Commentary: Seeking ‘humane immigration reform’ in Morristown

Activists marched from St. Margaret's to St. Peter's in Morristown to show support for a federal immigration reform bill. Photo by Kevin Coughlin
Activists marched from St. Margaret's to St. Peter's in Morristown to show support for a federal immigration reform bill. Photo by Kevin Coughlin
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Ed. note: The opinions expressed here are the author’s and do not necessarily reflect those of MorristownGreen.com.

By Ilana Rossoff

Last week, Wind of the Spirit leaders in Morristown organized a week of vigil-actions directed at Congressman Rodney Frelinghuysen (R. 11th Dist.) to urge him to support comprehensive, humane immigration reform.

On every day of the week, Wind of the Spirit members, Morris-area faith leaders, and members of the broader community gathered in the center of the Green and then walked to Frelinghuysen’s office on Schuyler Place.

Activists marched from St. Margaret's to St. Peter's in Morristown to show support for a federal immigration reform bill. Photo by Kevin Coughlin
Activists marched from St. Margaret's to St. Peter's in Morristown last month to show support for a federal immigration reform bill. Photo by Kevin Coughlin

Standing outside his office building, we held a small prayer vigil and showed signs to passersby saying, “We pray for comprehensive and humane immigration reform” and “Congressman Frelinghuysen: Hear our prayers.”

We then walked into his office and presented symbolic “tokens of engagement” to his congressional aides. These tokens symbolized different elements of why our community and this country desperately need a just, human-rights- based overhaul to our immigration system (listed below).

Please click icon below for captions.

On Monday, the Sisters of Charity from St. Elizabeth’s Convent delivered a picture of their founder, Mother Mary Xavier Mehegan, an immigrant from Ireland, and an explanation of how she helped establish a chain of schools, hospitals and social service agencies, in addition to the College of St. Elizabeth – the first college for women in New Jersey.

To them, she represents the immense contributions that immigrants have made to this country, shaping society as we know it.

  • On Tuesday, we brought Pastor Osvaldo Jimenez from the First Baptist Church in Morristown, along with other community members, to present copies of the Spanish Bible that he gives every new person, immigrant or not, who comes to his church. We aimed to offer Congressman Frelinghuysen the feeling of being welcomed that Pastor Jimenez and many other clergy members offer to all new members of our community, as we are a community that welcomes everyone and we insist that our federal immigration system reflect that.
  • On Wednesday, members of Wind of the Spirit presented the congressman with a colorful bouquet of carnations to represent the beauty of the diversity of our community and our country, and to show that humans, like flowers, require favorable conditions to flourish to their maximal potential.
  • With us we had one woman whose husband was recently detained, without any criminal cause, as he was dropping his son off for school in Dover. This does not reflect the potential beauty that we know our community holds, but this is the current situation for too many members of our state and country.
  • On Thursday, Father Hernan Arias and congregants from St. Margaret’s Church in Morristown, presented a statement about how the current system of immigration reform does not work for our community and needs to be changed to meet the needs of everyone  based on the creed of Christian teachings, which says that are all equal in the eyes of God.
  • On Friday, we brought with us Father Charley Piatt, from St. Joseph’s Parish in Stirling. He delivered freshly baked bread from the Sisters of St. Joseph. We handed this to Congressman Frelinghuysen as a token invitation to join us at the table and support real, concrete solutions based on human rights for all to fix our broken immigration system.

Over the next few weeks and months, we intend to hold sustained actions involving our political leaders, until they realize it is time to wake up and support a political solution that provides comprehensive, not piecemeal, human rights-based solutions to fix our broken immigration system.

The issue is urgent: In the U.S. there are 11 million undocumented people, most of whom sustain our local economies, attend school or send their children to school, and worship in church, while living in fear of being removed from their families and communities because of our repressive system of immigration enforcement.

At this time, federal legislators are putting forward proposals that prioritize border militarization, electronic verification of employees, and continued detention and deportation. What we should be prioritizing is family unification, access to education and health care, and providing a reasonable timeline for people to acquire legal status to work, move freely, and attend higher education at resident tuition rates.

For those of us who are not indigenous to this land or forced here through the slave trade, our ancestors immigrated to escape political instability and economic hardship. Nothing is different about why people continue to migrate to the U.S. today. Yet because of our strict and militarized immigration enforcement system, immigrants now face more punishments than our immigrant relatives could have imagined.

We say no more dehumanizing and expensive detentions, not one more deportation! Join us in calling on our political leaders to act now, not tomorrow, to replace this irresponsible and devastating system that benefits no one with a system that supports families and economic growth.

To get involved, email Wind of the Spirit’s Community Outreach Organizer at irossoff@windofthespirit.net

Ilana Rossoff is a community organizer for Wind of the Spirit.

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