Dear Friends,
As many of you know, I was pastor of Our Lady of Guadalupe, St. Agnes and St. Francis Assisi parishes in South Omaha from 1990 until 2004. When I arrived in 1990, we had two Masses in Spanish and the immigrant community in Omaha was just beginning to grow. Most of the South 24th Street businesses were being closed. In 1990, Latinos were 2% of the Omaha population, with just over 10,000 persons. By 2020, Latinos made up nearly 15% of the Omaha population with over 72,000 people and the South 24th Street business district is flourishing. They are served by the eight Catholic Churches in Omaha that offer Masses in Spanish.
What was the draw that brought so many Latinos to Omaha? Was it the weather? The beaches and mountains? Nope. What brought the new immigrants to Omaha was the possibility of employment. Major employers like the meat packing industry were looking for people who would work for a lower wage than the local population. Prior waves of immigrants from Eastern Europe were no longer interested in such hard labor once the unions had been broken and wages went down.
Raids by the INS on local packing plants were common during my years at Guadalupe. In 1997 alone, there were 20 raids with more than 2,400 people being deported. Working with Jerry Heinauer, the head agent for Nebraska and Iowa, I was included as an official observer during the raids to make sure that the undocumented were treated with dignity in the deportation process. Many of the folks who were deported during those raids came back to Omaha within a month or two because they had wives, children, homes and more in Omaha.
You might recall who was President in 1997. It was Bill Clinton. The deportation of undocumented immigrants has never been a one-sided partisan issue. What President Trump is proposing with massive deportations has been done before by others from other parties. Obama ended worksite enforcement raids but he was still known in the immigrant community as the “deporter in chief.”
The Catholic Church has always said that countries have a right to control their borders and to govern who enters a country. However, it also follows the teaching of Jesus which places concern for the poor and the stranger above the role of border regulation. This is why you are hearing from the Pope and bishops about President Trump’s plan on deportations this week.
Pope Francis on Sunday said it would be a “disgrace” for incoming President Donald Trump to make good on promises to expel undocumented immigrants. “We have not spoken [of this],” Francis told Italian tv, “but if it is true, it will be a disgrace, because he will make these poor unfortunates, who have nothing, pay the bill of disorder.” Francis added, “this is not the way to resolve the matter.”
Bishop Seitz of El Paso, Texas said, “The end of the Department of Homeland Security’s sensitive locations policy strikes fear into the heart of our community, cynically layering a blanket of anxiety on families when they are worshiping God, seeking healthcare and dropping off and picking up children at school.”
“We have also seen the rapid and indiscriminate closure of the border to asylum seekers and the return of the ill-conceived Remain in Mexico policy, violating due process and restricting the few legal options available to the most vulnerable who knock on our door seeking compassion and aid,” Seitz continued.
“I direct my words to our local immigrant community. Whatever your faith and wherever you come from, we make your anxieties and fears at this moment our own. We stand with you in this moment of family and personal crisis and pledge to you our solidarity, trusting that the Lord, Jesus Christ, will bring about good even from this moment of pain, and that this time of trial will be just a prelude to real reform, a reconciled society and justice for all those who are forced to migrate.”
The problem we have today is no different than it was when I went to Guadalupe in 1990. The laws governing immigration need to be reformed. The wait time to enter the US from countries like Mexico make it virtually impossible. For example, a US citizen mom who is petitioning for her daughter in Mexico to join her in the US, would have to wait 22 years until she reached the front of the line and she could only then petition for her daughter to enter. For those who have no family in the US,the wait is beyond their lifespan.
Congress needs to take the lead and get immigration reform done that benefits us all and increases our shared prosperity. Yes, the work may be hard, but having an immigration system that works for America would be worth it. I encourage you to pray and contact our elected representatives to work for this change.
Peace,
Fr. Damian