Episcopal Church joins immigration-reform push

[Episcopal News Service] Presiding Bishop Katharine Jefferts Schori joined people from New Jersey and New York representing faith-based, community and immigrant rights groups on Ash Wednesday morning to begin a whole day of actions aimed at repenting the sin of immigration detention.

“When the status of immigrants is questioned, our government frequently holds them essentially incommunicado and/or moves them far away from any family and local support they might have locally,” the presiding bishop said during the vigil. “Citizens of these United States share some responsibility for those undignified and unjust practices, and our prayer today must be that hearts and minds are opened to the need for justice.

Also on Ash Wednesday, representatives of the Episcopal Church submitted written testimony to the Senate Judiciary Committee, chaired by Senator Patrick Leahy from Vermont, for a Feb. 13 hearing on immigration reform.

The fundamental principles of legal due process should be granted to all persons and all immigration enforcement policies should be proportional and humane, which is why the Episcopal Church has called for the immediate termination of destructive enforcement programs like Secure Communities … and the implementation of community alternatives to the costly prison-like immigration detention system,” Office of Government Relations Director Alexander Baumgarten and Katie Conway, immigration and refugee policy analyst, said in their testimony.

“Our immigration system must be transformed into a just and humane system that discerns between those who enter illegally to do us harm and those who enter because our system cannot provide them with a clear and timely path to family reunification or legal employment,” they added.

The church says Episcopal Church has called for the immediate termination of destructive enforcement programs like Secure Communities,..Here ..Our immigration system must be transformed into a just and humane system that discerns between those who enter illegally to do us harm ... This is why we have secure Communities.The church left out illegals have multiple forms of fraudulent documents.I never see these same churches saying we must have justice for our citzens when illegal aliens steal not only their personal information but that of their children too. The Episcopal Church is big enough they can and should start sponsoring families by adopting like in mexico church memebers can select families to adopt send their own money and other means of support. It's not fair for the church to expect the taxpayers to be burden and it's not fair these same chruches know illegals use fraud to get jobs,they lie, they use our ER rooms without ever paying their bills,drive cars without drivers licenses/insurance.. illegals driving drunk,they cause accidents fatal accidents ..Just teh other day...A Houston County judge recently sentenced a man to 12 years in prison for molesting an 8-year-old girl.

Assistant Houston County District Attorney Patrick Amason said Circuit Court Judge Kevin Moulton gave 24-year-old Lorenzo Chitay the sentence last week after he pleaded guilty to a felony sex abuse of a child under the age of 12 charge.Amason said officials with the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement office have a hold on Chitay because of his status as an illegal resident in the country.

http://www.dothaneagle.com/news/crime_court/article_4eba996a-7558-11e2-85f8-001a4bcf6878.ht

I believe this the Dothan,Out of Alabama

Jose Antonio Vargas, an illegal immigrant and former reporter, scolded a congressional panel on Wednesday, saying that he should not be called illegal, and saying it is an insult to his family who brought him here. “When you inaccurately call me illegal, you not only dehumanize me, you’re offending them,” he said. “No human being is illegal.”

Mr. Vargas testified to the Senate Judiciary Committee alongside Chris Crane — a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agent and president of the ICE agents’ union — who is unable to arrest him under the administration’s new non-deportation policies. Mr. Vargas, who “came out” as an illegal immigrant several years ago, delivered an emotional plea for the country to legalize him. “What do you want to do with us?” he asked the committee. Last week, a top House Democrat also warned colleagues against using the term “illegal immigrants.” “Our citizens are not — the people in this country are not illegal. They are are out of status. They are new Americans that are immigrants,” Rep. John Conyers Jr., Michigan Democrat, told colleagues on the House Judiciary Committee. Many immigrant-rights advocates object to the terms “illegal” and “alien,” saying that people cannot be deemed illegal, and that the word “alien” makes them sound inhuman. They argue the better terms are “undocumented migrants.” Many newspapers, including The Washington Times, use the phrase “illegal immigrant,” deeming it the most accurate description. Mr. Vargas called himself an “undocumented immigrant.” He is one of a number of illegal immigrants who have come out of the shadows to argue their case for legalization. He came to the U.S. to live with his grandfather, who was a naturalized citizen, but Mr. Vargas was never legal himself — a fact he found out when he went to get a driver’s license at age 16. He said he became a reporter to try to validate his presence in the U.S. At least five other formerly illegal immigrants were scheduled to be guests at Tuesday’s State of the Union address, though each of those has been granted specific tentative legal status through one of the Homeland Security Department’s programs.

http://www.washingtontimes.com/blog/inside-politics/2013/feb/13/illegal-immigrant-tells-congress-not-call-him-ille/ Even Jose Antonio Vargasis capable of now giving congressional panel verbal orders..Now rememeber he does not want you to call him an illegal alien..Oooops DHS is tracking this post I will receive summons in the mail....from Team obama..Since he is letting tehm run the country.

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