I am writing this letter in response to Bishop Thomas Tobin’s recent feckless remarks about immigration. I write this letter informed by my 27 years of experience as a an agent with the Immigration and Naturalization Service, 20 years of which were spent in Providence, before I retired, in 1999.
It has been well documented that the immigration issue has metastasized to an unacceptable level that has resulted in the present situation, which requires strict enforcement of the law. The Roman Catholic Church, however, has dissimulated on the issue by its appealing to emotions. The desperate Catholic hierarchy looks upon unlimited immigration from Mexico and Central America as a source to save their diminishing numbers. The Catholic hierarchy would be better served to expend their money and energy on the education systems in these countries, which would create an infrastructure that would help their economies. I wonder if their reaction would have been the same if the individuals arrested had been Moslem, Jewish, Buddhist or Hindu?
Poor Americans and those aliens lawfully admitted wirth permanent-residence status are those most directly hurt by illegal immigration. Too many employers, as recently shown in Iowa and New Bedford, regularly abuse and treat illegal aliens as chattel.
The argument that the U.S. economy would collapse without illegal immigration is inane. Evidence suggests that illegal aliens drive down the wages and working conditions of the poor and unskilled. This is not to suggest that legal immigration be eliminated or cut back. There are thousands of people awaiting immigrant visas around the world for whom petitions have been approved. Unfortunately for them they do not live contiguous to the United States.
Bishop Tobin and his colleagues should revisit the efforts of the late Father Theodore Hesburgh, president of the University of Notre Dame, and the late Congresswoman Barbara Jordan, who advocated economic-based immigration levels along with verification of documents presented for employment. Unfortunately their recommendations were not initiated because of the lack of will and interest among previous presidents and Congresses. These two institutions also failed to provide the necessary infrastructure for federal agencies to enforce the law.
Consider recent news concerning the offer of voluntary surrender of those 400,000 aliens who have been ordered deported from the United States; only a handful of aliens have agreed to participate. It only illustrates that illegal aliens, even after given up to 90 days to depart (sometimes longer), will not voluntarily depart the United States. The only way they will leave is if they are forced to depart, which involves some discomfort for those involved. It has been my experience that the men and women of Immigration and Customs Enforcement and its predecessor, the Immigration and Naturalization Service, have conducted themselves with fairness and respect for the dignity of the people involved.
STANLEY BISIKIRSKI
North Kingstown
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Bishop urges authorities to halt raids on illegal immigrants
08:17 AM EDT on Friday, August 22, 2008
By Tom Mooney and KAREN LEE ZINER
Journal Staff Writers ______________________________________________________
Bishop Thomas J. Tobin’s call letter to ICE was also signed by 15 pastors.
PROVIDENCE — Breaking new ground on the national immigration debate, Rhode Island’s Roman Catholic bishop yesterday called on federal immigration officials to stop the mass arrests of suspected illegal immigrants, saying the raids had cast a “pall of fear” across the state and torn families and communities apart.
A letter from Bishop Thomas J. Tobin and 15 pastors also took the extraordinary step of calling on immigration agents to “evaluate the morality of their participation in immigration raids” and consider refusing to take part in them if they cannot do so in good conscience.
The letter sent to the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement office in Boston, said that recent raids on Aquidneck Island and in state courthouses were so “unjust” and “unnecessary” as to be immoral.
The call for a moratorium on immigration raids is believed to be the first of its kind in the country. Yesterday, a spokesman for the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops said that the organization, representing all of America’s Roman Catholic Bishops, is considering issuing a similar request — for a nationwide moratorium on raids — “in light of the large number of raids and the devastation they’re bringing to immigrant communities in this country.”
In their letter, Bishop Tobin and the pastors said: “What we have witnessed is that the police action of ICE against immigrants has divided the community, instilled fear in our streets, disrupted the everyday life of good people and separated family members, innocent of any crime, from one another. The secretive detention of those arrested has further complicated the situation.”
“As religious leaders concerned for our people, we would be negligent of our pastoral duties if we didn’t speak out against those unjust government policies and practices.”
The letter follows months of turmoil over the immigration issue in Rhode Island, heightened by Governor Carcieri’s executive order cracking down on illegal immigration, and the courthouse raids and those in Newport and Middletown during which more than 70 suspected illegal immigrants were detained.
In an interview yesterday, Bishop Tobin said he reached out to pastors three weeks ago, inviting them to come to a meeting Tuesday to discuss some of the disturbing reports he was hearing around the diocese in the wake of the raids and the fallout from Carcieri’s order. Together, said Bishop Tobin, the events had “created really a toxic atmosphere in our state.”
For example, Bishop Tobin said, the pastors had heard that many immigrants do their grocery shopping “in the wee hours of the morning” for fear if they went during the day they would be arrested.
Parents weren’t taking their children to health-care services for fear they would have to sign forms “and they didn’t know if they would be swept up in some raid.”
Similarly, some parents were not enrolling their children — American citizens — in school, he said, “because the parents were afraid to send their kids out. And if the parents got swept up, detained, deported they might never see their children again.”
Bishop Tobin said what particularly disturbed him were reports that in some churches that offer Masses geared to the Hispanic population, attendance had dramatically dropped.
“Now when we get involved in that area — the ability to practice their faith — that becomes a concern for me right away.”
Bishop Tobin said, “We recognize a lot of them are here illegally … But keep in mind many of them are here because the system itself is broken. We’ve gone two decades … with this current immigration policy that has enabled and allowed this situation to develop. People who came here did not come here with the express purpose of breaking the law. They came to make a living for themselves and their families and the government has allowed that to happen … because of the lax interpretation of immigration laws and the fact that there hasn’t been enforcement.”
Certainly the laws of the land must be enforced, the bishop said, but “God’s law” must also be followed.
“I know for sure what Jesus would not do,” the bishop said. “He would not sweep into a community, gather up large groups of people, separate family members one from another and deport them to another country. I know for sure he would not do that.”
The bishop addressed the letter to Stephen J. Farquharson, interim director of the Boston ICE office. In a written response, released to the media, Kelly Nantel, a spokeswoman for that office said: “While we have great respect for Bishop Tobin and his colleagues, we believe their congregations and communities would be better served by helping individuals to comply with the law or working to change those laws rather than asking law enforcement agents not to enforce it.”
The ICE statement said the agency’s agents had all sworn an oath to uphold the nation’s laws. “While we fully intend to continue to enforce the law, I would stress that we do so professionally and with an acute awareness of the impact that enforcement has on the individuals we encounter.”
Several priests who attended Tuesday’s meeting and signed the letter spoke of the fear spread by the recent raids and Carcieri’s executive order, which calls for state police and prison correctional officers to be trained for eventual immigration enforcement powers. They praised Bishop Tobin’s leadership on the issue.
The Rev. Raymond Malm, the new pastor at St. Joseph Church in Newport, said, “It does call for, I think, a change of law by the federal government. I don’t think the executive order helped anything. I think it brought lots of negative attention, and I think that that went hand in hand with the raids. Did it cause the raids? I don’t think so,” he said. “Those are taking place all around the country.” .
The Rev. James Ruggieri of St. Patrick Church in Providence, said, “The bishop says, and I support him, that this is not helpful. It’s stirring up fear among people who are undocumented but also people who are documented. It’s lending itself — and people may be not willing to admit this — but it’s further prejudice against people of color.
He added, “I think the bishop is saying, it’s a very shortsighted answer to a greater problem.”
Kevin Appleby, director of migration for the conference of bishops, said to his knowledge Bishop Tobin is the only one who has called for an end to or moratorium on the raids.
“There have been bishops who have spoken out against raids but the opposition has been if they’re going to conduct them it’s got to be in a way to prevent separation of children from their parents and to ensure that the rights of those who are arrested are protected during the legal process,” Appleby said. “A lot of the tactics being used by ICE in these raids are really to terrorize and traumatize these people,” said Appleby. “It’s understandable that there might be some ICE agents that have reservations about how these raids are being conducted.”
In the interview yesterday, Bishop Tobin said, “I’d love to see our own congressional delegation support the call for a moratorium on raids. And I’d love to have the two presidential candidates at their conventions … say they would support [a moratorium on] immigration raids nationwide until we can solve this problem. I guess I’m dreaming to expect that would happen, but I think it’s a fair question.”
tmooney@projo.com
5:50 PM Fri, Aug 15, 2008 |
PermalinkMike McKinney 
Email
By Jennifer Jordan
Journal staff writer
In the state's two most heavily Hispanic school districts, Central Falls and Providence, enrollment numbers are down by a couple thousand students, and immigration rights advocates say the dip is linked to three factors: the governor's crackdown on illegal immigrants combined with the state's economic recession and foreclosure crisis.
Providence's enrollment has fallen by 1,700 since school ended in June, although school officials say that number could bounce back up during the first week of classes, when students who have not registered show up for school Aug. 26. About 60 percent of Providence's 25,000 students are Hispanic.
Currently, Central Falls enrollment stands at 3,050, down from its usual 3,500, said school Supt. Fran Gallo. Central Falls has the highest density of Hispanic students in the state, at 70 percent. Gallo said it is not unusual to lose about 200 hundred students over the summer, as some move away, switch school systems, or fail to register for the new school year until the first day of classes.
"But I am surprised by this -- I did not think the numbers would go down as significantly," Gallo said. "But all you have to do is walk around the neighborhoods around here and see all the boarded-up houses. And given the tough economy, my principals have told me many families are moving away, to the south or the west or where they have relatives."
Although it is unclear how many immigrants have left the state, the dip in school enrollments is an indication that hundreds of families have left in recent months.
The enrollment decline came to light at an impassioned press conference today to announce the resignation of eight of the 12 members of the Governor's Hispanic Advisory Commission. The resigning members said the executive order had created a climate of fear that was affecting all immigrants, legal and illegal.
Rhode Island is one of 11 states -- and the only New England state -- officially in a recession. Unemployment hit 7.7 percent last month, the second highest rate in the nation, and more than 1,000 homes were foreclosed on during the first three months of the year. Cities have been especially hard hit.
Sen. Juan Pichardo, D-Providence, said he sees empty houses when he walks through the West End of Providence. "When I walk the neighborhood," he said, "I see two or three foreclosed homes on every street."
A similar pattern of shuttered homes can be seen in Providence's South Side and Olneyville.
Hundreds of immigrant families have left Rhode Island's urban communities driven by fear of deportation and difficulty getting jobs, said Juan Garcia, a community organizer at St. Teresa's Church in Olneyville. Garcia said some have moved to South Carolina, North Carolina and western states. Others have moved across the border to Massachusetts, which has opted to integrate immigrants and ensure they receive social services under Democratic Governor Deval Patrick.
Saying illegal immigrants were costing Rhode Island too much money and that the federal government had reneged on its responsibility to enforce immigration law, Republican Governor Carcieri signed an executive order in March to crack down on undocumented immigrants. The order empowered the state police and corrections officers to work more closely with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement to identify and deport illegal immigrants. It also requires state agencies to verify the identity of workers.
"Many families have had to leave," Garcia said. "Many of these families drive without licenses and when the state police started stopping people earlier this year and bringing them to court, people got scared. Also the economic situation in the state is grave. The cost of food and gasoline and everything is going up. Many of these people earn just $6 an hour, so all of this has created a situation where they cannot maintain their lives here."
State Rep. Richard W. Singleton, D-Cumberland, an outspoken opponent of illegal immigration, said he is pleased about the effect the executive order.
"I don't think the executive order was signed in order to force people to leave the state, although that could very well be a consequence of it," Singleton said. "If so, I say that's great. Congratulations to the governor, because we are gaining something here in Rhode Island if it's forcing some people to leave."
He said he was not concerned about the potential impact on the economy, as many illegal immigrants work as janitors, landscapers, roofers, house cleaners, dishwashers and other low-paying jobs.
School officials point out they will not have firm enrollment numbers until the school year is under way. However, some districts are already preparing for a change in enrollment.
In Woonsocket, kindergarten registrations are down 50 percent, from 80 last year to about 40 so far this year, according to the school administration office. Roughly one-fourth of Woonsocket students are Hispanic.
In contrast, in Cranston, the state's third largest school district, enrollment numbers are holding steady, according to Assistant Supt. Peter Nero, at 10,615 students so far. This time last year, enrollment was 10,657, Nero said. About 12 percent of Cranston students are Hispanic.
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