Vincentian Voice for the Immigrant in Alabama
Father Jack Kane, CM, Director of Hispanic Ministry for the Archdiocese of Mobile and Pastor, St. Mary’s Catholic Church, Opelika, Alabama has been championing immigration reform in Alabama. And he is attracting attention to their plight.
“It is a dark day for Alabama and for America when politicians praise a law that dehumanizes people and pushes children out of school.” Latino FoxNews and Interfaith Immigration
“Father Jack Kane, a priest at St. Mary’s Catholic Church in Opelika, said national immigration reform is urgent. “What’s going to happen as people leave Alabama is that they’ll end up like nomads going from state to state because there is no national law,” he said. Alabama.com/business news
“Everybody is suffering and the children are suffering the most. It is a dark day for Alabama and for America when politicians praise a law that dehumanizes people and pushes children out of school. This unjust law not only affects unauthorized immigrants, U.S. citizen children are also bearing the brunt. ”
Injustice unleashed – Loyola University
“Fr. Jack Kane, the director for Hispanic Ministry for the Archdiocese of Mobile, noted during the October 7th phone conference that there has been “incredible leadership on the front lines” in Alabama in opposition to the law.
Clearly immigrant justice advocates must learn from what has taken place in Alabama and organize to prevent laws like HB 56 from ever being enacted in their respective states. On January 11 — 13, 2012, United States Conference of Catholic Bishops is sponsoring a conference in Salt Lake City, Utah, that will examine state and local immigration initiatives across the country to develop strategies and methods to oppose enforcement initiatives and support comprehensive immigration reform. For more information on the conference contact Antonio Cube at acube@usccb.org.”
Mary Bauer, legal director of the Southern Poverty Law Center received nearly 2,000 calls in less than a week.,
“Many of the calls are deeply disturbing and paint a grim picture of the aftermath of this ill-conceived law: people overwhelmed with fear; husbands who cannot take their wives to the hospital to give birth; sick people who refuse to go to the hospital to receive emergency care; thousands of terrorized children who are out of school; children who do go to school are subject to discriminatory treatment and harassment.”
In the same teleconference, Father Jack Kane, pastor of St. Mary’s Catholic Church in Opelika and director of Hispanic ministry for the Archdiocese of Mobile, said he knows of many schools that have lost many students, as their parents either are keeping them home out of fear of being harassed or the families are leaving the state
Local religious leaders oppose immigration law
“Father Jack Kane of St. Mary’s Catholic Church said that while he does not speak for the Catholic Church as a whole, he has been given the impression that many illegal aliens in the Auburn-Opelika area have little faith that the law will stand as it is written. But, contrary to that, he also says that some of these families have already left the area as a result of the law.”
Tags: Advocacy, immigration