HR 4437 could result in jail time for many Church workers

On a mid-day in January, Sister Janice Thome sat in a Garden City trailer helping an undocumented immigrant family of four — a young couple with two children ages 4 and 7 — obtain non-government financial assistance to heat their trailer for the winter.

"It was the middle of the day and my toes were frozen," Sister Janice said. "This family is existing on a space heater."

If HR 4437 passes as it currently stands, not only would the family face criminal prosecution and the end to their dreams of eventual legal status in the United States, but Sister Janice could be looking at five years in prison for trying to help them obtain assistance.

HR 4437, or the "Border Protection, Antiterrorism, and Illegal Immigration Control Act of 2005," was sponsored by House Judiciary Committee Chairman Rep. James F. Sensenbrenner Jr., R-Wisc. It was approved by a 239-182 House vote on Dec. 16 and is expected to be placed before the Senate sometime in February.

If passed without any changes, the bill would make being in the United States without proper documentation a criminal act. Currently, the act only violates civil code. Those who render undocumented immigrants assistance, including Church and charitable entities, would also face criminal prosecution. In addition, it authorizes final construction of a wall across the entire U.S./Mexico border, eliminates a program that helps thousands of people earn legal status each year, and gives local law enforcement authority to enforce federal immigration laws

When the resolution goes before the Senate in February, it could pass as is, or it could undergo changes in language.

One thing is for certain, if it does pass without change, the bill would place Sister Janice and many Church workers like her in a very uncomfortable position: Do they answer God’s call to serve the poor and face possible imprisonment -- as their faith says they must -- or do they obey the Federal law and ignore the poor, unless the poor have proper papers?

Father John Fahey-Guerra, C.Ss.R., is part of the Redemptorist Hispanic Missionary Team in Liberal. He, Bishop Ronald Gilmore, and the Diocese of Dodge City have placed in this issue of the SKR a postcard ready to be signed and sent to Senators Sam Brownback and Pat Roberts regarding HR4437.

"It’s very important for people to know the details of the House Resolution," Father Fahey-Guerra said, "and for senators to know that we’re opposed to it and to come up with something better."

For Sisters Janice and Roserita Weber, who serve nearly 60 families a month (ranging from U.S. born Anglos to recent immigrants from multiple countries with and without documents) in the "Dominican Sisters Ministry of Presence," the bill would add significant hurdles to what they see as an already broken immigration system.

Two weeks ago, Sister Janice found herself and a woman seeking documentation in a dire predicament. During a trek to an immigration office in Kansas City, the woman’s vehicle’s motor burned out just outside Topeka.

"In her type of case, if you don’t show up, a warrant is immediately issued for your arrest," Sister Janice explained. "They give no telephone number for you to call. They don’t want to be bothered. You have to mail in your excuse ahead of time. That is how stringent immigration is.

"We were three hours ahead of schedule when the car died; we had a helpful policeman, car dealership and rental service helping us get a rental car quickly. When we arrived we had six minutes to spare."

Another woman, Sister Janice said, has obtained approval to be granted residency, but has been placed on a waiting list for her VISA documentation that could take months or years.

"She cried again yesterday because she can’t get a drivers license or a job," Sister Janice said. "Her gas is about to be disconnected. Her husband had an operation that zapped all their money. She told me, ‘I may have approval, but without my VISA or work permit, I might as well have nothing.’"

Meanwhile, because the war in Guatemala has abated, the American government is requiring 98 percent of the Guatamalan asylum applicants in the United States to relocate back to their nation of origin. According to Sister Janice, the situation in Guatemala is far from safe.

"The families say that if you fought on the government side, the guerillas remember. If you fought on the guerilla side, the government remembers. If you live in the United States that long, they think you’re rich, so they come to rob you. They don’t believe that you spent all your money trying to obtain citizenship, so they may torture you. These families don’t feel safe going back."

In a letter to the U.S. House of Representatives, Terence O’Sullivan, General President of the Laborers’ International Union of North America, wrote regarding HR 4437: "This bill would create extreme immigration enforcement measures that will only push the current undocumented population further into the shadows and make criminals out of U.S. citizens who associate with them. This bill would subject all 11 million undocumented immigrants currently living, working, paying taxes and contributing to communities all over the U.S. to deportation and imprisonment without a fair hearing."

Although HR4437 has met with disapproval from the Catholic Church, that doesn’t mean the Church isn’t interested in comprehensive immigration reform. Other bills have found support from the Church, including one sponsored by Sens. John McCain, R-Ariz., and Edward Kennedy, D-Mass. That bill would bring about: a new worker visa program and enforcement changes; improvements in legal immigration procedures so that families -- who may be separated for years while documentation is acquired -- can be reunited more quickly; and ways for current undocumented immigrants to pay a fine and have their status adjusted.