New Laws Affecting the Immigrant Community

It has suddenly become a lot harder to be an immigrant in Columbus, OH.

Franklin County just enacted a law where every time the police take fingerprints, they immediately compare them with the national immigration database. This is called the Secure Communities initiative. This is a new program that just started in two counties in Ohio, but it will probably become statewide soon. It is already in effect in several states, most of them on the border with Mexico. Prospective citizens are fingerprinted as part of the application process--so if someone is picked up who either is--or isn't--in the immigration database, it could alert authorities to further investigation.

On top of that, there is also another law recently passed where a person has to be a legal resident in order to register their vehicle in the state of Ohio. So far, the LULAC has tried to fight it, but "public safety" won out. Apparently, the case was argued that there is no good reason to own a vehicle if one is not going to drive it, so the only people who can own a vehicle should be the people who can legally drive and hold a drivers license. Others feels that this is an indirect way to enforce immigration laws.

I recently attended a session hosted by the newly-formed chapter of the ACLU in Columbus as well as LULAC (a Hispanic advocacy group). The meeting was held at St. James the Less.

The first speaker was a Latino police officer and he did a tutorial about what to do if stopped by the police. Next up were two ACLU lawyers. Some of what they said was very ivory tower--It is good to know that all people in America have constitutional rights, including the right to a safe workplace and minimum wage, but it presents few real-world applications to someone who is here undocumented. However, they also gave good advice to folks to learn how to live in America given the immigration policy we have--be upstanding members of society, keep a low profile, etc.

This is good advice, because if immigration reform does happen, the people most likely to stay are those who have a clean criminal record as well as some skills in English. All these presenters spent a lot of time telling people what to say and what not to say if Immigration knocks on their door or if the police stop them.

The Director of Latino Ministry got up and urged people to get power of attorney so that if they are deported, someone will have legal custody of their children and their home, car, business, etc.
The good news is that since the earthquakes, any people from Haiti who are here in America illegally will be granted a form of temporary asylum. However, that is poor consolation for the many other people who are also here fleeing impoverished countries and politically oppressive regimes.

As a friend of mine put it, immigration is a reality. Whether Americans like it or not won't change the fact of the matter: Many immigrants have arrived without documents and they are here to stay. They are contributing members of society, and our culture is much richer for their presence here. As members of Christ's body, it makes sense to welcome the stranger and provide save harbor for the refugee.

As a people of hope, let us hope for a safe, sane, humanitarian immigration policy in this nation. As people of work, let us put our feet to the pavement and use our hands and mouths to phone, email, petitions and urge anyone and everyone to consider this issue. Change happens when people get motivated enough to talk to their friends, family and coworkers about it. If everyone talk to people in their circle of acquaintances, we can build pressure and momentum for change.