two lawyers had failed to get it right. One even lost the papers.
Once they were found, she got another lawyer who will work on the case. But her husband is now back in Colombia.
At the United Latin American Pentecostal Church on Spring Street, where a later vigil was held, there were at least two cases where deportation has been threatened. For Pastor Antonio "Tony" Arias, deportation is close to home. His own brother is currently incarcerated and has deportation orders.
His mother and father came to the front of the church with organizers and other church members to send up a prayer to God for help and for illumination for Donald Cresitello, the outgoing mayor of Morristown who still is working hard to implement 287(g), the federal program that deputizes police officers as immigration officers. He faces a new hurdle: The police union must now approve the measure.
In July, Morristown was chosen as one of 11 new municipalities to participate in the program, with the proviso that the PBA must approve it.
Both the Democratic mayoral candidate, Tim Dougherty, and Republican candidate Jimmy Gervasio have said they do not back the proposal. Opponents argue that the measure divides the community and makes undocumented workers avoid reporting crime.
"I get so frustrated when people call them criminals, when they're only coming because they're forced to provide for their families," said Brother John Skrodinsky, who leads the migrant ministry of the Diocese or Paterson.
Skrodinsky told one story, in Spanish and English, of a Mexican couple who are here illegally. The man came first and then returned, because he hated being separated from his family. With both spouses working, they still couldn't afford to buy soup.
"That's really what forces people to come," he said.
http://www.nj.com/morristown/jamieduffy/index.ssf/2009/09/pastors_and_people_call_for_an.html
