Written by: Sister Elaine Betoncourt, CSJ
June 4, 2013
What a special day we’ve spent in Birmingham and Homewood,
Alabama! Arriving early we had an hour to roam the historic section. I spent my
time wandering through Kelly Ingraham Park across from the 16th Street Baptist
Church, where four children were killed in a bombing. Reading the accounts in
the park of the horrendous actions that happened here in 1963 brought the
feeling of walking on holy ground, the sacred place where on May 2, 1963, 600
children crusaders were savagely hauled off to jail for protesting segregation
and standing for justice.
And the parallel now, 50 years later, with the focus this
summer on getting civil rights for immigrants through comprehensive immigration
reform, as we hear repeated stories of children living daily in fear of their
parents being stolen away by ICE and more deportations taking place than in
past years. This needs to be the historic moment when just and common-sense
immigration reform gets passed in a bipartisan effort. Our prayerful cry “Raise
your voice and call your legislators often to express your support.”
Our outside evening event was at the Catholic Charities
Office, La Casita, where we were warmly welcomed by Bishop Emeritus David Foley
and his simple words ‘we need the nuns here.’ We heard of the significant role
that the Catholic Church (joined by other churches as well) played in getting
the punitive sections of the oppressive state law, HB56, suspended. We heard of
the joy of immigrant youth getting their Deferred Action for Childhood
Arrivals, (DACA) papers, a renewable provision to defer deportation. We heard
of the incredible relief work that was done to help immigrants after tornadoes
hit the area. In response, we Nuns on the Bus urged everyone to persevere in
calling their Alabama Senators raising their voices for Comprehensive
Immigration Reform NOW.
