wfn.org | ELCA Women Protest Exclusion of Tanzania Woman

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ELCA NEWS SERVICE

July 13, 2002

ELCA WOMEN PROTEST EXCLUSION OF TANZANIA WOMAN
WO-02-12-JB

     PHILADELPHIA (ELCA) -- Delegates to the Women of the Evangelical
Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) Fifth Triennial Convention voted
overwhelmingly to authorize the Women of the ELCA executive director "to
lodge a protest in the strongest possible terms" to the U.S. government
over its decision to deny a woman from Tanzania entry into the United
States.
     Women of the ELCA's Triennial Gathering is meeting here July 8-14
at the Pennsylvania Convention Center.  The organization's three-year
theme, "Listen, God is Calling," is being unveiled at the convention
amid Bible study, keynote addresses, workshops, field trips, business
sessions and elections.  Nearly 3,200 women from throughout the ELCA and
the world are attending.
     Mary Laiser, secretary of the Women's Desk in the Arusha Diocese
of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Tanzania, was scheduled to be a
presenter and assisting minister for worship here but was sent back home
July 9 by U.S. immigration officials after she arrived in Detroit from
Amsterdam on her way to the gathering.  Immigration officials detained
her because her visa extended beyond the expiration date of her
passport, said Doris Strieter, program director for global advocacy and
education, Women of the ELCA.  The visa had been granted by the U.S.
Embassy in Dar Es Salaam, she said.  Laiser is now home in Tanzania, she
said.
     Traveling with Laiser was Elizabeth Megiroo, assistant secretary
for the Women's Desk.  Megiroo was allowed entry into the United States
and participated in the Women of the ELCA gathering.
     Laiser "was refused entry into the United States due to errors on
the part of the U.S. government," said the resolution, which delegates
adopted by a vote of 433-17 and seven abstentions.
     In addition, Women of the ELCA convention delegates requested "a
formal apology from the United States government to Mary Laiser for the
unconscionable treatment she received," the resolution said.
     The protest was directed to U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell,
Tom Ridge, director of the U.S. Office of Homeland Security, and U.S.
Senators Arlen Specter, R-Pa., and Rick Santorum, R-Pa.  Women of the
ELCA gathering participants were encouraged to convey the resolution to
their own elected officials.
     "There are grounds for exercising our objections in the highest
possible terms," said Catherine "Cathi" I.H. Braasch, Women of the ELCA
executive director, speaking to delegates.
     Women of the ELCA has been working with the ELCA Division for
Global Mission and Lutheran Immigration and Refugee Service (LIRS),
Baltimore, to learn more about what can be done for Laiser.  Laiser was
scheduled to appear at two ELCA Global Mission Events (GME) later this
month in addition to the women's gathering here.  The GMEs are July 18-
21 in Hickory, N.C. and July 25-28 in Minneapolis.
     "We want to talk with her," said Anne P. Wilson, LIRS acting
director, in an interview.  "We'd like to find out how she was treated
when she arrived in Detroit."  LIRS staff will assist Laiser, Wilson
said, adding that LIRS staff have been working on Laiser's case since
she was denied entry into the U.S.
     "Tanzania is on the list of countries of concern" to the United
States, because the U.S. Embassy there was bombed, she added.
-- -- --
Editors: Photographs from "Way-Making Women: A Way to Unity" and Women
of the ELCA's Triennial Gathering are maintained at
http://www.elca.org/wo/events/tg/tg02/connect/photos.html on the Web.

News releases and other information about the gathering are maintained
at http://www.elca.org/wo/events/tg/tg02/connect/news.html on the Web.

For information, contact: Melissa Ramirez, newsroom manager, (215) 418-
2045 or mramirez@elca.org

For information contact:
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