ARTICLES

Catholic advocates press on for justice reform

By Steve Neill
Of The Catholic Virginian

Issues of immigration reform mean a lot to Jim Albright who works closely with migrant workers and their families in his role as director of the diocese’s Office of Migrant Ministry on the Eastern Shore.

So it is only natural that he would seek political support for justice for immigrants when he met with Delegate Lynwood W. Lewis Jr. of the Eastern Shore on Catholic Advocacy Day held Jan. 28 in Richmond.

Mr. Albright urged Del. Lewis to oppose numerous bills which would restrict the ability of children of undocumented immigrants living in Virginia to attend state colleges and universities at in-state tuition. But the legislator did not see it that way.

“The delegate’s take was not supportive,” Mr. Albright told The Catholic Virginian. He basically said ‘why should a taxpayer pay to allow an undocumented child to take up a seat at in-state tuition when a constituent’s son or daughter couldn’t get in?’

“The reality of it is that these kids have grown up here and some are top-notch students,” Mr. Albright countered. “Federal and state taxes are taken out of their parents’ paychecks.

“We want their sweat equity, it seems, but we don’t want their kids in our state colleges and their wives in our clinics.”

Del. Lewis told Mr. Albright that he felt immigration reform was a federal government issue and that because the federal government failed to enact immigration reform, the states are being harsh.

This encounter was just one of many as 224 adults and more than 30 students from both St. Patrick School in Norfolk and St. Bridget School in Richmond participated in Catholic Advocacy Day which is sponsored each year by the Virginia Catholic Conference. The vast majority were positive.

Advocates from both the Catholic Dioceses of Richmond and Arlington gathered first at St. Peter’s Church, a block from the State Capitol. Both Bishop Francis X. DiLorenzo and Bishop Paul S. Loverde praised those present for “furthering the work of truth and justice and peace.”

“At times people may ask you ‘Why bother?’” Bishop DiLorenzo asked rhetorically.

“We bother because we have an intimate relationship with Jesus and we care about our brothers and sisters who are hurting throughout the world.

“We bother more than ever now because we’re moving into a post-Christian era,” the bishop asserted, adding that many seem interested in only themselves and furthering their own ends.

Jeff Caruso, executive director of the Virginia Catholic Conference, in advice to advocates before they set out for their meetings with the legislators, said that there were numerous bills that would restrict the ability of many children of undocumented immigrants to attend state colleges and universities. The Virginia Catholic Conference opposes such legislation.

“We don’t want to penalize students for decisions their parents made,” Mr. Caruso said.

He also said the Conference opposes a bill which threatens the ability of charitable agencies which receive government funding to provide immediate help to individuals without first checking their immigration status.

“Our concern is that someone who needs food or shelter should get that fulfilled immediately,” but that House Bill 439 (sponsored by Del. Jackson Miller of Manassas) “casts such a wide net that it would affect our institutions.”

Eric Adcock, associate director of the Virginia Catholic Conference, said advocates should ask legislators to support proposed legislation which would require state licensing of abortion clinics which would make them safer.

“This would require them to be under the same licensing regulations as other ambulatory clinics,” he said.

Mr. Adcock also spoke of a Conference-supported bill which would improve Virginia’s “informed consent” law on abortion by requiring every pregnant woman considering an abortion to have the chance to see an ultrasound image of her unborn child. He felt providing this opportunity would reduce the number of abortions.

The Virginia Catholic Conference also urges a moratorium on the death penalty.

“We think our state has gone way too far and we need to pull back on this,” Mr. Adcock said of the death penalty. Virginia is second only to Texas in the total number of executions (98) performed since 1976.

Among the many advocates who had a positive experience with visits to legislators was a group of Catholic campus ministry students from Virginia Commonwealth University. A group of four spent time with Del. R. Lee Ware, Jr. whose district encompasses Powhatan County and parts of Chesterfield County.

“It was social and very informative,” said Zachary Mikkelson, student campus minister.

“We talked to him about the death penalty. In general, he felt the death penalty needed to be restricted, but he felt there were instances where the death penalty was required for justice.”

According to Mr. Mikkelson, Del. Ware supported a bill calling for licensing of abortion clinics.

“We thanked him for his pro-life stance,” he said.

Michael Stark of Sacred Heart parish in Norfolk was part of a group which visited the offices of Sen. Yvonne Miller of Norfolk and Del. Kenneth Alexander of Norfolk. Both meetings, he said, went very well.

The group spoke to Sen. Miller about the IVF Mandate, a proposed bill will would require health care plans to provide coverage for treating infertility including IVF and artificial insemination. The Virginia Catholic Conference opposes the measure, arguing that the state’s priority should be making basic health care more accessible and affordable, rather than increasing the cost of health plans for employers by mandating coverage of expensive elective procedures like IVF.

“She said she’d keep what we said in mind,”

Deacon Tom Elliott, of St. Edward parish in Richmond, had a meeting with Del. Samuel Nixon in which he urged the legislator to support a 36 percent cap on payday lending.

“He said he supports payday lending reforms, but he opposes the cap because he feels it would drive the industry out of business,” Deacon Elliott said.

“In his words,” he added, “people who have bad credit would have nowhere to go for loans.”

The issue on payday lending was also the key issue for Evelyn Welch, a member of Holy Rosary parish in Richmond, when she went to see Del. Joseph Morrissey in his office.

“That’s one issue I am passionate about,” she told The Catholic Virginian, “because I know of people who go to these places for easy access to money, but later they find themselves deeper in debt.”

The visit was a cordial one, Mrs. Welch said.

“Delegate Morrissey was supportive of the payday lending cap as well as most other stands supported by the Virginia Catholic Conference,” she added.

“We went in there basically to thank him for supporting those issues,” Mrs. Welch said.

Rebecca Oxenreider, Justice and Peace/Social Ministry coordinator of St. Mary parish in Richmond, said she and a group which also included advocates from St. Bridget’s and St. Michael’s parishes, participated in a conference meeting organized by Del. William Janis so that the joint group could “meet all in one place at one time” with four legislators.

“Basically we tried to focus mainly on poverty issues,” Mrs. Oxenreider said of the hour and a half meeting which included Del. Janis, Sen. Walter Stosch, Del. John M. O’Bannon and Del. James P. Massie.

“We talked a lot about health care and community-based mental health care,” she said. “We see people who have no health care and who are homeless and we wanted to have their voices heard.”

The importance of staying in contact with state legislators beyond the annual Catholic Advocacy Day was emphasized by Mrs. Oxenreider.

She mentioned that she was part of a small group which met with Sen. Stosch back in December before the current session of the General Assembly opened.

“It is important to see and know our legislators and form relationships with them and to go in numbers,” Mrs. Oxenreider said.

“People need to stay in touch throughout the year,” she added. “That way they really get to know you.”

back to top »