Immigrants built America! More legal immigration will build a better America

Editorial Board of The Washington Post echo opinion: The percentage of U.S residents born overseas today is the highest in more than a century, and the number of immigrants in this country has more than quadrupled since 1960.

"Canada does not struggle to police one of the world’s longest borders separating a mostly rich country from a mostly poor one, as the United States does along its southwestern frontier"

Those facts and a surge of unauthorized border crossings, which exceeded 2 million in the fiscal year that ended in September, a record, have contributed to unease and antagonism in some communities, Republican attacks on the Biden administration and, among Democrats, jitters about the political fallout.
Meanwhile, in Canada, the share of foreign-born residents — approaching one-quarter of the population — is markedly more than in the United States, and also at a more than 150-year high; few Western countries have a higher proportion of immigrants. Despite that, Canadian officials recently announced a substantial increase in immigration over the coming three years. In 2025, the goal is to admit 500,000 newcomers, a 23 percent increase from last year’s record total. The news prompted no widespread outcry.

The many differences between the two countries discourage facile comparisons. But one critical contrast is worth noting: Canada has a relatively functional immigration system that responds rationally to its economic needs. The United States does not.

Granted, Canada does not struggle to police one of the world’s longest borders separating a mostly rich country from a mostly poor one, as the United States does along its southwestern frontier. That affords Ottawa the luxury of simpler enforcement — that is, being able for the most part to select which migrants will be admitted and which refused. It is also the case that while there is broad consensus on immigration levels in Canada — well over half of Canadians favor welcoming more immigrants to boost population and help fill nearly 1 million job openings — there are danger signs. Specifically, nearly half of Canadians say too many newcomers fail to adopt “Canadian values.”

Still, Americans should consider taking some lessons from Canada, especially in an era of massive U.S. labor shortages, which have contributed to spiking inflation. Critically, the Canadian system gives preference to well educated, highly skilled and entrepreneurial migrants with strong earnings prospects. By contrast, the U.S. legal immigration system heavily favors family ties, meaning the relatives of current residents. Its H1-B program for skilled workers, including those with advanced degrees, has been capped for years at 85,000 visas annually; that is grossly inadequate.

Canada’s policy is no outlier; several of the world’s other wealthiest countries, particularly in Europe, are pursuing similarly sensible initiatives. They include France, where President Emmanuel Macron survived a stiff electoral challenge this spring from a far-right anti-immigration candidate, Marine Le Pen. His government, like Canada’s, is pursuing reforms that respond to economic reality, not xenophobic populism. This month, Mr. Macron’s administration proposed legislation to establish resident permits that would grant legal status to undocumented migrants already in France who could fill jobs in sectors desperate for workers, including agriculture, hospitality and construction. The legislation is expected to come before France’s parliament early next year.

French nativists howled but the country’s largest employers organization applauded the measure, which is designed to support the nation’s economy as it battles inflationary head winds. Officials took a measured tone, pledging to tighten enforcement by pursuing migrants who remain in the country after receiving deportation orders while at the same time pushing for the new residence permits.

In Germany, too, employers starved for workers have generally welcomed Chancellor Olaf Scholz’s promise, upon taking office last year, that “it’s high time we made life easier for immigrants to become German citizens.” In fact, the Scholz government has set a goal of attracting 400,000 qualified workers annually for the country, which has Europe’s biggest economy, and easing access to language and other courses to help assimilate migrants. A recent survey found the German economy is grappling with a record shortage in skilled workers, affecting nearly half of the country’s companies. That has forced many to slash production, costing the German economy as much as $85 billion on an annualized basis.

Elsewhere in Europe, the picture is mixed. In Italy, the far-right government of Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni took power this fall on an anti-immigration platform. Yet it is anyone’s guess who will fill low-skill jobs, including caregivers for the elderly, if migrants are barred or forced out of the country. Italians, whose birthrate has long been among the lowest among the world’s wealthy countries, are often in short supply for such positions.

Denmark is pursuing what might be one of the most self-defeating immigration policies among wealthy countries. Earlier this month, Danish voters handed a narrow victory to the center-left Social Democrats, who have embraced a “zero refugee” policy and proposed relocating asylum seekers to Rwanda, against their will, as their applications are processed. At the same time, Danish firms are facing a severe labor shortage, which many have called their biggest challenge.

Ironically, it was Donald Trump, the most nativist of recent American presidents, who proposed a reform based partly on the Canadian model, as well as similar point-based systems in Australia and New Zealand, that would tilt the balance of U.S. legal immigration toward skilled workers, while still retaining about one third of slots for relatives of current residents.

Mr. Trump’s blueprint was mainly an act of political positioning; once introduced, in 2019, it was rarely mentioned again. Nor did it take into account the reality of 10 or 11 million undocumented migrants, most of them long-standing members of U.S. communities, including nearly 2 million young “dreamers” raised and educated in this country.

Still, by acknowledging Canada’s example, the Trump proposal was a useful starting point. There are now 10.7 million jobs available in the United States, nearly 2 for every unemployed worker, and an ever-increasing share of the openings are for skilled employees. As a proportion of population, more jobs are vacant in the United States than Canada. Canada is wisely opening the door wider to the legal immigrants that its economy needs, while Congress, politically paralyzed, has proved itself unable to fix the United States’ broken
system.

The Post’s View | About the Editorial Board- Editorials represent the views of The Washington Post as an institution, as determined through debate among members of the Editorial Board, based in the Opinions section and separate from the newsroom.

Immigration is American history!

Echo opinion published in the Las Vegas Sun: 

Immigration reform is the right thing to do
By Selena Torres

Sunday, Jan. 30, 2022

Nevada is a state where almost everyone is from somewhere else — it is a state of opportunity both built by immigrants and fueled by a largely immigrant labor force. In fact, the Census Bureau's Racial and Ethnic Diversity Index puts Nevada as the third most diverse state in the country, behind only California and Hawaii. 

According to the Census Bureau, there is a 68.8% chance that two Nevadans chosen at random will be from different racial and ethnic groups.Aug 16, 2021

According to the American Immigration Council, 1 in 5 Nevadans are immigrants, and 1 in 6 “native-born” U.S. citizens have immigrant parents. These Nevadans are our neighbors, friends, colleagues, nurses, or maybe your child’s teacher.

For years, activists, Dreamers (DACA) and advocacy groups have been fighting to create a pathway to citizenship for recipients of Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) and other undocumented immigrants. While President Joe Biden’s plan to add immigration into his Build Back Better bill is currently not looking like a promising vehicle, there are still opportunities to pass desperately needed protections for undocumented immigrants who have lived in our country for an average of 20 years.

Despite some disappointing setbacks, including rulings made by the Senate parliamentarian, expanding protections for undocumented immigrants in Nevada and across the country must be a priority for our leaders in the Senate. They should explore the various options available in order to secure protections for undocumented immigrants through this legislation.

As our late former senator, Harry Reid, told The Hill in October, “Americans want legal status for immigrants who have worked hard, paid taxes and made their lives in the United States.”

He’s right. Data shows that the immigration provisions in the Build Back Better Act are supported by 75% of Americans overall, including 88% of Democrats, 81% of independents and 58% of Republicans.

As an assemblywoman, it is my duty to advocate for all those in my community who need it, and I stand with the Dreamers, Temporary Protective Status holders and other undocumented immigrants who have stood with us in difficult times.

It is well past time for us all to stand with them. Nevadans deserve better, Americans deserve better.

I know Nevada Sens. Jacky Rosen and Catherine Cortez Masto care about solving this issue. We are lucky to have leaders who listen to us, and I urge them to push their colleagues to take any and all steps necessary to ensure that this gets done now.

We are tired of empty promises when there are lives and livelihoods at stake, vulnerable to deportation and separation — when the chance to relieve them of their worries is here. 

Congress must pass robust immigration relief, whether in the Build Back Better Act or in any vehicle necessary to deliver for millions of American families and help keep our economy recovering. 

As the late Harry Reid said about immigration relief, “the time is now.”

Assemblywoman Selena Torres
Party: Democratic

Selena Torres was elected to the Nevada Assembly in 2018, and re-elected in 2020. She serves District 3.

Republicans loose Veterans

Editorial:  Republicans' stance on the issues loose the support of veterans:

Republican leadership consistently attempted to repeal the Affordable Care Act, denying millions access to health care coverage...

Opinion echo published in the Virginia newspaper the 

Richmond Times Dispatch

Combat veteran and moderate Republican, Kevin Green* cannot support Republicans on key issues such as climate change, gun safety, health care and immigration, nor their current (DJT) leader, and it is past time for a change. 

In my opinion, the scientific evidence on climate change is overwhelming, yet the Republican Party leaders act like ostriches and bury their heads in the sand, trying to bring back coal and lower auto standards. I am not a Green New Deal fan, and I do think carbon fuels (such as natural gas) need to be a bridge to a better, cleaner tomorrow. But we need to act now!

On gun safety: Introducing background checks and eliminating assault weapons with high-capacity magazines are some steps we can take to start turning the tide.

On health care: Republican leadership has consistently attempted to repeal the Affordable Care Act, denying millions access to care. I am not for "Medicare for All," but we need a government option for those that need or want it, while retaining our employer-provided options.

On immigration: It takes labor and capital to create wealth. We need people, and not giving "Dreamers" a path to citizenship is a huge mistake and goes against our core values. When I factor these policy failures with the extremely poor example of leadership from the current White House and Senate Republicans, I feel compelled to speak out and look for a better solution, and that better solution is Mike Bloomberg.

Bloomberg is, without a doubt, the best moderate candidate who can beat Donald Trump in the general election. With his successful private and public leadership experience, he’ll act on key issues and restore faith in America around the world.

*Kevin Green, Glen Allen, Virginia.

Immigration: Cruel ICE.gov ~ Newsday echo opinion

Newsday ~ a New York newspaper ~ an echo opinion, exposes some of the lies swirling about the Trump administration's immigration (aka "anti-immigration) policy.  Meanwhile, the asylum seekers are experiencing cruel receptions by ICE.gov.

Central American migrants cross into the United States at Tijuana, Mexico, on May 4. U.S. Customs and Border Protection officials continued to receive asylum requests from mothers and children of a migrant caravan. Photo Credit: EPA-EFE/Rex/Shutterstock/Joebeth Terriquez

Editorial: For weeks, the fierce national focus on immigration has been dominated by tales of *lost!* children, accompanied by childish political manipulations.

As Congress nears its summer recess and members position themselves for primaries and the November general election, attempts to pass legislation have become frantic. 

But the bills in the House of Representatives push in opposite directions to satisfy drastically different constituencies. 

Meanwhile, the Senate is poised to do nothing, and both parties and President Donald Trump are muddying the waters with squabbles and cynical lies.

The *failed Donald Trump* administration recently has been assailed with two terrible accusations about how it has *mis* handled minors coming into the USA. The claim that the Department of Health and Human Services is separating children as young as 4 from their parents is true.

The federal government admits it lost track of 1,475 children last year, but that’s neither ominous nor a cause for blame, as critics have claimed. In testimony before a Senate subcommittee last month, the Department of Health and Human Services explained the difficulty in checking up on the more than 7,000 unaccompanied minors it had placed with sponsors between last October and the end of last year. The agency made one call in each case to the contact phone number supplied and left a message when no one answered. Of those attempts, 1,475 elicited no response. This is not out of the ordinary. The sponsors and other members of the families these minors are placed with often have questionable legal residency themselves, and they might fear contact with authorities.

What’s more, a call from the government can be the precursor to a minor immigrant’s asylum hearing, which can lead to deportation. Many minors and sponsors are more comfortable slipping into the shadows than responding to such calls. But when news of the “missing” kids broke recently, it sparked a Twitter hashtag, #whereareourchildren, based on the belief that children in federal custody cannot be found.

Nevertheless, there is a tragedy going on involving such children because of the new rules Trump put in place.

Last month, Attorney General Jeff Sessions announced a policy to separate children and parents caught entering the country illegally. It’s purposely cruel because it is primarily designed to deter anyone from trying to come here without permission, including those seeking asylum, which cannot be applied for from outside the country. The rule is also based on a false analogy. Sessions argues that anyone arrested and incarcerated in any situation is separated from his or her children. But it’s not a crime to cross into the United States when seeking asylum.
Stunned by the backlash against children being separated from parents and placed in the custody of the Office of Refugee Resettlement, Trump and other officials claimed the separations are demanded by an Obama-era law, which is false. There is no law calling for such separations, just the *failed Donald Trump* administration’s own new “zero tolerance” policy.

It is against this hyperemotional backdrop that Congress is failing to settle the two baseline immigration disputes: increased border security, with or without a wall, and the fate of the 800,000 “Dreamers” brought here illegally by their parents who have no residency status and no other home.

Some Democrats want citizenship for the “Dreamers,” and no wall on our Southern border. Some Republicans want a huge wall and nothing for the “Dreamers.” But in an unusual twist, House centrists in both parties want to defy their wings and come up with a different approach. To do so, they are trying to use an obscure parliamentary procedure to force floor votes on several immigration options by banding together to overrule Speaker Paul Ryan.

Ryan will meet with his members Wednesday to try to re-establish order, but that may not be possible. Even if a bill were to pass, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell says he doesn’t see anything moving in his chamber, and the president is all over the map about what he would sign. That means the House fuss is about passing a bill to bolster election hopes, not changing the law to solve problems. And because any resolution is unlikely, East End farmers can’t get needed laborers and New York tech companies can’t get experienced talent.

A compromise is needed to satisfy demands for border security and for permanent status for “Dreamers.” (Consideration of Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals aka -DACA), It must also maintain our US history of kind treatment of asylum-seekers, and of all people. Disseminating inflammatory lies may serve a purpose for certain politicians, on both sides of the aisle.

But it does not serve the nation.
By The Newsday Editorial Board

DACA ~ Young immigrants deserve compassionate leadership

"...immigrants make the U.S. a better place..." Echo editorial published in The Baltimore Sun. 

(As usual.....!).....Tweets by Donald Trump shared some thoughts on immigration that strongly suggest he either isn’t paying much attention to current events or he’s just trying to stir up his core supporters again in the face of Congressional inaction and negative attention in the media. Either is a possibility; a combination of both is a probability. If he can denounce dark-skinned immigrants, the Mexican government and Democrats in one fell tweet, this is a president who is willing to put in the effort during his morning “executive time” in front of the television or before he hits the links at Mar-a-Lago.

“NO MORE DACA DEAL,” was the thrust of one of a series of Twitter pronouncements President Trump made Sunday in Florida shortly after sending out the more traditional (and good-natured) Easter greetings. Mr. Trump not only pronounced Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals dead, but he blamed Democrats and the Mexican government for allegedly lax border enforcement that has supposedly caused an influx of crime and drugs. He suggested that Republicans needed to change the rules of the Senate — a reference to the so-called “nuclear option” to end filibusters — to correct the situation and pointed to “caravans” of immigrants (most likely the group of Central American protesters in Mexico headed to the U.S. border to seek asylum) as motivated by an opportunity to take advantage of DACA. “The big Caravan of People from Honduras, now coming across Mexico and heading to our ‘Weak Laws’ Border, had better be stopped before it gets there,” the president tweeted early Tuesday. “Cash cow NAFTA [North American Free Trade Agreement] is in play, as is foreign aid to Honduras and the countries that allow this to happen.”

(Here is the *ugh* another Trumpzi Tweet: DACA is dead because the Democrats didn’t care or act, and now everyone wants to get onto the DACA bandwagon... No longer works. Must build Wall and secure our borders with proper Border legislation. Democrats want No Borders, hence drugs and crime!)

Now, that’s a lot of disinformation and tantrum-throwing for one man, but let’s review. First is the notion that Democrats are the impediment to DACA. They are not. Mr. Trump could make this problem go away tomorrow if he chose. He created the dilemma in the first place by signing an executive action to end the program last year. He he has declined multiple opportunities to address its expiration since then. The Supreme Court ruled more than one month ago that the program could stay in place under terms of a lower court decision that has temporarily continued the program. And so 800,000 people who came to this country as children and have met the strict standards of DACA protections are now in limbo.

President Trump has at times expressed compassion for DACA recipients (“You know, I love these kids”) and at times treated them as bargaining chips for various immigration-related wish-list items, the first being a border wall, but when Democrats actually gave ground on border security funding, it morphed into demands for stricter limits on legal immigration including family reunification. After rejecting a bipartisan compromise, the president’s proposal failed not only to muster Democratic support in the Senate, it fell well below a 51-vote majority let alone the 60-vote margin to overcome a filibuster. Meanwhile, the notion that immigrants, particularly DACA recipients (who had to arrive in the U.S. by 2007 to even be eligible and include U.S. military veterans, teachers and students), are responsible for worsening U.S. crime rates is just wrong. Study after study shows that there’s less crime in immigrant communities, documented or undocumented, than in the U.S. overall. 

Moreover, DACA participants, in particular, are not an issue when it comes to crime because they are only eligible if they “have not been convicted of a felony, a significant misdemeanor, three or more other misdemeanors, and do not otherwise pose a threat to national security or public safety.”

Some people have theorized that Trumpzi's immigration tweets were a reaction to a particular segment about the Mexico caravan that ran on Fox News’ “Fox and Friends” program, a presidential favorite, and shaped by the views of hard-liners like adviser Stephen Miller (aka the resident "Bela Lugosi"). 

Was he being serious or just tossing a little red meat to the xenophobes? That he would throw NAFTA into the equation ignores the economic hardship the U.S. would suffer, as walking away from the agreement would result in new tariffs, higher consumer costs and new inroads for Asian producers into North American markets.

If there’s anything productive to be found in the latest Trump Twitter-storm, it’s a reminder that the best long-term solution for “Dreamers” is for Congress to extend protections, and a path to citizenship, for the DACA eligible — and, if possible, other productive members of U.S. society who merit such an opportunity. 

Generally speaking, immigrants make the U.S. a better place, not worse, and it’s time we stopped vilifying them. No wall is going to stop the flow of drugs into the country, but reducing demand for narcotics and addressing the nation’s opioid crisis (with better funding for treatment, for instance) would do wonders. 

Better to do the right thing and ignore the presidential Twitter account.

Innocent and hard working Dreamers ~ Deferred Action on Childhood Arrivals ~ deserve compassionate executive leadership.

Donald Trump is incapable of doing anything to help these deserving young people. Congress must act.

Dreamers - immigration opinion published in Tulsa OK "Tulsa World"

Oklahoma Seantor Lankford showed courage on immigration 

"Echo" letter to the editor of Tulsa World from Blanca Zavala*, of Tulsa

Senator James Lankford

Donald Trump’s rescinding of DACA has left the Dreamers — the 800,000 young men and women brought to the United States while they were children — in a horrible limbo, not knowing whether Congress will come to their rescue and save them from possible deportation and being ripped from their families.

Oklahoma Sen. James Lankford last September introduced the SUCCEED Act, a bill that while not perfect did provide protections that would have allowed most if not all of these bright young people a chance to remain legally in the only country they know as “home.”

Although his original bill does not appear to be among those likely to be voted on as legislators seek a final resolution for the Dreamers, Lankford must be commended for having the courage to put his name out front on an issue that has driven other members of both parties into positions so far apart as to make a solution at times seem unattainable. For a senator from the reddest of the red states this cannot have been an easy path to take.

It is our hope that Lankford will continue to recognize — as he has already demonstrated — the will of the majority of Americans and move forward in the spirit of wisdom and compassion by supporting legislation that will finally give the Dreamers the opportunity and legitimacy they deserve.

*Editor’s note: Zavala is president of The Coalition for the American Dream. Five other members also signed the letter.

Immgiration was once a beacon of hope - Republicans snuffed the luster

America's future has lost its shining luster ~ echo opinion from The Baltimore Sun

What happened to the shining emotions and the optimism about being an American? We're now the "ugly American" we thought had been re-invented decades ago, but the Trumpists have re-created a selfish and tarnished image of our national pride.

Will America remain a beacon of freedom and opportunity in the world?

Statue of Liberty 

Give me your tired, your poor, Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free, The wretched refuse of your teeming shore. Send these, the homeless, tempest-tossed to me, I lift my lamp beside the golden door! The Statue of Liberty-Ellis Island Foundation, Inc.

With the Congress in disarray under an erratic and chaotic president who deeply divides the country, and with its two major parties at loggerheads over immigration law, American politics may have hit a new low of pessimism, bitterness and despair.
Should upwards of a million "Dreamers" be deported because they were brought to this country as children by their undocumented immigrant parents? And at the same time, should that wall across our southern border be built at a cost of $18 billion to keep out millions more illegal Mexicans and others from Central America?

What about the melting-pot that supposedly made America great before Donald Trump got the (plagiaristic)  idea of making it greater? 

Moreover, Lady Liberty stands at the symbolic gate in New York Harbor still raising her torch as American politicians fight over continuing her relevance.

Trump managed to sum up the argument with his gutter slander of Haiti and others in Africa as "shithole countries" whose minions still hope to come here. 

Frankly, Trump's words enraged not only American racial and ethnic minorities, but also millions abroad. This nation's admired reputation as a welcoming haven to all seeking a better and more peaceful life was soiled by Mr. Trump's ugly and thoughtless slur.

In another of his self-aggrandizing boasts, he continues to insist not only that the border wall will be built to keep "raping" Mexicans out, but he will "make them pay for it," though perhaps not directly. His White House chief of staff, John F. Kelly, suggested to members of Congress the other day that Mexico will somehow be obliged to ante up, one way or another.

What the president accomplished with his demeaning identification of unwanted immigrants was to make clear that the basis of his rejection was racial, refuting his own preposterous contention to reporters that he is "the least racist person you've ever interviewed."

This is a country whose citizens pride themselves in being part of an open society of immigrants enriching itself through its racial and ethnic diversity. Mr. Trump's latest remarks suggest he simply does not understand or realize what in America's origins made her great, and has kept her so since the first Europeans arrived here more than five centuries ago.

As Trump embarks on his second year in the Oval Office, he boasts of his solitary legislative achievement, the highly controversial tax reform bill. But it and other words and actions have stirred deep apprehension over the quality of his leadership, and indeed over his fitness to hold the office at all.

He made repeated efforts to persuade his countrymen and women that there has not been, and is not, any "collusion" between himself, his family or his presidential campaign or presidency and the Russians. Yet the investigation of Special Counsel Robert Mueller into possible involvement in the meddling in the 2016 election goes on.

Despite hopeful expectations within the Trump political circle that the inquiry will soon be completed, it continues methodically as more Trump campaign and administration figures are summoned to testify, either voluntarily or under subpoena with possible penalty of perjury for lying.

Not only the Mueller investigation but also similar inquiries of House and Senate Intelligence Committees are continuing to cast shadows of suspicion over the president, his 2016 campaign and his administration. Each group is generally seen as looking for evidence of obstruction of justice or lesser behavior that could imperil Mr. Trump's presidency in the year or years ahead.

It could well be his firing of FBI Director James Comey for declining to let former Trump national security adviser Michael Flynn off the hook in prosecution for lying about his involvement with the Russians, about which Mr. Flynn has already pleaded guilty.

More recently, speculation has grown over alleged money laundering in the campaign or for personal gain by former campaign manager Paul Manafort and a chief aide, to which they have pleaded not guilty.

Of greater importance, however, may be the damage inflicted by the whole matter on America's image and reputation as a beacon to the rest of the world and as a place for those seeking refuge, regardless of race or religious creed.

Jules Witcover is a syndicated columnist and former long-time writer for The Baltimore Sun. His latest book is "The American Vice Presidency: From Irrelevance to Power" (Smithsonian Books). His email is juleswitcover@comcast.net.

In my opinion ~ Maine Writer:  Republicans are snuffing out the brilliant beacon of the American Dream because they prefer to focus on selfishness, bigotry and greed.  

Christmas letter from St. Peter's Parish in Charlotte NC

Although our Maine home is fortunate to receive about two dozen wonderful Christmas letters, with families' news and seasonal good wishes, this year's letter of note arrived from our good friend Father John Michalowski, S.J.  He wrote from St. Peter's Catholic Church parish, in Charlotte, North Carolina. In this December, 2017 letter, Father John described his Sacramental experiences in the parish and the social justice projects he has supported. Gratefully, I appreciated that he approved of sharing his letter, on this blog.

Established in 1851, St. Peter's is the oldest Catholic church in Charlotte, and until 1940 was the only Catholic church in the city. St. Peter's was originally at the extreme southern limits of the city, but today it stands in the heart of uptown. It is most likely the oldest surviving edifice on Tryon Street, in Charlotte.

A prominent feature of the St. Peter Sanctuary was a triptych by American painter Ben Long, a three-part fresco depicting Christ’s Agony in the Garden, Resurrection, and Pentecost. Tragically, the fresco was severely damaged in February 2002 and cannot be fully restored (check the link).

Father John Michalowski is from New England.

Dear Dick and Julie,

May God Bless you all in the Christmas Season and throughout the New Year.

Don't worry, if you are from the North, I have not given up my delight in seeing snow. However, I do enjoy the parish and her people. It is fun to do more weddings than funerals and to do about the same number of baptisms that I did at St. Mary and Joseph in Salem, New Hampshire. Two new twists are working with Hispanic-Americans in the adult confirmation program and helping to prepare middle and high school children for Baptism, First Reconciliation and First Eucharist.  I also set a personal record by taking part in four Sacraments in one day. A couple who was married civilly wanted to sacramentalize or convalidate their marriage and their two children, a 9th and a 10th grader, needed to be baptized and receive First Communion. I celebrated a wedding Mass at which the two young people were baptized, then (they) served as the best man and maid of honor, and later received their First Communion. After the Vigil Mass, a person asked to go to Confession. Thus, I celebrated four Sacraments. Interestingly, it was Pope Francis and his effect that brought the parents back to church.

St. Peter's is very involved in social justice issues. I have been involved in three Offerings of Letters to our senators and representatives. One was a Bread for the World letter asking our Congresspersons not to forget the poor in the U.S., nor those in the world when they write the budget.  Unfortunately, the new tax plan will probably mean that they will cut poverty programs in the U.S. and development programs abroad.  Instead, they will probably funnel more money to the military, an inefficient use of resources if you want to foster peace.  The other two letters were urging Congress to support the Dreamers, those young people brought to the U.S. illegally as children, who have grown up here and know themselves as Americans.  [You can learn more about these two issues at bread.org and usccb.org/justice for immigrants.] Besides this letter writing, I have been involved in helping parish groups recognize the connection between the Eucharist and social justice. Thus, I have led reflections and a commissioning blessing for those involved in tutoring and support programs at Druid Hill School (inner city) and those involved in Room in the Inn (we house 12 homeless men on Tuesday nights from December through March).

Bread for the World- have faith, end hunger

I continue to hike on my day off or visit museums when the weather is bad. Two favorites were the Reynolda House Museum of American Art in Winston-Salem and the International Civil Rights Museum and Center in Greensboro.  It is housed in the Woolworth's where the original sit-in took place during the Civil Rights Movement.  Its exhibits remind us of how far we have come and how far we need to go before we truly are "one nation under God".

Peace and joy in the Lord Jesus,

John

God Bless Father John and the social justice work supported by St. Peter's Catholic Church parish in Charlotte, North Carolina.

http://www.stpeterscatholic.org/

 

Immigration- as we give thanks- it's time to pass the DREAM Act

Americans are preparing to celebrate our family Thanksgiving Holiday. At this time of giving thanks for our freedoms from want, hunger and fear, we must also call on our political leaders to extend help to immigrants who live under the threat of unjust deportation.

This echo- a re-blogged letter to the editor, from Carbondale, Illinois, was published in the newspaper The Southern Illinoisan on November 16

To the Editor:- a letter to  Dear Rep. Mike Bost — 

 The Dream Act

Senators Lindsey Graham (R-South Carolina) and Dick Durbin (D-Illinois) introduced the Dream Act of 2017, S. 1615, in the Senate on July 20, 2017.

Thank you for meeting recently with Southern Illinois Immigrant Rights Project (SIIRP) and for your sympathy toward Dreamers.

Protecting undocumented youth who were brought as children is widely popular, compassionate, and a great investment. Any attempt to make support of Dreamers conditional on increases in enforcement violates our values and undermines our interests.

The families of Dreamers came to America seeking safety, opportunity, and freedom. They sacrificed everything for the love of their children, much like the ancestors of many present-day Americans. These families and their children do not have any realistic path to legal status under existing laws. Dreamers experience significant barriers to getting a driver’s license, securing gainful employment, and accessing higher education.

Passing the DREAM Act would provide immigrant youth who have grown up here with the opportunity to achieve the American dream and give back to the country they already call home. It will grow Illinois’ GDP an estimated $4 billion a year. As our elected representative, you have both the power and the duty to enact new legislation when current laws do not promote our values and interests. Do not allow families to be torn apart. Do not allow our communities to lose our neighbors, teachers, service members, students, and friends. Protect the lives of young immigrants without criminalizing and endangering the families and communities who have nurtured them.

We call on you to exercise courage and principled leadership to work for an immediate passage of a clean DREAM Act.

Jess Jobe and Diane Speir ~ Carbondale Illinois

We are DACA- our parents were immigrants- Republican Alert!

Supporting DACA - Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals: aka "DACA": immigrants rights

Cruel Republican social policies: It's pro-life to save DACA: protect immigrants.  It's sincerely a crying shame for me to feel compelled to advocate for such a basic humanitarian issue- the rights of immigrants are American rights. (Moreover, DACA is a terrible label, void of human connections.)

In an existential sense, all of us who are not descended from Native Americans, are DACA. That's my opinion.

Dreamers - advocating for humanitarian immigration policy: save the children and protect immigrants from deportation!

There's virtually no justifiable reason why Republicans want to destroy the lives of innocent children by removing their protection under the sterile acronym of "DACA", the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals.  Protecting children is the staunch Republican "pro-life" position but most of these hypocrites don't see it that way. Instead, they see children of immigrants as somehow taking away American jobs?  HELLO?  These wonderful children doing jobs to help the American economy, they are serving in the military and supporting their communities by paying taxes.

Protecting immigrants and supporting their rights to access US citizenship are pro-life positions.

Reported by Astrid Galvan and Amy Taxin for Associated Press

PHOENIX (AP) — Corporate executives, Roman Catholic bishops, celebrities and immigrants have become unlikely companions in an effort to pressure national leaders to save an Obama-era program that shields young immigrants from deportation.

Immigrant groups have been staging daily protests in the scorching Phoenix heat, mobilizing people through phone banks in California, and demonstrating outside House Speaker Paul Ryan’s church and office.
Archbishops around the country have been sending letters urging the president to maintain the program. The CEOs of Microsoft, Apple, Google, Facebook, Starbucks and other companies also joined the effort, saying the economy will take a hit if the program is eliminated.

The support for DACA campaign comes as President Donald Trump is weighing whether to eliminate the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program, which has allowed nearly 800,000 immigrants who were brought to the country illegally as children to remain in the U.S. and legally work. 

The White House says Trump is expected to announce his decision Tuesday.

Immigrants are bracing for the prospect of losing their jobs as their work permits end and possible deportation if the president does away with the program.

Eli Oh of San Jose, California, said he was working as a waiter under the table to pay for his nursing degree before he enrolled in the program.

Oh, 30, has lived in the United States for nearly two decades since his Korean parents overstayed their visa. He works as a nurse who responds to hospital emergencies, and fears he’ll be unemployed if his work permit goes away.

“I went from saving lives at a hospital and delivering health care, and now I am like, I might have to drive Uber to pay rent,” he said.

Trump railed against the Obama program on the campaign trail, calling it illegal “amnesty.” He later said it’s been one of the most difficult issues he’s dealt with. (!HELLO? It's wrong to deport children who are qualified to remain and to pursue citizenship.)

Republican officials from 10 states have threatened to file a lawsuit to stop the program. They gave the Trump administration a Sept. 5 deadline to act, although the attorney general of Tennessee, Herbert Slatery III, said Friday his state would no longer pursue the lawsuit.

To qualify, immigrants must have proof that they were brought to the U.S. before they reached age 16. They can’t have a criminal record, and their work permits and deportation reprieve must be renewed every two years at the cost of nearly $500, plus costs to hire an attorney to help with the process.

The issue is especially prominent in California, home to one of every four people covered by the program.

More than 200 people gathered outside the federal office building in Los Angeles on Friday, calling on Donald Trump to continue the program. They chanted, “If they don’t let us dream, we won’t let them sleep” and “the people united will never be divided.”

In Arizona, a coalition of immigrant rights groups set up a protest camp in front of Immigration and Customs Enforcement offices near downtown Phoenix in the midst of a heat advisory and temperatures of nearly 110 degrees.

“We are calling on people of conscience that if you believe that this is an injustice, there’s no room to stay silent. Silence allows for injustices to happen,” Reyna Montoya told reporters Monday. Montoya said she was brought to Arizona as a teenager after her family fled political violence in Mexico.

In Wisconsin, the pressure extends specifically to Ryan, who has said previously he supports young immigrants. In a radio interview Friday, Ryan urged Trump to keep the program.

The immigrant advocacy group Voces de la Frontera staged a protest outside Ryan’s Roman Catholic church in Wisconsin on Aug. 20. They planned a hunger strike starting Friday in front of his Milwaukee office and a march on Tuesday.

Ilse Merlin, of Racine said she was prepping for the worst by staying informed and active within the immigrant rights movement.

“I’m not scared because I have faith that my God is going to provide and he’s going to protect. That might not sound very reasonable I guess to people that don’t have faith, but for me I think it’s enough,” Merlin said.

Merlin, 22, was brought to Wisconsin as a 5-year-old and has had protection from the program since it began. She said it changed her life by allowing her to get a job, which she used to pay for college.

She works as a children and youth director at her church and hopes to finish a bachelor’s degree to become a teacher.

Others lending support for the program include celebrities such as TV mogul Shonda Rhimes and actress America Ferrera. Both took to Twitter to lend their support.

MaineWriter: It's wrong for Donald Trump to feel compelled to rule on DACA because the program stands for a humanitarian pro-life policy.