Monday, August 20, 2007

Arellano was deported

http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/nationworld/chi-web_elviraaug21,1,6817291.story?coll=chi_tab01_layout This story makes me sad. I've heard so many stories about families who have been torn apart by this immigration mess: the children may be citizens if they were born here. The part that sickens me is when the government does raids on businesses, without thinking about the children of said individuals who are in day care, school or with a babysitter at the time. When it happened earlier this summer in Massachussets, the Governor deemed it a humanitarian crisis.

I think regardless of a person's position on immigration laws, this isn't a picture of God's kingdom at work. Jesus' love transcends race, creed, color, religion, age, weight and the nation where you were born.

It's no wonder so many non-documented people in the US are illegally in the country: it costs a fortune to obtain your citizenship and it's a rare indivual who can afford it these days. It's become a class issue. In Chicago, there is rampant racism towards Spanish-speaking immigrants. If I were Latina, I would be afraid to pursue citizenship, fearing that I would likely be deported simply for my accent and skin color. Pay attention to the news - there's an immigrant rally in Washington, DC, scheduled soon, and a call for immigrants and non documented workers to boycott work and not make purchases on that day. It will have a huge impact on our economy and hopefully help put it in a little bit better perspective.

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