Dear
Casa San Jose Amigos,
Please
keep contacting your legislators – we mustn’t let up.
Locally: The
Pennsylvania Immigration & Citizenship Coalition (PICC) has updated its
information about severe anti-immigrant legislation now underway in
Harrisburg. Use this to get all the information needed
to tell them NO and to stand up for our immigrant friends and neighbors.
Nationally: This week we bring you the Catholic
Campaign for Immigration Reform’s Phone-In Friday,
where during Lent we call our DC members of Congress and urge them to cosponsor
legislation that supports immigrants and refugees seeking protection and safety
in the U.S. Details are on their
website,
including a toll-free number and suggested script. If your Congressperson has
already supported the legislation protecting immigrants and refugees, call to
thank them!
“Our Story” episode 2, “Marisa”
Our researcher Anne
interviewed Marisa (not her real name) 36, a married mother of three, a member
of the Pittsburgh Latino immigrant community.
She came to the US at the age of 10 with her mother, crossing the border
in the darkness from Tijuana. They finally
located her brother and father in Chicago, where they then lived for 25 years. Though undocumented, they experienced
relative peace and confidence in the future. Marisa graduated from high school,
worked as a caseworker in a hospital, and gave birth to two children. However, after her work permit expired, she
could not legally be employed, and was too old for protection under DACA. Now in Pittsburgh, with the new crackdown on
immigrants, her life is full of fear and insecurity – “Unlivable,” she says.
“We cannot think about tomorrow, plan for the future.” Her children get taunted by classmates and
have to stay in what they learn are “safe zones” in the city. Her husband, a construction laborer, has lost
his job and picks up temporary work when he can. Deportation looms: they arranged for power of attorney for her
children with her brother. “Where would we go?” she asks. “I haven’t been in
Mexico since I was 10. I don’t know anyone there.” She finds peace through her
volunteer work at Casa San Jose and by keeping “a strong attitude, adjusting to
fit in, always being well mannered and respectful. Adjusting to fit in any
situation. I don’t consider myself a criminal. We haven’t hurt anybody.”
Help Jeimy do research in Latin America and add to
our knowledge:
Jeimy
Sanchez-Ruiz, our Youth Community Outreach Coordinator, and a Criminal Justice
and Psychology major at Carlow University, and her friend Renee are
crowd-funding a research trip to Guatemala and El Salvador to study the effects
of Trump’s immigration policy on their citizens. Please help fund their trip here.
