Immigration vigil, rally planned for Pittsburgh
Pittsburgh-area faith leaders and other advocates for immigrants are ramping up efforts on behalf of immigrant families separated at the U.S.-Mexico border under the Trump administration’s “zero tolerance” policy toward illegal immigration.
An interfaith group plans a candlelight vigil on behalf the immigrants at 9 p.m. Wednesday at Sixth Presbyterian Church in Squirrel Hill, and the topic is expected to be raised at other events Wednesday commemorating World Refugee Day. Another rally is planned for 7 p.m. Friday outside the Westmoreland County Courthouse in Greensburg.
“If I had my druthers, churches would be having prayer vigils all over the place,” said Sister Janice Vanderneck, executive director of Casa San Jose, a resource center for the Pittsburgh-area Latino community.
She said the center, like others aiding immigrants and refugees, has been inundated by callers offering to help. “People want to do something,” she said.
Some want to offer supplies to be passed on to the children, but she said the most urgent need is for the kind of action that would change the stance of the policymakers. “The key is, what really moves Jeff Sessions, what’s going to move Donald Trump?” she said.
Holy Family Institute in Emsworth currently is housing about 50 migrant children and teens, some of them separated from parents at the border and others who arrived unaccompanied.
The bilingual staff at the institute provides a full day of schooling, recreation and other activities and care for children, said its chief executive officer, Sister Linda Yankoski.
Some have criticized the action as abetting the zero tolerance policy, but Sister Yankoski said this is not so. The institute has over the past several years housed other minors who arrived unaccompanied.
“I think the kids are better off here than in a tent at the border,” she said.
A wide range of local voices has criticized the family separation policy, including Catholic Bishop David Zubik and leaders in other faiths.
“If faith leaders come together, that’s going to be a key piece,” said Sister Vanderneck.
Meanwhile, several local agencies are trying to coordinate an increase in legal aid for migrants seeking asylum ata time when the Trump administration has narrowed the criteria for which people canapply for asylum.
Organizers hope to enlist more immigration attorneys to provide pro bono help in asylum cases and to raise funds to provide someone to advise attorneys who don’t specialize in immigrant law but who want to help, said Daniel Conlon, board president of the Latino Community Center.