Pastors against hb87

Churches protest legislative

proposals
Gospel ministers promise to
take action to defend their
parishioners in the face of
anti-immigrant legislation.
by Mario Guevara
muNdohISPÁNIco, 23 march 2011

C hristian pastors in metro-

politan Atlanta are worried
about legal problems they might
have should state legislators ap-
prove hB87, considered a replica
of the anti-immigrant law in
Arizona.
A group of 20 leaders from
various local congregations met
last Saturday [12 March] in a
Norcross church to seek options
in the face of a “crisis” that, accord-
ing to them, is approaching.
The organizer of the meet-
ing, pastor Letty Torres, from the
church House of Restoration,
expressed to Mundo Hispánico his
indignation about the effects that
hB87 will bring to his life.
For the Puerto Rican it hurts
to realize that daily actions, such
as helping an immigrant without
regard to skin color or legal status,
might turn him into a criminal.
Torres was referring to vari-
ous sections of the legislation that
penalize anyone who helps an
Pro-immigration rally, Hartford, Connecticut, 1 May 2010.
undocumented foreigner come to
Georgia or who houses or trans-
ports them.
Republican Representative
Matt Ramsey, author of hB87,
included these provisions to, ac-
cording to him, counteract illegal
trafficking of persons that in past
years has affected the state.
In Georgia there are many
evangelical churches that provide
transportation, food and free
hospitality to Latinos with scarce
resources. Some also help pay gas
or electrical bills.
“This is a humanitarian deed
and not to influence them to
come illegally to Georgia,” Tor-
res said. “We are in favor of the
fight against narco-trafficking and
human smuggling, as long as it is
done justly, because with [hB87]
any one of us could find himself
in trouble.”
The majority of pastors that
attended the meeting admitted
that more than 75 percent in their
congregations lack papers. Torres
said many of them do not drive
for fear of being arrested.
He said that for some time he
has equipped vehicles, including
his, for weekly transport of believ-
ers who wish to visit his church.
“They need to come together
to hear God, and they do not have
means to do that. As a pastor it is
my duty to help them, and I will

© 2011 MundoHispánico (www.mundohispanico.com) | The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. For non-commercial, personal use only.
continue doing it even if it means
prison,” he stressed.
Other Christian leaders
whose ministries have for years
offered different types of help for
immigrants also expressed their
concern about the measure.
Pastor Tony García of Cuba
said that helping immigrants is
the responsibility of every Chris-
tian, because God asks for charity
and humanitarian love.
García and his wife, María, for
years have served the Latin com-
munity in different ways. In 2004,
the pair established a center in
Duluth where day laborers receive Immigrant-rights march, New York, 2007.
assistance and legal protection
when faced with abuse from their have had to go to prisons to get The Catholic Church raises its
contractors. our brothers who were driving voice
García pressed other pastors without a license,” he said. The Archdiocese of Atlanta
to start lobbying Republican sena- Masogo said that he does also made public its rejection of
tors and representatives—many not want to come to the point of Ramsey’s proposed law.
of whom profess themselves to removing the name of his church In a press statement the
be Christians—to try to raise from church vans to avoid attract- Catholic church called on the
consciousness. ing attention of the police. state Legislature to reject hB87
“Also with the governor The minister suggested seek- as an unnecessary measure that
[Nathan Deal]. We have to try to ing the help of pastors and min- would affect all residents of
meet with him to make him know isters of well-known American Georgia.
that we are good people and that churches, with the aim of getting “Human dignity and the
this law will affect us,” García said. them to help and intercede with rights of the undocumented must
For his part, pastor Antonio politicians promoting laws against be respected at all times,” the
Masogo, president of the Associa- the Latin community. statement said. “We are opposed
tion of Pastors and Ministers of As a first step, the pastor to this legislation because it crimi-
Atlanta (cePma), believes that stressed that they support the nalizes help given to undocument-
hB87 will add to the police perse- protest 24 March in front of the ed immigrants and requires that
cution that already exists. state Capitol, convened by the legal authorities check the status
“We have already seen deten- Georgia Latino Alliance for Hu- of persons detained for traffic
tions around our churches and we man Rights (glahr). violations.”

© 2011 MundoHispánico (www.mundohispanico.com) | The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. For non-commercial, personal use only.

Los Angeles rally, 2004: “No human being is illegal.”
At the close of this edition,
hB87 continued to be in the
hands of the Senate awaiting
debate, after the House of Rep-
resentatives approved it at the
beginning of March.
—translated by John Turnbull
History and extremism
by Sam Zamarripa
muNdohISPÁNIco, 16 march 2011
O n January 9 the University
of Georgia celebrated the
50th anniversary of the aboli-
tion of racial segregation in its
classrooms. During the ceremony
some black-and-white pictures
from 1961 attracted my attention.
The video recorded the day
that Charlayne Hunter-Gault
and Hamilton Holmes came to
© 2011 MundoHispánico (www.mundohispanico.com) | The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. For non-commercial, personal use only.
enroll at uga. As well as capturing
their young and determined faces,
the camera also captured—as
always—the infuriated faces of
protestors who opposed their ad-
mission with the conviction that
“morality cannot be legislated.”
The pictures now are 50 years
old, but the protesters seem con-
temporary. I thought that perhaps
I know some of them personally.
Today, those individuals must
be about 70 years old. Probably
many today live in Georgia, with
children and grandchildren who
attend classes at uga with people
of different ethnic groups. On see-
ing the tape I asked myself if some
of the protesters had repented.
I do not know where we will
be in 50 years, but I hope that
the matter of illegal immigration
that causes such anger will have
been resolved by the federal
government at the legislative
level and that it will have disap-
peared. If history is prologue,
the divisions of our time will
have been replaced with moder-
ation, progress and celebrations
in which old adversaries come
together to reflect.
If you follow the demo-
graphic changes in our state,
these celebrations could be
around the corner. In 2022,
more than 24 percent of
students eligible to be admit-
ted to our universities will
be Hispanic. The probability
that children of immigrants will
become married to descendants
of Jefferson Davis will form part
of a new Southern tradition. We
will live in a time of combined
last names, where we mix Sán-
chez with Harris and Wu with
Smith. Such connections will
convert fear into acceptance and
misunderstandings into family
stories.
I am not the only one who
thinks about the future and about
the outcomes for extremists.
During the last elections, depart-
ing governor Sonny Perdue asked
his colleagues to lower the tone
of anti-immigrant rhetoric. In an
apolitical moment of reflection,
Perdue called for their attention
because he knows our history and
knows that our words and deeds
can torture us.
I know personally and respect
many members of the General
Assembly and share their con-
stant frustration with the lack of
solutions on immigration from
the federal government. But we
need to remember Perdue’s warn-
ing.
The times of extremism, the
words and deeds will only lead
to our state being compared with
Arizona, a state that has suffered
economically and socially because
of its intervention in immigra-
tion affairs. We do not have to be
competing with Arizona for first
place in extremist legislation. We
have much to lose.
The 1961 film footage re-
minds us that things change and
anger about what seems to be
an impossible situation can be
converted into celebration. I hope
that within a few years we will
remember 2011 without regret.
Sam Zamarripa is a former state
legislator and businessman.
Additional resources
More information is available from
the state Legislature (www
.legis.ga.gov), aalac (aalegal.org),
American Immigration Lawyers
Association (www.aila.org), galeo
(www.galeo.org), glahr (www
.glahr.org), lulac (lulac.org),
maldef (www.maldef.org), and
the National Council of La Raza
(www.nclr.org).

Proposed anti-immigrant / anti-Latino laws of all services provided to undocumented immi-

Immigration-enforcement legislation pending in
the 2011 Georgia Legislature:
¶hb87 “La Georgizona i” | Empowers local law
enforcement to arrest undocumented immigrants
and to initiate deportation proceedings. Establishes
fines and prison time for those presenting falsified
documents to obtain work.
¶sb40 “La Georgizona ii” | Requires companies—
excluding the state farm industry—to use the
E-Verify program to verify employees’ visa status.
Local law enforcement can detain any person they
“suspect” of being undocumented and turn that
person over to immigration authorities.
¶sb104 “Day Laborers’ Law” | Citing “vehicu-
lar chaos” caused by day-labor pools, establishes
penalties for day laborers, those who hire them, and
county and municipal officials who fail to enforce
the law.
¶hb296 “The Undocumented Accounting Law” |
Requires hospitals and public schools to keep track
grants.
¶hb59 “Kill the Dream Law” | Would prohibit
undocumented youth from entering any publicly
funded state post-secondary school.
¶hb72 “The English-Only Law” | The written
portion of the Georgia motor-vehicle exam would
be offered only in English.
¶hb162 “Against Illegal Drunkenness” | Seeks
that undocumented persons detained for drunk
driving will be charged with a severe crime from
their first arrest for this reason.
¶sb7 “Workers without Rights” | Seeks to prevent
undocumented immigrants from getting compensa-
tion for workplace injuries.
¶sb174 “Deportation from Jails” | Mandates that
all prisons in Georgia implement the Secure Com-
munities program to determine how many prison-
ers lack legal status.
Source: Mundo Hispánico, 16 March 2011

© 2011 MundoHispánico (www.mundohispanico.com) | The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. For non-commercial, personal use only.