This story located at: http://www.pcusa.org/pcnews/2006/06292.htm
PC(USA)'s immigration attorney keeps busy
In first year, Thorne has been called upon by 60-70 presbyteries
by Toya Richards Hill.
LOUISVILLE - For six hours, Julia Thorne sat in the lobby of the Wyndham Arlington hotel in Dallas, listening to the worries of Presbyterian immigrant pastors.
"The pastors came, one and two at a time, and they were really hurting," said Thorne, the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.)'s manager for immigration issues and immigration counsel. "They have immigration issues themselves. They have families with immigration issues. And it's very difficult."
"They can't go back to their congregations and share because their congregations (also) are hurting," she said of the pastors gathered for the National Presbyterian Immigrant Leadership Training event held last October in Texas. "I hope it was therapeutic for them to have questions answered."
"One of them said, 'I know my church cares for me because they hired you,'" Thorne said. "I was exhausted (by the end), but it was very moving to see the hurt."
A mix of legal counsel, therapist, advocate and networker, Thorne is the PC(USA)'s primary point person for addressing immigration issues facing the church - a role she comes by honestly.
She is a graduate of the University of Kentucky College of Law, where she specialized in immigration law, and Thorne holds a master's degree in international education, which she used to teach English as a second language and linguistics. Thorne also has a bachelor's degree in French.
"I was always very interested in cross-cultural communities," said Thorne, who traces her very first interest way back to 5th grade when a girl from India joined her class.
"It's a huge part of who I am," she said.
After law school, Thorne maintained a private law practice in Lexington, where she closely served the area's immigrant population. "I had about 95 different countries walk into my office in three years of law practice," she said.
Thorne took her position with the PC(USA) in July 2005 in an effort to do more advocacy work, networking and teaching - all areas of strength, she said. Plus, it allowed her to work within her own denomination.
"These are things I love to do, (things) that give me energy," Thorne said.
The PC(USA)'s Office of Immigration Issues and Thorne's position were created by the 216th General Assembly (2004). The legislation called for a comprehensive legalization program for immigrants living and working in the U.S.
Thorne's duties through the office are numerous, and include assisting middle governing bodies, chairing a staff team that coordinates ministry work and immigration advocacy related to racial ethnic and immigrant church growth and evangelism, and advocating for immigration law reform.
She also works across ecumenical lines, consulting and partnering with her counterparts in other mainline denominations and with advocacy organizations.
Yet it has been Thorne's work with pastors, congregations and presbyteries that has highlighted her first year in the job.
Attending conferences like the one earlier this year in Dallas has helped Thorne "know the pastors * know the immigrant churches and get a feel for what their needs are."
In addition, "I have probably spoken to 60 or 70 different presbyteries * in the less than a year that I've been here," she said. "I've had that many presbyteries call me with immigration issues."
Thorne said the queries range from simple how-to issues to more complex situations.
Simple, straightforward things - like how to bring a pastor into the U.S., Thorne said - she can walk a presbytery through herself. For more complex issues, "I've developed a network of immigration attorneys," which Thorne taps if needed.
Thorne also has helped establish the "Presbyterians for Just Immigration" network, an electronic listserv for sharing resources and strategies for advocacy.
"There were people very, very interested and engaged in the whole immigration debate already in the Presbyterian Church all over the United States," Thorne said. "I wanted a way for everybody to talk and also share."
She said through the network people share liturgy, articles from local newspapers, information on what's happening in Congress and various other things.
"One person recently shared that he knew of a man who was dying of diabetes, but he was undocumented," Thorne said. The person needed to know, "Where can I get help for this person?"
Thorne said ultimately, education is the key component of all the work she is doing and the work that still needs to be accomplished.
"If I could just do one thing all the time, I would go around * and explain immigration law to people because nobody knows what's going on," she said.
"There seems to be this thought that there's an illegal way and a legal way (into the U.S), and people are choosing to do the illegal way. But there is no legal way" for most people, Thorne said.
"There is no question that the law needs to be changed," she said.
Thorne said the PC(USA) supports passing a law that would create a program to legalize undocumented people already living and working in the U.S. The denomination also is calling for "the reform of current immigration policies and procedures to ensure a more timely and humane process."
A bill passed by the U. S. House of Representatives that has met huge resistance and prompted scores of protests throughout the nation does not include a path to legal residency or citizenship for illegal immigrants, or a new temporary guest worker program.
The bill also makes illegal presence in the country a felony, increases penalties for first-time illegal entry to the U.S., and makes it a felony to assist, encourage, direct or induce a person to enter or attempt to enter or remain in the United States illegally.
The U.S. Senate version of the bill is quite different from the House version and Thorne said there is fear that the guest worker and "earned citizenship" provisions of the Senate bill might not survive joint negotiations with the House.
President George W. Bush also has outlined his own vision for comprehensive immigration reform, and has requested more than $1.9 billion in emergency funds from Congress to secure the country's borders.
Whatever shakes out, Thorne said, the PC(USA) must be actively involved, whether it's to help people through a new guest worker process or to aid people in detention or whatever is needed.
"There are still 20 million undocumented people" in the U.S., she said. "The church is going to need to step forward."