Thread: Hispanic alliance plans rally for immigration reform

Hispanic alliance plans rally for immigration reform

FLINT
THE FLINT JOURNAL FIRST EDITION
Saturday, September 01, 2007
By George Jaksa
http://www.mlive.com/news/fljournal/ind ... xml&coll=5
gjaksa@flintjournal.com • 810.766.6332

LANSING - Supporters of immigration reform for Hispanics will gather here on Labor Day for a Mass, prayers and a rally on the state Capitol steps.

"On our Labor Day, we wanted to have some kind of expression of support for migrants who come here for so much sacrifice and contributions to our society," said the Rev. Timothy Nelson, pastor of Our Lady of Guadalupe Roman Catholic Church in Mt. Morris Township. He plans to attend the event with other members of the largely Hispanic congregation.

"We're inviting people from all over central-south Michigan to attend."

The prayers and rally are being coordinated by the Mexican-American Council of Saginaw, assisted by chapters of the American GI Forum in Saginaw, Detroit, Flint and other cities.

"We are trying to bring attention to the situation of undocumented workers and make legislators understand that a pact would be beneficial to both the workers and the United States," said Concepcion Olzera, committee chairman for the alliance organizing the rally.

The event will begin with an 11 a.m. Mass at St. Mary Cathedral in downtown Lansing. Participants then will walk to the nearby Capitol for a presentation and to pray the rosary on the steps of the building. A flier for the rally said worshipers will pray for spiritual support of illegal immigrants.

The event was organized after Congress failed to pass immigration reform legislation in June.

Nelson said supporters back the position of the Catholic bishops of Michigan, who issued a statement in April urging enactment of comprehensive federal immigration reform that the bishops said respects the dignity of immigrant workers.

The statement, in English and Spanish, was distributed to all 795 Catholic parishes in Michigan and signed by the state's seven diocesan bishops.

Olzera, 76, an American-born Hispanic, favors enactment of a 1930s-style Civilian Conservation Corps to train Hispanics so they can return to their home country to help alleviate poverty there.

"There are boarded-up shacks in Mexico and family problems when men leave the country to find work in the U.S.," said Olzera. "We need to train these illegals like in the CCC camps so they can go home and dig wells and bring electricity to homes in their country."

Originally Posted by zeezil

"There are boarded-up shacks in Mexico and family problems when men leave the country to find work in the U.S.," said Olzera. "We need to train these illegals like in the CCC camps so they can go home and dig wells and bring electricity to homes in their country."

I am all for illegals going back and improving their countries, but we don't need a CCC program to train them, they already were trained by the American companies that hired them!

Has anyone noticed the sudden swing toward these "protests" being carried out like prayer vigils?

What's up with this........to extend the "sanctuary" nonsense outside of churches, or what?