The wait is very, very long for those waiting for lawful immigration status, a legal advocate said during a program on justice for immigration and refugees Saturday in the gymnasium at Rosary School.
Processing applications can take more than a decade, said Eugenio Mollo, Jr., a managing attorney for the Advocates for Basic Legal Equality Inc.
Mr. Mollo works to protect immigrant workers’ rights, with an agricultural focus. He gave a brief overview Saturday on federal immigration law and how it affects northwest Ohio to about 20 church and community members.
While immigration laws have been updated in a patchwork fashion, the last major updates were done 65 years ago, he said.
Mr. Mollo said he commonly hears that the undocumented “enjoy” that status and prefer it to becoming legal residents.
“If they just woke up early enough one day and waited patiently in line in this make-believe government office, they can obtain this lawful immigration status,” Mr. Mollo said sarcastically. “That is not the situation we have. The immigration system is broken and there’s no line for many, many people to get into.”
There are about 12 million undocumented people in the United States, the lawyer said. To get lawful immigration status, a relative or employer could file a petition, or it could be a humanitarian issue, such as in the case of domestic violence.
But the wait could be a while.
For example, in order to be reunited with a sibling from Uganda, a U.S. citizen would have had to file a family petition by May 8, 2004, according to April’s Visa Bulletin.
For those from China, India, Mexico, or the Philippines attempting to get lawful immigration status, “you have to wait in an even longer line,” Mr. Mollo said.
Sister Julia Hutchison said she felt overwhelmed by the challenges posed for refugees. She volunteers with US Together Toledo, a nonprofit agency that assists refugees and immigrants in Ohio.
“I have learned to love and appreciate these wonderful people. Their children, their eagerness to become productive citizens, their overall goodness,” she said.
Misinformation leads to anxiety in the community, said Carlos Castañeda, director of multicultural ministries for the Roman Catholic Diocese of Toledo.
“We are bringing down barriers by educating and by getting to the real truth,” he said. “We will find more common themes as we bring down barriers and we will see we have more things in common than we realize.”
The Catholic church’s mission to help those in need was also stressed during the program.
“The core and the heart of Catholic social teaching is the dignity of each and every single human being,” said Benjamin Brown, an associate professor of theological studies at Lourdes University.
“We live in a world that so much prioritizes success, abilities, accomplishment, and it’s hard for us to really get past this point that every single person has infinite worth, preciousness, dignity that can never be lost.”
Contact Allison Reamer at: areamer@theblade.com, 419-724-6506, or on Twitter @AllisonRBlade.
First Published April 9, 2017, 6:00 a.m.
