Immigration Committee Lenten Series 2022

Called to be Dangerous Women (and Men): The Triune God impels us into the heart of the world
Lenten Series 2022 – Justice for Immigrants Committee, AMSSND

Holy Week Reflections – A Pilgrimage of Dangerous Journeys

We have journeyed together this Lent, stopping along the way to reflect on our commitment to those who seek justice as immigrants. We have listened to the voices of a young man from Mexico with DACA status, to a Haitian immigrant here twenty years with Temporary Protected Status, to the journey of Afghan refugees with so little preparation, to a family torn apart and reunited in their immigrant journey, to a young mother leaving her abuelas and culture behind in Columbia. Stories matter. We are called to be Dangerous Women. As we go forward into Holy Week, we recall the pilgrimage that Jesus himself made from that procession into Jerusalem, to the Passover meal celebrated with his friends, to the betrayal by his friend, to his passion and death on the cross, to the victory of life over death in the resurrection. 

We invite you to reflect on some of these images, poems, short videos, and prayers as you make space for contemplation during this Holy Week. May they be a blessing to you, to those with whom you share them, and move your spirit to join in the work of justice for immigrants. We pray with you.

Please Click Here to open the reflection.

5th Sunday of Lent – April 3 – Afghan women and children in exile

Opening Prayer

Let us pray:
Remember not the events of the past,
the things of long ago consider not;
see, I am doing something new!
Now it springs forth, do you not perceive it?
In the desert I make a way, in the wasteland, rivers.
Wild beasts honor me, jackals and ostriches,
for I put water in the desert and rivers in the wasteland
for my chosen people to drink, the people whom I formed for myself,
that they might announce my praise.

Isaiah 43

Reflection Questions: Action/Advocacy: For more information on Afghan refugees and resettlement, click here. And here

Closing Prayer: Dangerous Women and “Go Make A Difference” video

4th Sunday of Lent – March 27 – Undocumented and invisible: the children

Opening Prayer 

Live as children of light,
for light produces every kind of goodness
and righteousness and truth.
Try to learn what is pleasing to the Lord.
Take no part in the fruitless works of darkness;
rather expose them, for it is shameful even to mention
the things done by them in secret;
but everything exposed by the light becomes visible,
for everything that becomes visible is light. Ephesians 5 

May this reflection both expose me to the light, making the unseen seen, and help me to live as light, producing every kind of goodness and righteousness and truth. We pray in God’s Holy Name. Amen.  

Immigration Issue: Undocumented and Invisible: children at the borders – watch these five short (2 minute) videos of a real family with children struggling to find safety.  

Facts: The decline in the arrival of new unauthorized immigrants in recent years has resulted in a population that is increasingly settled in the U.S. About two-thirds of unauthorized immigrants (66%) had lived in the U.S. for more than 10 years as of 2017, up from 41% 10 years earlier. Conversely, newly arrived unauthorized immigrants (those in the U.S. five years or less) accounted for 20% of the unauthorized immigrant population in 2017 versus 30% in 2007. For Mexicans, the pattern is even more pronounced. The vast majority (83%) of unauthorized immigrants from Mexico have been in the country more than 10 years, while only 8% have lived in the U.S. for five years or less. (Source

Reflection Questions: In silence, reflect on the children. See them, hear them, hold them.  

Action/Advocacy: Read about the probono legal work done through the American Bar Association in Immigrant Child Advocacy Network here, as well as the legal standards for care for unaccompanied minors. Tell others about what you learned this week; all action begins with seeing! 

Closing Prayer: Dangerous Women and “Go Make A Difference” video

Immigration Issue: Afghan families in exile – Resettlement Director Catholic Charities

3rd Sunday of Lent – March 20 - Haitians and Temporary Protected Status (TPS) 

Opening Prayer  

Let us pray:  

And he told them this parable:
“There once was a person who had a fig tree planted in his orchard,
and when he came in search of fruit on it but found none,
he said to the gardener,
‘For three years now I have come in search of fruit on this fig tree
but have found none. So cut it down.
Why should it exhaust the soil?’
He said to him in reply,
‘Sir, leave it for this year also,
and I shall cultivate the ground around it and fertilize it;
it may bear fruit in the future. If not you can cut it down.’” 

May this reflection give me the fortitude to pursue justice, cultivate the ground and fertilize it for justice, so that it may bear fruit for others in the future. We pray in God’s Holy Name. Amen.  

Immigration Issue: Temporary Protected Status (Haitian experience) 

Facts: TPS holders from El Salvador, Honduras, and Haiti contribute a combined $4.5 billion in pre-tax wages or salary income annually to the US gross domestic product. The total Social Security and Medicare contributions of those individuals is estimated at more than $6.9 billion over a ten year span. 

Read: The latest news on TPS: https://democracyforward.org/lawsuits/tps-central-american-resource-center-v-cuccinelli-wolf-dhs/

Reflection Questions: Imagine that you live under “temporary protected status,” unsure of your future while you try to build a new life in a new country. Who will help you cultivate and fertilize so that you might produce the fruit God intends? How might God be calling you to action on behalf of our brothers and sisters who seek safety from ongoing armed conflict, an environmental disaster (such as earthquake or hurricane), or an epidemic or other extraordinary and temporary conditions that might lead the Secretary of State to declare a country eligible for TPS? How might your status and privilege be put at the service of others? 

Action/Advocacy: For more information on Haiti and TPS status, click here. And here.   

Closing Prayer: Dangerous Women and “Go Make A Difference” video

2nd Sunday of Lent – March 13 – DACA and DREAMers waiting

Opening Prayer

Let us pray: 
Your presence, O LORD, I seek.
Hide not your face from me; do not in anger repel your servant.
You are my helper: cast me not off.
I believe that I shall see the bounty of the LORD in the land of the living.
Wait for the LORD with courage; be stouthearted and wait for the LORD. Ps 27
May this reflection help me to imagine the courage that it takes to wait and wait and wait for a pathway to legal status and citizenship.
We pray in God’s Holy Name. Amen. 

Facts: The majority of DACA applicants are from Mexico. 2.3 million total applications listed Mexico as the country of origin. As of September 2020, the average age of a DACA recipient is approximately 27 years old. Rescinding DACA and deporting everyone eligible for the program would remove over 2 million working-age individuals from the United States, the vast majority of whom contribute to the U.S. economy. A 2019 report from New American Economy found the DACA-eligible population earned $23.4 billion in 2017, up from almost $19.9 billion in 2015. And despite rhetoric claiming they are a drain on the economy, 93.3% of DACA-eligible individuals were actively employed in 2017. Source. To learn more, click here. 

Reflection Questions: What else do I need to know to work for immigration reform for DACA eligible and DREAMers? How can I better accompany those who have been waiting for a path for their life? What privileges do I have in my life that are so automatic that I can take them for granted? How might this shape my spiritual life – “You are my helper; cast me not off”?

Action/Advocacy: Get to know the issues of DACA and the DREAMers by looking at the forms, documentation, and cost of getting through the process to determine eligibility. Imagine that you need to fill out these forms with the education that you have, and then consider doing so without help.  Read the forms here. 

Closing Prayer: Dangerous Women and “Go Make A Difference” video

1st Sunday of Lent – March 6 – Leaving it all behind

Opening Prayer 

Let us pray:
Then you shall declare before the Lord, your God,
‘My father was a wandering Aramean
who went down to Egypt with a small household
and lived there as an alien.
But there he became a nation great, strong, and numerous.
When the Egyptians maltreated and oppressed us,
imposing hard labor upon us,
we cried to the LORD, the God of our fathers and our mothers,
and God heard our cry
and saw our affliction, our toil, and our oppression.
God brought us out of Egypt
with a strong hand and outstretched arm,
with terrifying power, with signs and wonders;
and bringing us into this country,
God gave us this land flowing with milk and honey.   Dt 26
May we hear this Word anew as we begin this season of Lent, that we might hear the cry, see the affliction, toil, and oppression of those who seek refuge in a new country, seeking justice for all. We pray in God’s Holy Name. Amen.

Immigration Issue: Leaving it all behind by Claudia Herrera – from Columbia

Claudia Herrera Lent 2022.mp4 from SSND Atlantic Midwest on Vimeo.

Facts:

Refugees are persons who are outside their country of origin for reasons of feared persecution, conflict, generalized violence, or other circumstances that have seriously disturbed public order and, as a result, require international protection. While there is no formal legal definition of an international migrant, most experts agree that an international migrant is someone who changes his or her country of usual residence, irrespective of the reason for migration or legal status. Generally, a distinction is made between short-term or temporary migration, covering movements with a duration between three and 12 months, and long-term or permanent migration, referring to a change of country of residence for a duration of one year or more. Source

Reflection QuestionsWho is the “other” to me? Who is my neighbor? How is God calling me to rend my heart and return to God with my whole heart?

Action/AdvocacyMake a commitment to learning about and praying for those who are immigrants and migrants throughout the world during Lent. 

Closing Prayer: Read Dangerous Women and play the “Go Make A Difference” video.