Written by: Sister Elaine Betoncourt, CSJ
May 31, 2013
Last evening, the Nuns on the Bus arrived at St. Paul's
Memorial Church in Charlottesville for a friendraiser. Enjoying the beautiful spring evening, we were warmly welcomed by the mayor of the city and greeted by a crowd of about 50
folks from the area. The Nuns on the Bus shared why we were on the road promoting the need for immigration reform and inviting everyone's participation in advocating with their legislators. Several persons from the assembled shared what they were already doing for immigration reform and what they intended to continue doing. In addition, Sister Simone got to share some special news of her day, her visit with President Obama in the Oval Office.
This morning, we had our first lobby visit of the tour in
the Charlottesville office of Congressman Robert Hurt. Accompanied by several
local residents we met with the staff of Congressman Hurt and, explaining the
major points of our concern, and asked for his support. A local immigrant
shared a painful story of her recent experience of her son's deportation,
highlighting a compelling reason why our broken immigration system must be
fixed and why Nuns on the Bus are promoting comprehensive commonsense
immigration reform NOW. Following the visit, a press conference was held with
the local CBS affiliate and the Charlottesville Daily Progress newspaper.
