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Today’s blog

Lynn Murphy Mark

Immigration 101

Yesterday I was invited to speak to a small group of people from a coalition of 4 UCC churches who are exploring several social/political issues. Their goal is to formulate an outreach plan to carry out the mission, as I understood it, of responding to “the least of these”. The exact words are from Matthew 25:40, “Whatever you did for the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.” Jesus’s words and actions showed us what our responsibilities are to fellow travelers. If these words are not lived out in a church’s mission and values, the implication may be that it is not following the way of life that Jesus taught about.

The group identified immigration as one of the areas they need to learn more about. A member of the congregation happens to be a woman that I went to nursing school with lo those many years ago. After we graduated she asked me to be a bridesmaid at her wedding. Over the years we lost touch, but reconnected last year when some of us tried to find as many Deaconettes as we could. We got together for lunch, and Nancy and I have been communicating since then. 

Some months ago she asked me to speak about immigration at one of their meetings. Yesterday was the day, so I traveled to Florissant and found The Church of the Master. I was greeted warmly by the pastor and the members of the committee. There was a pot of good, strong coffee and some baked goods. After all, most churches thrive on providing food for many an occasion. I helped myself to a big cup of coffee and even added a splash of half and half to celebrate.

I introduced myself and recounted the story of my change from a nursing career to that of an immigration law paralegal. For the next two hours I spoke about the realities of immigration law practice – mostly about what can be done for people who reach our shores and borders, as well as the limitations of our broken system. They asked questions and I told stories about my clients. I explained that we do work to get people their citizenship. Once they become citizens, many of our clients want to petition for family members left behind in their country of origin. We also do that very labor intensive work. We help qualified people get their green cards. We help refugees, and people who are seeking a variety of immigration benefits. Many of our clients are victims of crime and domestic violence.

I tried to get across the complexities of immigration law. We talked about what we might expect after the inauguration on January 20. They expressed great concern for what the future may hold for immigrants. They asked what we say to our clients some of whom are on the verge of panic regarding what 47 and his minions have in mind. I read them an email from a family, begging for information on what to expect. “What do you say to them?”, was the next logical question. At this point it is difficult to predict the difference between 47’s rhetoric and what he may actually  accomplish. We tell people that we will protect them to the extent of existing law. But if his last administration is any guide, we expect as many changes as he can orchestrate with presidential commands that bypass congress. We tell our people that we don’t know exactly what the plans are, and we won’t know until after January 20. These are not the answers that reassure our clients, but they are the best we have right now.

They asked how they might support our immigrant communities. I told them about our supply room at Legal Services that is managed by the Social Workers. It is full of infant care items, personal hygiene items, food, cleaning supplies – things we take for granted that are sometimes beyond the reach of our clients. One woman asked if we preferred gifts of goods, or contributions of money.  My answer is that both of these things are welcomed and appreciated and put to good use immediately.

We talked about the other services that Legal Services of Eastern Missouri offers: housing law, elder law, education law, public benefits, microenterprise support, family law that concentrates of victims of crime and domestic violence. I am always proud to talk about my employer and its many, many initiatives to work with “the least of these” precious people.