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Church network urges immigration reform Bill Fentum, Dec 22, 2009
UMR PHOTOS BY BILL FENTUM
United Methodist Bishop Mike Lowry urged participants at a Dec. 3 rally to support immigration reform efforts.
By Bill Fentum Staff Writer
ARLINGTON, Texas—United Methodist Bishop Mike Lowry entered ordained ministry in the early 1980s, when El Salvadoran refugees were streaming into the U.S. to escape a devastating civil war. Serving a church in a South Texas border town, he witnessed their plight firsthand.
One day “Bill,” a border-patrol agent in his congregation, was told to deport a refugee over state lines into Mexico. “The man had no shoes,” Bishop Lowry recalls, “so I found a pair in our church clothes pantry, and Bill and I did what we could to help a fellow human being in need.
“That’s the heart of America, and the heart of the Christian gospel,” he said at a Dec. 3 rally in support of U.S. immigration reform.
The event at Aldersgate UMC in Arlington was sponsored by the Welcoming Immigrants Network (WIN), a grassroots, faith-based effort to raise awareness across Texas and lobby U.S. congressional leaders from the state.
The Obama administration has pledged to push immigration reform legislation early in 2010. Last spring the United Methodist Council of Bishops released a statement calling for “a pathway to citizenship for immigrants” and a plan to reunite families separated after immigration raids.
“In this time of worldwide terror, appropriate steps must be taken to assure safety and security,” said Bishop Lowry, who leads the denomination’s Central Texas Conference. “But we must not do so at the cost of our own best values and aspirations.”
Joanna Cardoza, a member of Aldersgate UMC in Arlington, told rally attendees about how her father crossed the U.S.-Mexico border illegally as a teenager. Deported in his 40s, he now only sees his daughter and grandchildren once a year when they can afford the trip.
“It’s very sad to not be able to spend his birthdays, Christmas or Thanksgiving with him,” said Ms. Cardoza said. “The deportations take an emotional toll on families.”
She worries that her husband, too, could be sent back. He used a false Social Security number to find work before receiving a green card in 2000; authorities overlooked the violation then, but in 2010 his residency must be renewed.
“We’ve been together 10 years and have four children,” Ms. Cardoza said. “We’re waiting to hear how things go this time, and praying it will be OK.” The Rev. Dean Reed, a United Methodist elder, co-founded WIN last spring to advocate for reform. Since then he has met twice with representatives of U.S. Sen. John Cornyn (R-Texas), asking for the senator’s support.
“I’ve been told he isn’t ready to commit to reform at this time,” Mr. Reed said in an interview. “But I do believe they’re listening, that they consider our concerns valid.”
WIN began as a Hispanic ministries outreach at First UMC in Stephenville, Texas, where Mr. Reed is senior pastor and the congregation wants to do more for immigrants than host ESL classes.
But he also has a personal reason for getting involved.
Mr. Reed’s own family emigrated to the U.S. in the 1700s, to escape famine in their native Ireland. “They were allowed to come, and that’s why I’m here today,” he said. “Read history and you’ll see a lot of people at that time hated Irish immigrants, but now they’re seen as part of the backbone of our country.
“So the very people others call a scourge on our society may be a blessing that proves itself in the future.”
UMR PHOTOS BY BILL FENTUM
The Obama administration has pledged to push immigration reform legislation early in 2010. Last spring the United Methodist Council of Bishops released a statement calling for “a pathway to citizenship for immigrants” and a plan to reunite families separated after immigration raids. 
