If you have a question, please direct it to S. Brenda Walsh at bwalsh@racinedominicans.org.
 

March

HOW DO RACINE DOMINICANS
ADDRESS HUMAN TRAFFICKING?
S. Ruth Schaaf, OP

In 2001, in Rome, the religious leaders of 1 million Catholic Sisters worldwide publicly declared their determination to work in solidarity with one another, both within their own communities and in the countries in which they reside and serve. Their commitment was to address, insistently at every level, the abuse and sexual exploitation of women and children, with particular attention to human trafficking.  Out of that determination many communities of sisters in the United States began to raise awareness of the growing criminal activities surrounding human trafficking.  The Racine Dominicans have been part of this endeavor, taking their own corporate stance for human rights and dignity, and against human trafficking.  

The United States is one of the receiver countries of a huge flow of impoverished vulnerable persons who have been promised good jobs in this country by persons who intend to control and enslave those very persons, while taking all the profits of their work.  Recruitment of persons for this slave trade also takes place in the United States as young people running away from home or drifting from school are solicited by traffickers or predators, in some areas within 48 hours of their departure from home or school.

Recent studies done by Professor Margo Kleinfeld of the University of Wisconsin, Whitewater show that Wisconsin does have a growing incidence of human trafficking.  MSNBC, in its documentary on human trafficking within the United States, outlined the flow of trafficked persons from the west coast through the south and up through the east coast cities, westward through Ohio, and especially through Toledo where the incidence of trafficking is significant, onward through Chicago to Minneapolis where one of the most lucrative trafficking markets in the United States thrives.

Racine County lies on the route between the two big markets of Chicago and Minneapolis.  Truck routes figure prominently in the growing business of trafficking.  Given this picture of a criminal activity, multi-faceted and covert, yet all around us and very difficult to bring to justice, the Racine Dominicans ask themselves, “What can we do?  How can we help bring this problem to light and to justice?”  To date we have just one event scheduled, a presentation March 9, 2010 by representatives of Rescue and Restore on human trafficking in southeastern Wisconsin.

In conversation with Rescue and Restore Coalition in Milwaukee, an agency established out of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services to address the care of survivors of trafficking, we are told that awareness-building in the public is of prime importance as a grassroots support for law enforcement. Many questions rise out of our own position statement which can best be addressed in collaboration with the frontline agencies of law enforcement, healthcare and social services.

As educators with nearly 150 years of educational leadership in Wisconsin, Michigan, Illinois and many other states, the Racine Dominicans see an opportunity to contribute to the pursuit of this problem in a way that would be helpful to the frontline agencies.  We hopefully anticipate collaboration with these agencies. 

The following are some ways people can get involved in the issue:

1. Check out the websites for information: stopenslavement.org or stophumantrafficking.org

2. Read the book, “In Contempt of Fate.”

3. Check your own awareness of the suffering of the people around you in the bus station, at a rest stop, in the grocery store, or at church. Do you know the signs of stress, fear, confusion, extreme insecurity, total control by another?

4. Memorize the hotline number for victims of human trafficking –
1-888-373-7888. Feel free to call this number even if you are not sure of the signs of trafficking you note. The hotline is managed by people who are well trained on how to protect the people involved.

February

What Is Our Response as People of Faith
to Immigration Reform?
S. Joyce Quintana, OP

Last month there was a presentation at St. Mary’s Catholic Faith Community in Hales Corners titled: Immigration Reform: a Faith Mandate. This summarizes for me why each of us needs to become involved in the upcoming immigration debate. Our faith is the basis for our action – as it should be for any social justice activity.

Our Catholic faith teaches us that all persons have the right to live in dignity and to achieve a full life. We’re taught that all persons (including immigrants) possess inherent dignity and that all goods of the earth belong to all people. Our Catholic Social Justice also teaches that an individual has the right to find work elsewhere if there is none in his/her country. And we’re also taught that sovereign nations have the right to control its borders. However, nations must recognize they have a stronger obligation to accommodate migration flows.

Our present immigration situation in this country is puzzling to most of us. It’s a complex system fraught with misunderstanding and suspicion. But one thing is clear: the basic problem is the system itself: The law is broken! We need to fix it! The problem is not with the immigrants! For example, one thing needing to be fixed is that there are too few legal channels for immigration under our current system. As a result, each year thousands of individuals cross the border without documentation or they overstay their visitor visas.

What can we do in this situation? Each one of us needs to learn more about immigration and how the rules have changed since our ancestors came to this country. We need to understand a little more about the entire immigration process. One doesn’t just decide to come to the U.S. and get a Visa overnight which would allow them entrance to our country. The wait for a Visa in Mexico is currently 14 years while the wait for one in the Philippines is 22 years!!

How aware are we of the steps immigrants have to take to become legal residents in the U.S. and/or to begin the process toward becoming a citizen? Do we know anything about the costs connected with becoming a citizen? How can we find out?

We can do this by reading, by attending lectures or workshops, by learning from the immigrants themselves about their problems.  We can/must call, fax, or write our Congressperson and Senators and ask them to support comprehensive immigration reform. Ask them to make sure that the following four elements are included:

1) A plan for immigrants already here to regularize their status upon satisfaction of reasonable criteria and pursue an option to become permanent residents and, perhaps, U.S. citizens. (Path to Citizenship)

2) Reforms in our family-based system to significantly reduce waiting time for separated families to be reunited. (Promotion of Family Unity)

3) The creation of legal avenues for workers and their families who wish to migrate to the U.S. to enter our country and work in a safe, legal, and orderly manner with their rights fully protected. (Worker Protections)

4) Border protection policies that are consistent with humanitarian values and with the need to treat all individuals with respect – while still allowing the authorities to carry out their critical task of identifying and preventing entry of terrorists and criminals. (border security)

Congressman Luis Gutierrez of Illinois introduced a bill in the House of Representatives in December, 2009.  Urge your Congressperson to support this bill. As of this date, no HR number has been assigned to the bill, but it known as “CIR ASAP” or Comprehensive Immigration Reform for America’s Security and Prosperity Act of 2009.

Suggested web sites:

1) Justice for Immigrants: http://www.justiceforimmigrants.org/  

2) Interfaith Immigration Coalition Platform: http://presbyterian.typepad.com/peacemaking/2009/01/interfaith-platform-on-humane-immigration-reform.html  

3) National Immigration Forum: http://www.immigrationforum.org/

4)  The Advocates for Human Rights: http://www.energyofanation.org/Curriculum.html

Suggested reading material:

Close to Slavery: Guestwork Programs in the U.S. You can request a copy from the Southern Poverty Law Center at 334-956-8200

Strangers No Longer: Together on the Journey of Hope **

Welcoming the Stranger Among Us: Unity in Diversity **

** Both are publications of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, Washington, D.C.

January

What Does Dominican Spirituality
offer to all of us?

Dominic sent his followers out to by two to live and preach the Good News of the Word of God. At the end of the day, they returned to their communities to be recharged and renewed to continue their call to Praise, to Bless, to Preach. That same call and authority to preach is offered to us, Dominican religious men and women and to the laity in our time and place.

Dominic had radical trust in our God and we are called to that same trust. Dominic and his early followers had an openness to making themselves available for God’s purpose and call. We are called to do the same in order to be Word-bearers and Word-Proclaimers .We need it more today as needs are growing and resources are diminishing in some areas of the world. We must remember it is more about God’s story than about our story.  It is God’s power working in and through each and every one of us.

Dominic preached to people who were seduced by the myths of his day. We need to name and address the myths and false promises of our day. We are discovering some of that now with the collapse of the global economic system. We must remember God’s reservoir of mercy, and goodness and forgiveness will never go bankrupt. We are all called to re -root ourselves in God.

We need to be present to the new frontiers of our culture as Jesus and Dominic were in heir day. We are also called to reject violence and war as a way of solving problems.  We need to contribute to the building of justice and peace as the foundation for our living and relating.

Through our contemplative stance, we learn to share in God’s way of solving personal, national  and international problems. Everywhere people are looking for a deeper meaning in their lives. By helping in the search, we will deepen our own relationship with God and God’s people This calls us to go beyond our comfortable boundaries and bring Gospel hope to people in their pain. This is not a time to grow faint at the magnitude of the problems before us. We are called to be bread blessed, broken and shared with a spiritually starved people in a broken and bleeding world.

Like Dominic, we can do that in classroom, boardroom, street, in halls of government or wherever we find ourselves. We can sit with disillusioned youth and listen to their hungers and lead them in another direction. We can help them reject a freedom that has no truth or moral boundaries.

In our contemplation, we will discover our center of power and life and creativity, and hold up God’s vision of peace, equality and justice for all. Then our message will be prophetic, passionate, productive and powerful.  
God’s truth will set us free.

How can we speak a word of hope and mercy, of truth and meaning in our world today?

We invite your response. Send to bwalsh@racinedominicans.org.