wfn.org | [UMNS-ALL-NEWS] UMNS# 203-Churches help families left behind after raids

[NewsDesk <NewsDesk@UMCOM.ORG>]

Churches help families left behind after raids

>May. 15, 2008

NOTE: Photographs and a video are available at http://umns.umc.org.

>By Heidi Robinson*

CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. (UMNS)--Textbook open, Mariela studies environmental
science while her three younger sisters watch TV before bed.

In a few minutes, she will help them brush their teeth and say their
bedtime prayers. But the 18-year-old is not babysitting. Mariela is the
primary caregiver for her sisters ages 2, 4 and 7 now that their mother
is gone--arrested in an immigration raid at her workplace.

"She was not supposed to be at work on that morning," Mariela says. "My
stepfather told her not to go ... but she wanted to make some overtime
to send more money to (family in) Guatemala."

U.S. immigration officers arrested Mariela's mother on April 16 at the
Pilgrim's Pride poultry processing plant in Chattanooga during a
crackdown on an alleged scam to provide fake IDs for illegal immigrant
workers. Poultry plants in four other states were also raided.

"I waited for her to get home from work, but she never came," Mariela
recalls. "I was waiting and waiting. A neighbor called us the next
morning to say my mom had been taken. My sisters think she is on
vacation in North Carolina. ... I cannot tell them she is gone. There is
nothing we can do."

Her mother is being held in Louisiana and awaits likely deportation to
Guatemala.  Mariela's stepfather works a shift job and depends on
Mariela to care for the children when she's not in school.

The dilemma is all too common for families broken apart when a family
member who is an illegal immigrant is taken into custody. They often
leave behind children still in need of parental care. Many of the
children are U.S. citizens, born in the United States.

"These are resilient families ... but this is simply traumatic," says
the Rev. Mike Feely, pastor of East Lake United Methodist Church and
director of the Saint Andrews Center, an outreach of The United
Methodist Church.

Feely compares the after-effects of the immigration raid to the
aftermath of a natural disaster.

"If you lost a loved one all of a sudden, and now they're in another
country, and the only way you can communicate is by phone ... that's
like a death," he says.

The United Methodist Church has long advocated for comprehensive
immigration reform in the United States. At its recent General
Conference, the church's top legislative body adopted a resolution
calling for "full protection of all workers, which includes the
opportunity to gain legal status for all migrants." The resolution also
urges U.S. lawmakers to ensure that immigration laws do not rip apart
families.

>Chaos in the aftermath

Approximately 100 Chattanooga workers were among 280 immigrants arrested
following an investigation of employees at Pittsburg, Texas-based
Pilgrim's Pride, one of the nation's largest chicken-processing
companies. The other plants raided were in Mount Pleasant, Texas; Live
Oak, Fla.; Moorefield, W.Va.; and Batesville, Ark. According to news
reports, those determined to be in the country illegally but not engaged
in identity theft may be deported or given the option to leave.

The raids left family advocates such as Feely and the Rev. Sam Gutierrez
scrambling to tend to the needs of families such as Mariela's. Gutierrez
leads a Spanish-speaking service at East Lake United Methodist Church,
where Mariela has attended the youth group.

"This is the side people don't see," Feely says. "For example, we have
one single mom we're helping. She has three kids, but she picked up four
more from her neighbor's house ... because otherwise she knew the kids
would be waiting and there would be no one at home. Both parents were
picked up. We're helping with these situations ... where someone is now
feeding eight at dinner, and they're used to feeding two."

The raids created complex issues made more difficult by language
barriers. The staff and partners at the Saint Andrews Center responded
as quickly as possible.

>Family support

On a Thursday evening following the raids, more than 300 people,
including children, packed the center's basement for a special
informational session where eight volunteer attorneys helped the
families sort out their legal issues.

"I'm here tonight because I am an immigrant myself," says manufacturing
executive Ed Canler, serving as a translator. "... We cannot just take a
knife and cut these families apart. We do not want to see a group of
people and their problems marginalized, but that has happened to the
Hispanic community."

Canler immigrated to the United States from Cuba as a boy and speaks
fluent Spanish. Several members of his church, Christ United Methodist,
also came to help.

There were many questions--questions about housing, legal aid and child
custody.

Feely said other families face more basic questions--such as how to feed
themselves and pay the rent if the breadwinner is now gone from the
house.

"I would like these families to be seen as working individuals who have
the same dreams and aspirations as the first pilgrims who came to this
country," Canler says.

For Mariela, she still dreams of having her family together again,
finishing high school and building a future.

"My dream job? I want to help people ... especially older people. I
would like to be a nurse for the elderly," she said. "They really need
help, and many young people don't understand how to help them. God tells
us to help others."

For more information about the Saint Andrews Center and how to help,
visit www.st-andrewscenter.org.

*Robinson is a freelance producer based in Winston-Salem, N.C.

News media contact: Fran Coode Walsh, Nashville, Tenn., (615) 742-5470
or newsdesk@umcom.org.

>********************

United Methodist News Service Photos and stories also available at: http://umns.umc.org

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