Bishops ask for calls

This just in from the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB):

During the week of July 6-10, the U.S. Senate considered amendments to the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) appropriations bill. During the debate, the Senate considered and adopted several immigration enforcement amendments which continue the enforcement-only approach to immigration reform. An amendment offered by Senator Jim DeMint (R-SC) enhancing the U.S.-Mexico border fence was particularly disturbing.

DeMint Amendment #1399: This amendment would require the completion of at least 700 miles of double fencing along the Southwest border by December 31, 2010, as well as require double barriers along portions of the fence.

USCCB Position: The USCCB has opposed the construction of a border fence, arguing that it will not stem, overall, illegal immigration, and could lead migrants to undertake more dangerous journeys into the United States. It also would force them to rely on expensive and dangerous human smuggling operations.
The Senate also adopted an amendment to extend the employment verification program, offered by Senator Sessions, and two other immigration enforcement amendments by voice vote (not roll call).
Notwithstanding the substance of the amendments, a vote in favor demonstrates that enforcement-only approaches to immigration reform are still supported by the majority of the Senate. Using the border fence vote as an example, we must communicate to our Senators that enforcement-only legislation is wrongheaded and ineffective and that only comprehensive immigration reform will help repair a badly broken immigration system.

Action and Targets: Clicking on this link will bring you to two separate letters, one which thanks your Senator for voting in opposition to the DeMint amendment and one expressing disappointment for their vote on the DeMint Amendment. Below, please find the roll call vote for the DeMint Amendment, with a "Yea" voting for the fence and a "Nay" voting against the fence.
Please send the appropriate letters to your Senator. It is just as important to thank your Senator for the right vote as it is expressing disappointment for a wrong vote. You can also use the letters as talking points if you wish to contact them via phone at 202-224-3121.

Specific Targets: While it is important that all Senators receive letters or calls, there are specific target Senators important to the comprehensive immigration reform debate (and who should support CIR) who should hear from us:
Target Senators who voted the wrong way on the DeMint amendment: Democrats: Baucus, Bayh, Boxer, Feinstein, Klobuchar, Landreiu, Lincoln, McCaskill, Merkley, Nelson (FL), Nelson (NE), Pryor, Rockefeller, Schumer, Specter, Stabenow, Tester, Webb, and Wyden. Republicans: Bennett, Brownback, Hatch, Graham, Gregg, McCain, Snowe.

For more information, please contact: Antonio Cube at acube@usccb.org or Chris West at CWest@crs.org

U.S. Senate Roll Call Votes 111th Congress - 1st Session as compiled through Senate LIS by the Senate Bill Clerk under the direction of the Secretary of the Senate
Question: On the Amendment (DeMint Amdt. No. 1399 )
Vote Number: 220
Vote Date: July 8, 2009, 11:34 AM
Required For Majority: 1/2
Vote Result: Amendment Agreed to
Amendment Number: S.Amdt. 1399 to S.Amdt. 1373 to H.R. 2892 (Department of Homeland Security Appropriations Act, 2010)
Statement of Purpose: To require the completion of at least 700 miles of reinforced fencing along the southwest border by December 31, 2010.
Vote Counts: YEAs 54 NAYs 44 Not Voting 2

Alabama: Sessions (R-AL), Yea Shelby (R-AL), Yea
Alaska: Begich (D-AK), Nay Murkowski (R-AK), Nay
Arizona: Kyl (R-AZ), Yea McCain (R-AZ), Yea
Arkansas: Lincoln (D-AR), Yea Pryor (D-AR), Yea
California: Boxer (D-CA), Yea Feinstein (D-CA), Yea
Colorado: Bennet (D-CO), Nay Udall (D-CO), Nay
Connecticut: Dodd (D-CT), Nay Lieberman (ID-CT), Nay
Delaware: Carper (D-DE), Nay Kaufman (D-DE), Nay
Florida: Martinez (R-FL), Nay Nelson (D-FL), Yea
Georgia: Chambliss (R-GA), Yea Isakson (R-GA), Yea
Hawaii: Akaka (D-HI), Nay Inouye (D-HI), Nay
Idaho: Crapo (R-ID), Yea Risch (R-ID), Yea
Illinois: Burris (D-IL), Nay Durbin (D-IL), Nay
Indiana: Bayh (D-IN), Yea Lugar (R-IN), Nay
Iowa: Grassley (R-IA), Yea Harkin (D-IA), Nay
Kansas: Brownback (R-KS), Yea Roberts (R-KS), Yea
Kentucky: Bunning (R-KY), Yea McConnell (R-KY), Yea
Louisiana: Landrieu (D-LA), Yea Vitter (R-LA), Yea
Maine: Collins (R-ME), Nay Snowe (R-ME), Yea
Maryland: Cardin (D-MD), Nay Mikulski (D-MD), Nay
Massachusetts: Kennedy (D-MA), Not Voting Kerry (D-MA), Nay
Michigan: Levin (D-MI), Nay Stabenow (D-MI), Yea
Minnesota: Franken (D-MN), Nay Klobuchar (D-MN), Yea
Mississippi: Cochran (R-MS), Nay Wicker (R-MS), Yea
Missouri: Bond (R-MO), Yea McCaskill (D-MO), Yea
Montana: Baucus (D-MT), Yea Tester (D-MT), Yea
Nebraska: Johanns (R-NE), Yea Nelson (D-NE), Yea
Nevada: Ensign (R-NV), Nay Reid (D-NV), Nay
New Hampshire: Gregg (R-NH), Yea Shaheen (D-NH), Nay
New Jersey: Lautenberg (D-NJ), Nay Menendez (D-NJ), Nay
New Mexico: Bingaman (D-NM), Nay Udall (D-NM), Nay
New York: Gillibrand (D-NY), Nay Schumer (D-NY), Yea
North Carolina: Burr (R-NC), Yea Hagan (D-NC), Nay
North Dakota: Conrad (D-ND), Yea Dorgan (D-ND), Yea
Ohio: Brown (D-OH), Nay Voinovich (R-OH), Nay
Oklahoma: Coburn (R-OK), Yea Inhofe (R-OK), Yea
Oregon: Merkley (D-OR), Yea Wyden (D-OR), Yea
Pennsylvania: Casey (D-PA), Nay Specter (D-PA), Yea
Rhode Island: Reed (D-RI), Nay Whitehouse (D-RI), Nay
South Carolina: DeMint (R-SC), Yea Graham (R-SC), Yea
South Dakota: Johnson (D-SD), Nay Thune (R-SD), Yea
Tennessee: Alexander (R-TN), Yea Corker (R-TN), Yea
Texas: Cornyn (R-TX), Yea Hutchison (R-TX), Yea
Utah: Bennett (R-UT), Yea Hatch (R-UT), Yea
Vermont: Leahy (D-VT), Nay Sanders (I-VT), Nay
Virginia: Warner (D-VA), Nay Webb (D-VA), Yea
Washington: Cantwell (D-WA), Nay Murray (D-WA), Nay

Senate vote taking place now

This just in from the Pennsylvania Immigration & Citizenship Coalition:

Senate Amendment Fight

Two amendments passed earlier in the day yesterday:

1. Sessions Amendment 1371 making E-verify permanent and requiring its use by federal contractors and subcontractors. Both Senator Specter and Senator Casey voted for a motion to table the amendment (against the amendment). Once the motion to table failed, the amendment was accepted by voice vote.

2. DeMint 1399 expanding the wall and adding a deadline for completion. Senator Specter voted for the amendment, Senator Casey voted against it.

Today, amendment voting is expected to begin at shortly after 11:00 am

• Vitter Amendment 1375 prohibiting the administration from changing the no-match and e-verify regulations. This is an attempt to override the Obama administration’s announcement about ending the no-match program.

• Grassley Amendment 1415 requiring all employers to re-verify current employees through e-verify, not just new hires. Currently, they are prohibited by law from doing this. Given the high error rates of the e-verify system, employees that have worked for a company for years could have erroneous non-confirmations in the system. Additionally, many individuals may not have the Photo ID that is required under the system.

Take action: Call Sen. Specter at 202-224-4254

Call Sen. Casey at 202-224-6324

To oppose the Vitter Amendement (#1375) overriding President Obama's decision to rescind the flawed Bush administration SSA No Match rule.

To oppose the Grassley amendment (#1415) which jeopardizes U.S. workers and could shut millions of U.S. citizen and lawful immigrant workers out of jobs.

To support having a real debate about immigration issues and only way for that to happen is by starting comprehensive immigration reform this year, not hurting U.S. workers.

Thank Sen. Casey for his vote against the DeMint Amendment (#1399) yesterday.

More details on SSA No-Match and E-Verify Policy Decisions -

The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Janet Napolitano announced the administration’s intention to rescind the Social Security Administration's (SSA) No-Match rule, issued under the Bush administration. The rule had never been implemented due to a lawsuit; the system was not set up to verify employment eligibility and would have caused the termination of countless thousands of American citizens and work-authorized immigrants.

Instead, they are supporting a regulation for E-verify for federal contractors and subcontractors, to go into effect September 8, 2009. This policy decision was originally made under the Bush administration and has been delayed several times, under the Bush administration and again under the Obama administration. Numerous concerns remain about the quality of data used for employment verification under these systems. From the DHS statement, “The federal contractor rule extends use of the E-Verify system to covered federal contractors and subcontractors, including those who receive American Recovery and Reinvestment Act funds. After a careful review, the Administration will push ahead with full implementation of the rule, which will apply to federal solicitations and contract awards Government-wide starting on September 8, 2009.”

The full Department of Homeland Security statement on these policy points is available at: http://www.dhs.gov/ynews/releases/pr_1247063976814.shtm

Great information about these programs and the numerous problems with them is available from the National Immigration Law Center at the following links.

"Facts about E-Verify: http://www.nilc.org/immsemplymnt/ircaempverif/e-verify-facts-about-2008-10.pdf

Basic Pilot/E-Verify: Why Mandatory Employment Verification will Hurt Workers, Businesses, and the Struggling U.S. Economy: http://www.nilc.org/immsemplymnt/ircaempverif/e-verify-facts-2009-01-29.pdf

Facts about Social Security "No Match" Letter: http://www.nilc.org/immsemplymnt/SSA-NM_Toolkit/factsaboutno-matchletter_2008-03-26.pdf

Health Care Alert from NILC

Health Care Reform Update:

Tell Congress This Week to Include in Health Care Reform the Health Equity and Accountability Act of 2009
(H.R. 3090)

On June 26, 2009, the Congressional Black Caucus (CBC) in the U.S. House of Representatives introduced the Health Equity and Accountability Act of 2009 (H.R. 3090) on behalf of the Tri-Caucus which also includes the Congressional Hispanic Caucus (CHC) and the Congressional Asian Pacific American Caucus (CAPAC). H.R. 3090 focuses on addressing health disparities in coverage and access and aims to create an equitable health care system that works for everyone in the U.S.
The House will be reviewing H.R. 3090 this week. Because the Health Equity and Accountability Act of 2009 (H.R. 3090) addresses many of the barriers faced by low-income immigrants in seeking health care (see below) which have not yet been addressed by any of the other current health care reform legislation, Congress must include H.R. 3090 as part of health care reform to address the inequities of our health care system and to achieve real reform.
Please contact the Members in the House listed below IMMEDIATELY to let them know you support H.R. 3090 and that it must be included in any comprehensive, health care reform legislation.
Suggested Message:
"[My organization and state] supports H.R. 3090 which provides equity in coverage and access in the health care system that is needed for real health care reform. We urge you to include H.R. 3090 in any final health care reform legislation that Congress passes this year."
Key Provisions of the Act that will address the needs of low-income immigrants include:
Restoring Medicaid and CHIP to otherwise eligible, lawfully present immigrants without a waiting period and sponsor-related barriers;
Ensuring that otherwise eligible, lawfully present immigrants can buy into Medicare and can qualify for the Medicare Savings Programs (administered under Medicaid);
Ensuring that ALL children, regardless of status, can receive Medicaid or CHIP (if otherwise eligible);
Ensuring that ALL pregnant women, regardless of status, can receive affordable prenatal care for a healthy pregnancy through Medicaid or CHIP (if otherwise eligible);
Ensuring that lawfully present immigrants have access to nutrition assistance;
Improving federal investment and standards for cultural competency and language access for providers and public health programs;Requiring more comprehensive collection of data on race, ethnicity, and language in all federal health programs as a strategy for addressing health disparities.

H.R. 3090 is available at http://thomas.loc.gov/

Please immediately contact the following members of leadership in the House of Representatives and Chairs of the three key House health reform committees by email or phone at 866-210-3678:
Speaker Nancy Pelosi: (202) 225-0100; http://speaker.gov/contact/

Majority Leader Steny Hoyer: (202) 225-3130; http://majorityleader.gov/email_and_rss/email_the_leader/

Representative Henry Waxman, Chair of House Energy and Commerce Committee: (202) 225-3976; E&C Committee: (202) 225-2927
Representative Charles Rangel, Chair of House Ways and Means Committee: (202) 225-4365; https://forms.house.gov/rangel/forms/contact.shtml
Committee: (202) 225-3625; http://waysandmeans.house.gov/contact.asp
Representative George Miller, Chair of House Education and Labor Committee: (202) 225-2095; http://georgemiller.house.gov/contactus/2007/08/post_1.html
Committee: (202) 225-3725

Letters of Support
You may also send a letter of support of H.R. 3090 to the Tri-Caucus:
U.S. Representative Barbara Lee, Chair of the Congressional Black Caucus (CBC)
http://thecongressionalblackcaucus.lee.house.gov/
U.S. Representative Nydia Velázquez, Chair of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus (CHC)
http://velazquez.house.gov/chc/
U.S. Representative Mike Honda, Chair of the Congressional Asian Pacific American Caucus (CAPAC)
http://honda.house.gov/capac/

Make sure Congress knows that federal health care reform must include EVERYONE and that true reform will not work for all of us unless immigrants are also able to contribute and have access to coverage and care

PA Legislators – Fund our libraries!

I received the fundamentals of my education in school, but that was not enough. My real education, the superstructure, the details, the true architecture, I got out of the public library. For an impoverished child whose family could not afford to buy books, the library was the open door to wonder and achievement, and I can never be sufficiently grateful that I had the wit to charge through that door and make the most of it. Now, when I read constantly about the way in which library funds are being cut and cut, I can only think that the door is closing and that American society has found one more way to destroy itself.

- Isaac Asimov

As science-fiction writer Isaac Asimov presciently wrote in his 1994 memoir, I, Asimov, library doors will not only be closing this year in Pennsylvania - they'll be slamming shut. That is, if the Pennsylvania Legislature has its way.
Governor Rendell has proposed a 16 percent cut in state support for libraries. The State Senate’s plan slashes support by more than 53 percent in the coming year. The drastic cuts proposed in the 2009-2010 budget would force libraries throughout the Commonwealth to eliminate services, or close branches, or both. The cuts would also make one thing clear about our state legislature: they don't have a clue about the vital role public libraries play in the small towns and rural regions of our Commonwealth.
Public libraries in small towns don't simply serve as repositories for the collective knowledge and wisdom of many cultures in printed form - each one is a hub of its community. People gather at libraries to read and borrow books, yes, but also to interact with each other, to discuss local events, to participate in book discussion groups and numerous other programs. For many elderly citizens, visiting a library where they are known, recognized, greeted and treated personally is as important to their ongoing well-being as the proper diet, or an annual flu shot.

The library is one of the first places a newcomer will venture to find a sense of community. A place where mothers can take their children to sit in the company of other children, and experience the magic of live storytelling. Where teens can go to keep busy in the summer and out of trouble year-round, and fall into the lifelong habit of reading.
If this weren't enough, public libraries are great equalizers: providing internet and computer access to those who can't otherwise afford it, and allowing every child and adult, no matter what their economic means, equal access to books, resources, information. As Asimov describes in the quote that opens this piece - public libraries feed our dreams and nurture our possibilities.
Perhaps state legislators don't need access to what public libraries provide. The rest of us can't afford to be so cavalier.

This is an updated version of an editorial I wrote November 2003 as editor of the Tri-County Record newspaper in Morgantown, Pa. What seems remarkable to me is that, six years later, we’re here again – fighting to keep our libraries open.

What’s in a name?

The letter comes like most of our letters to the editor still do, via snail mail. It’s signed, has a local return address. Good. We don’t publish unsigned letters, and rarely publish those sent from outside our readership area.

Angela opens it, but I take it out of her hands before she gets to read it – I have a small space to fill on the editorial page and if the letter is short enough, or readily edited without sacrificing its essence, I can lay it out and call the page done.

As I scan the first couple of sentences I’m hopeful.

Its impetus, the writer says upfront, is a column that appeared several weeks ago on the bilingual page of the paper, written by Moises Sandoval, a veteran editor, writer and Catholic News Service columnist.

If it’s criticism, I think to myself before continuing to read it, at least I won’t have to console any of the local columnists I’ve encouraged-cajoled-bullied into writing for us. Sandoval’s probably a lot tougher than my guys, I think. He can take it.

Turns out, I’m the one who can’t take it.

The writer is disturbed about the Church’s insistence on humane treatment for “illegals” and tired of the U.S. Bishops’ calls for comprehensive reform of existing immigration laws. That’s disheartening, but not completely unexpected. The results of the poll currently up at the Catholic Standard & Times web site’s homepage (www.cst-phl.com) indicates that a large number of our readers feel similarly, if perhaps not quite so strongly.

But the letter goes downhill from there. It is evident from the statistics quoted in it that the writer uses illegal as a synonym for Latino. And later in the letter, the people crossing into the nation from the southern border are assigned other epithets: Criminals. Leeches. Parasites.

When I hand the letter back to Angela, I am uncharacteristically subdued.

“Don’t people get that we all bleed the same color?” she says after she reads it.

Angela is African American and Native American and I know she doesn’t expect an answer to her question.

“Have you ever seen ‘Stardust?’” I ask after a moment, seeking refuge in non sequitur. “You know, the movie based on the novel by Neil Gaiman?”

She nods.

“Remember how when the prince’s throat is cut, he bleeds blue instead of red?”

We laugh together at the visual pun, then go back to the unending stream of tasks necessary to ensure that a newspaper goes to press on time.

I should probably confess at this point that I have an abiding love of fairy-tales and folktales. I admire the way these stories work – flights of fancy that nevertheless hold real insights. So it’s no surprise that my mind has flown straight from that letter to the editor to a filmed fairy-tale like “Stardust.” Many fantastical stories have as a central conceit the theft, discovery or bestowal of a name. Remember Rumpelstiltskin?

But it’s not only in fairy-tales where names mean something.

When we strip people of their human dignity, we take their names along with it. It allows us to think of people as some collective other. They become “illegals and criminals.” Or “leeches and parasites.” Not made of the same flesh, bone and blood as we are. Not prey to the same worries and needs; not filled by the same joys.

This week the 18-year-old who put a noose around Robert Cantu’s neck, dragged him behind a pick-up truck and threatened to hang him in the town square while yelling “spic” and “border jumper” at the teen, pled no contest to charges of ethnic intimidation (he was sentenced to 10 days in an Ohio jail). The killers of Marcelo Lucero, José Sucuzhañay and Luis Ramirez all attacked their victims as representatives of some fearsome, collective “other” – Hispanic, undocumented, gay.

We’re seeing this unnaming play out in Iran as well.

Governments can be good at turning human beings into a collective “other” to be subdued or jailed or exiled or eliminated. I am reminded of Central America during the bloody, undeclared civil wars of the 1980s – and of how, even beyond those who lost their lives, hundreds of thousands lost their names.

Ah, but then, as in my beloved fairy-tales, something quite unexpected happens.

El Salvador’s Archbishop Oscar Romero reads the names of the dead during broadcasts on the Catholic radio station. The day the first civilian president of Guatemala is elected after 30 years of military rule, thousands gather at a silent protest holding up placards with the names of the disappeared. At prayer vigils, neighbors and family read out the names of the 137 victims of homicide in Philadelphia this year. And perhaps most spectacularly – despite the jailing of Iranian journalists (33 to date according to Reporters without Borders) and despite controls on every major form of information dissemination – we all learn Neda Soltan’s name.

At the end of the workday in which I read the letter to the editor, I’m still thinking about names, the words that are substituted for names, and the way a name – given even one person to hold it higher than fear, higher than circumstance – can help us remember our shared humanity.

We all bleed, Angela says. We all hope, I say.

On the way in to the train station I see three homeless people who regularly sit at the entrance I favor. They ask, unobtrusively, for money. Unbidden, a line from Isaiah 49 pushes its way into my thoughts: “The Lord called me from birth, from my mother’s womb He gave me my name.”

I’ve never asked their names.

I’m not so different from the letter writer who precipitated this blog post.

I rummage around for change, then drop the coins into their separate cups as I ask.

Cathy smiles when she tells me.

Earl stammers through his beard.

Poor Boy explains that his is a nickname his mother gave him as a boy, but that it doesn’t mean they were poor.

Next time, I’ll remember.


Photo of immigration rally CS&T file photo. Rumpelstiltskin engraving by Anne Anderson from Wikimedia Commons. Photo of homeless person by Sarah Webb for the CS&T.