By Elvira Arellano
(FEB.20.2014).- When I was in sanctuary, feeling the pressure of constant media and constant threats from Homeland Security outside the door of my church, I received a special visit from a very gentle soul. Bishop Carcaño traveled twice from Arizona to visit and have prayer with me. She spoke her perfect Spanish in a soft, sincere voice and her prayers seemed to me to come from the place where angels sing.
A Bishop in the United Methodist church, Minerva Carcaño is the daughter of farmworkers. A scholar, a long time pastor and a skilled religious leader in her denomination of 12 million Methodists, the Bishop is an impressive person, as much for her genuine humility and passion for the faith as for her intellect. I will never forget the peace and confidence she brought to me in that trying situation.
Today I read that Bishop Carcaño led a large group of religious and community leaders to the White House where they were arrested in civil disobedience, protesting the deportations and demanding that President Obama use his executive authority to stop the deportations.
I was not surprised. There is no question that the President has the legal authority to extend the deferments he offered the dreamers to their parents and the parents of U.S. citizen children. His denials ring false because he made the same denials before he then granted those deferments to the dreamers. There is also no political rationale for his refusal to stop what is now two million deportations. The unified Latino vote has made the only necessary case to force the Republican leadership to negotiate a legislative solution. The President’s action would strengthen the hand of Congressman Gutierrez and others that are negotiating with the Republicans. While the deportations continue, our true representatives are forced to take almost anything that is offered that will stop the deportations.
I was not surprised because I saw into the Bishop’s heart and I saw a woman of deep faith who could not be silenced by politics. Most important, the good Bishop represents where our movement should be – not playing politics for influence and funding – but representing what is in the hearts of those who are suffering. There is sufficient flexibility in the law so that the President can open up deferments for millions of people and can open the opportunity for family members to bring back those who have been deported on humanitarian grounds.
These are things that can be done. These are things that should be done. The Bishop has expressed what is in the hearts of millions. It is time that the activists that claim to speak for us join her. It is time that the political suppression of our movement stop. It is time we marched in our millions until the President gives relief to our families.
The President has used the argument that “proving he will enforce the law” will make it easier to pass immigration reform. He has been claiming that for six years while he has deported more people than any President in U.S. history. The devastation of abandoned children in the U.S. and people abruptly thrown back into the rising violence in Mexico without jobs or support has gone on for far too long.
Let the well paid leaders of “immigrant rights” organizations take a break from having tea at the White House and join the Bishop in challenging this President to live up to his long broken promise.
Thank You Bishop. Thank You.
