A call to prayer and action for and with Arizona

[please excuse the strange formatting]

Message given by Bishop Minerva G. Carcaño at the “God IS Our Hope” Interfaith Service at Trinity Episcopal Cathedral, Phoenix on Thursday, July 29, 2010 [the day SB 1070 took effect in Arizona]

I am Minerva G. Carcaño. I have the privilege of serving as the United Methodist bishop for Arizona, Southern Nevada, and the Southeast corner of California. I am the daughter and granddaughter of immigrants. But I want to be clear that I stand before you on this morning because I am a disciple of Jesus Christ; Jesus Christ who lived on this earth as an immigrant and who calls us to welcome and love the immigrant. Having said this I have a few things to share with you.

The ugly heart of SB 1070 has been a concept used at the beginning of the bill. The concept is enforcement through attrition.” Legal experts tell me that in layman’s terms what this means is that this law is intended to find legal ways to make life so miserable for immigrants that they leave the state of Arizona. Unfortunately some immigrants have

left this state. They have left every time a new law is passed in Arizona that further endangers the well being of their families. Who can blame them?

But contrary to the thinking of the makers and supporters of such irresponsible and destructive laws as SB 1070, the departure of immigrants has not helped the State of Arizona. What SB 1070 and other laws of similar spirit have done in pushing immigrants out, is that they have:

• weakened our much needed labor force,
• further undermined our failing economy, and extended the economic recession in this state,
• separated our families,
• weakened our congregations of faith,
• and all around, they have left us the poorer for it.

SB 1070 makes of immigrant families the scapegoat for every ill this state faces. In essence what it ultimately does is that it lets our political leaders off the hook for not having the wherewithal to figure out how to resolve the enormous problems we face in this state, or the basic common sense to know that immigrants are not the problem, but rather part of the solution with much to contribute to the well being of this state and this country. And let us not be deceived, SB 1070 was about political expediency –how many votes can an anti-immigrant bill bring? And I would ask those political leaders who supported SB 1070 for votes, are those tainted votes worth the integrity of your leadership?

Instead of leading this state, our public leaders starting with Governor Jan Brewer have dehumanized the immigrant population in this state by classifying all immigrants as drug dealers, human smugglers, and criminals of the worst kind. In the process, Governor Brewer and others who should be ashamed to call themselves public leaders, have dehumanized all of us and led the world to believe that there is no more racist place on the planet than Arizona.

Shame on Governor Brewer

and all who think and act as she does toward the immigrants among us.

But shame on us if we do not stand for truth and justice for our immigrant brothers and sisters. This is the time for comprehensive immigration reform, not next year, or 5 or 10 years from now or in another political season, BUT NOW. Senators John McCain and Jon Kyle and all our state representatives need to know that we will no longer suffer their political posturing on immigration reform.

And, President Barack Obama needs to know that we will no longer forgive his lack of leadership in this country’s need for immigration reform. The belated and clumsy effort of the Department of Justice against SB 1070 is not enough. We need to let President Obama know in no uncertain terms that we will no longer accept his easy answer that there is a lack of political will in DC and therefore there is nothing he can do about immigration reform as much as he wants to do something. President Obama needs to be reminded that he was elected to lead and not to blame, and we need to be the ones to remind him of that fact.

On this day there are thousands of people all over this country and I would venture to say, all over this world, who are praying for us and with us for immigration reform. Thanks be to God for their prayers of support and solidarity with us. But I need to give witness to the fact that no one has prayed with more fervor, more faith, or more faithfulness than our young people right here in Arizona. It was young people of this state, many of them immigrants themselves or the children of immigrants, who said from the inception of SB 1070, “we must pray.”

It was 7 young people who when SB 1070 was introduced determined that their contribution to the struggle would be to pray, and so for the last 104 days they have led an unceasing prayer vigil all the way to this morning of prayer. With others of you I was at the Arizona state capital the day Governor Brewer signed SB 1070 into law. Right there before our amazed eyes we were able to see that the group of 7 young people who had determined to pray had grown to 1500 young people ranging from middle school age to college students.

When it was announced to those 1500 young people that Governor Brewer had signed SB 1070, their youthful hope was crushed; from the look on their faces it was clear that they had expected Governor Brewer to do the right thing and not sign the bill. Many of us had the opportunity to comfort these young people, hearing their concerns for their families, their neighbors, for immigrants everywhere, but also for this state and for this country. After a bit of time had passed, and the awful news had been taken in, the young man who was leading that gathering at the state capital invited me to the platform and asked me if I would lead the gathered group in praying The Lord’s Prayer. I responded saying that I would be honored to do so. Then he looked at me with a bit of concern and asked me, “Bishop, can you still kneel?” I smiled back at him, and said, “Yes, I can still kneel.” He smiled back at me, took my hand and led me to my knees while he invited all 1500 young people to kneel with us. Together we knelt at the state capital and prayed that prayer that has united Christians of all denominations over the many generations, and I felt a deep peace and an even greater sense of the assurance that God is with us.

So my brothers and sisters, we are not alone. God is with us, and we are sustained by the prayers of many including the prayers of our own children in this state. So let us not turn back now. Instead with confidence, with faith, and with God as our help and our hope, let us commit to work until that good day when we will surely celebrate comprehensive immigration reform in this state and across this country.