July prayer vigil hopes to reform immigrant regulations
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Sister Janice Vanderneck looked tired as she took her place at a table in the Thomas Merton Center in Garfield, where a half-dozen other immigration activists waited.
The Sister of St. Joseph had come straight from the Allegheny County Jail, where a good friend of many years -- a baker who had given countless hours to helping his parish -- was imprisoned and awaiting deportation.
The undocumented immigrant had been a passenger in a vehicle that had run a stop sign on the South Side when officers asked for his papers. He was so shocked that he wasn't certain if it was police, immigration agents or some other authority that took him to jail.
What he said he did remember, Sister Janice said, were the officer's words: "Welcome to Arizona."
The meeting had been called to organize local participation in a national prayer vigil for federal immigration reform at a time when Arizona prepares to implement a law requiring police to check anyone they suspect is in the United States without authorization. Their goal: to prevent such laws from spreading to other states.
The Isaiah 58 Vigil of Prayer and Fasting is named for a chapter in the Bible that demands justice for the oppressed.
Organizers are asking people to sign up for 30-minute time slots in the round-the-clock vigil that runs through July 28, the day that the Arizona law takes effect. They can pray wherever they are. But there will also be an organized vigil at 6:30 p.m. June 22 in the Episcopal Church of the Redeemer, Squirrel Hill.
Sister Janice and her organizers, all of whom have worked with local immigrant communities, believe it's wrong for people who entered the country without papers, but who have been good neighbors in their communities, to be arrested and deported, often leaving behind spouses and children. They refuse to use the term "illegal aliens," arguing that immigration regulations aren't law.
"They aren't violating a criminal law, they're violating an immigration policy. Criminal law is what our police are supposed to uphold, not departmental policies," said Diana Marin, an organizer with the Pittsburgh Interfaith Impact Network.
First Published June 21, 2010 12:00 am
