Front Page story for April 7, 2006
By Jim White, Editor
Soft-spoken but passionate about the plight of immigrants, Veronica Donahue of Tappahannock, Va, speaks from experience.
Born and reared in Mexico City, she and her husband, David, now pastor of Beale Memorial Baptist Church in Tappahannock, met while he was on a college mission trip and she served as an interpreter. They married two years later when he entered Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary and she enrolled at Texas Wesleyan University, both in Fort Worth, Texas.
“I didn't come here intending to be an advocate for immigrants,” she said. “But my background and training [a degree in bilingual education] made me a logical person for people to contact when they had a problem.” Her positions, first with the Nelson County Public Schools and now with Essex County Public Schools, provide plenty of contact with the families of immigrants.
As she began to minister to the families, she concentrated on their needs to learn English, only to discover, in stages, other more desperate needs. She discovered, for example, that often immigrants paid $5,000 or more to persons who said they were attorneys for help with legal forms, but they usually received no help at all.
As she gained their confidence, other needs came to the surface. More often than she could have imagined, she receives a call saying, “My cousin is here. He escaped from a slave camp in Kentucky and needs help.”
Slavery? In 2006 America? Yes. Two forms of slavery exist in America and in dozens of other countries in the 21st century. One form is sexual, in which women are promised good jobs with the understanding they will work to pay for the costs of bringing them here. Once they arrive, they are beaten, raped and forced to work in brothels. When they have earned enough to pay for their purchase, they are sold to another “master.”
Other immigrants were promised jobs which turned out to be impossible situations with no hope of escape. Often their masters threaten to turn them in to the authorities who, they say, will imprison them.
Donahue's efforts in the slavery issue were recognized and as a result, she was asked to serve on a U.S. government task force to deal with the issue. “We met, ironically, on September 11 and 12, 2000. We were beginning to make progress, but the events of the following September 11 caused everything to be shelved.”
Despite her involvement with migrant farm workers and their needs in Nelson County, her primary commitment was to her family and church family. She recalls a prayer session that changed her life two weeks before 9/11. She reports, “I prayed saying, ‘Lord, I have done a lot of speaking but I need to listen. Is there anything you want me to do?' I was thinking maybe I would sense God saying to bake a casserole and take it to someone or something like that. But I heard, ‘You need to become an advocate for Hispanic people who have no voice and no power.' I said, ‘If that's what you want me to do, you will have to show me.' ”
Before a week had passed, the Mexican consulate in Washington, D.C. informed her that for her work with immigrants, Donahue was to be given the prestigious Ohtli Award by the Mexican government for humanitarian service rendered to Mexicans living abroad. A literal translation of ohtli is “the one who shows the way.” This was a sign too big to miss.
Regarding the current debate on immigration, Donahue speaks with a good deal of compassion and common sense. “The issue is supply and demand,” she declares. “And the problem is not only ours but is being experienced by other developed nations. The extremely poor from all parts of the world are fleeing to nations that promise a better life.”
Senate majority leader Bill First remarked Sunday on CNN's late edition that he wants the Senate to pass a bill very soon-perhaps as early as Friday-that will deal with the “fundamental question” of whether undocumented workers first have to return to their countries of origin for a period of time before they can apply for legal status.
Immigration reform passed earlier by the House has been regarded even by the Senate as excessively harsh. Provisions in this legislation regard undocumented workers as felons and make it illegal for churches and other non-profit agencies to offer help, sparking mass demonstrations against it from California to Virginia.
What would Donahue suggest to the Senate?
“First, divide the categories. Not all illegals are alike. Consider, for example, the children who were forcibly brought here by parents. They are completely innocent of any offense except their parents were trying to provide a better life for them. Are they felons? Of course not.
“Slaves, as many as 50,000 of them it has been estimated, are being held. Many came here legally, but are being held against their wills. They should not be treated as felons.
“Also, consider the plight of millions who chose to come illegally, but are working for people who are more than happy to file whatever papers are necessary on their behalf. They cannot, however, because of the Immigration Reform of 1996. If you did not file by a certain date in February 1996, you missed the deadline. If they file now, they have to leave the U.S. for 10 years before they can come back and refile.”
As a pastor's wife and public school teacher, Donahue is well acquainted with concerns commonly expressed by her neighbors. Many Virginians are fearful that their way of life and standard of living will be impacted by the influx of immigrants, estimated by various agencies to be between 24 million and 27 million, with half that number being illegal. It is estimated by the PEW Hispanic Center, a research organization in Washington, D.C., that 850,000 illegal immigrants have arrived in the U.S. each year since 2000. Of the 12 million illegal immigrants, about 6.2 million, or 56 percent, are from Mexico. An additional 2.5 million are from Central America and elsewhere in Latin America. Asia contributes 1.5 million; 600,000 arrive from Europe and Canada; and 400,000 or so come from Africa and other countries.
A fear sometimes expressed is a suspicion that over time English will be supplanted by Spanish. Donahue understands. “Immigrants need to learn English. Almost all are eager to learn English if given the opportunity.”
The greatest fear expressed in immigration concerns, however, is that a porous border provides too great an opportunity for terrorists to enter the U.S. Their concerns are heightened rather than offset by the argument that terrorists have more effective ways to enter the country including through shipping containers only a few of which are randomly searched.
Last week, President Bush met with Mexican President Vicente Fox and Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper in Cancun, Mexico, to discuss issues relevant to North America with immigration concerns being at the top of their list.
Bush has favored a three-pronged approach that he calls “comprehensive.” It involves tighter security at the borders; stronger internal law enforcement making it more difficult for illegal workers to find work here; and the creation of a guest worker program that would pave a legal path for low-skilled persons to temporarily enter the country to work, with an expanded green card system where those already illegally in their country could gain temporary work status and enter a path to citizenship. Although his own party seems split over the president's position, his comments have drawn praise from unlikely sources-Senator Edward Kennedy among them.
Virginia Baptists are among the thousands who operate businesses desperate for reliable, trainable unskilled workers. According to Carlos A. de Icaza, Mexican ambassador to the United States, only 5,000 worker's visas are granted by the U.S. each year for 500,000 positions waiting to be filled with unskilled labor. Employers are often frustrated by red tape and delays from the Immigration and Naturalization Service.
Churches can help in several ways, according to Donahue. First, they must not lose their sense of moral justice, and they must not cease to be outraged when the powerless are preyed upon. It is not uncommon for immigrants to be paid so poorly that they have no hope of prospering, yet they are afraid to say anything for fear or running afoul of INS.
Second, they can provide assistance in dealing with governmental agencies-not as legal representatives, but as friends.
Third, some immigrants need help with basic necessities-food, furniture and clothes.
Immigrants need to learn the language.”For those churches who could offer English classes, they would be providing a wonderful and needed ministry.”
Perhaps not since the Pentecost experience of Acts 2 has it been so obvious that people from all over the world have come together. Immigration has brought international missions to Virginia Baptists. Problems inevitably develop when cultures clash, but those who can see beyond the conflicts will see people who need Christ's love.