EDITOR-IN-CHIEF – VICTORIA OLGUIN
ORIGINALLY PRINTED ON SEPT 13, 2023
With the 2024 presidential election just around the corner, issues over immigration reform have become a hot topic. Highly debated and often resulting in division between communities, St. Mary’s University has taken the initiative to dive deeper into the issue beyond politics. Through a Catholic and Marianist lens, St. Mary’s goal is to find common ground for the common good that will benefit the university and
society through a public event.Last month, this free event, known as Finding Common Ground for the Common Good: Immigration Reform, invited the community to gather in the University Center and hear experts address the issue through a discussion. Speakers included former Bexar County Judge and St. Mary’s Distinguished Service Professor Hon. Nelson Wolff (B.B.A. ‘66, JD ‘66), US Rep Tony Gonzales (TX-23), Sister Norma Pimentel of Catholic Charities (M.A. ‘89), and St. Mary’s Clinical Professor of Law and Englehardt Research Fellow Erica B. Schommer, J.D. The event was successfully moderated by St Mary’s President Thomas M. Mengler, J.D.
The discussion began with a prayer and followed by a few introductions from each panelist. The discussion then focused on what it means to look at immigration through a Catholic and Marianist lens. “It goes back to humanity. Our faith should look through the lens of ‘How do you just help people?’ And, as a policy maker, I try to go, ‘How do I prevent people from going down this dead end? How do I protect them?’” U.S. Rep Tony Gonzales said. “Somehow the misconception is that they’re not necessarily people. We don’t recognize them as somebody that we should care for or even consider as a person,” Sister Norma Pimentel continued.
Immigrating is not always an easy journey, yet every year, millions of people, including children, find themselves in that position, whether it is for economic reasons, political reasons or safety reasons.
Hon. Wolff acknowledged this issue with the St. Mary’s community. “Can you imagine, at the age of 12 years old, maybe living in Guatemala, coming across the Southern border of Mexico? That’s extraordinary effort by these young boys to do that so I have a special place in my heart for them and I want to at least give them a chance to make it here in the US,” Hon. Wolff said.
Sister Norma Pimentel saw this first-hand while working near the border in McAllen, Texas. “The young man explained that he had to walk for days and weeks. He lost his shoes and he had to continue walking and carrying his child, and so finally, he ended up at the border and he entered the United States and he was processed and that’s why his feet were like that. So, the agent was moved by what he was seeing, and he started to cry and he runs to his truck, pulls out his pair of new tennis shoes, comes back inside, takes off his socks, puts them on the father, and puts his new pair of tennis shoes on. That is America,” Sister Norma Pimentel said.
The difficulties of immigration issues are evident and complicated, often causing division through a community blame-game between different parties. Its effective to look at what the root cause of these issues are in the first place in order to find a solution that serves as a greater good for the community. This is something US Rep Tony Gonzales investigated. “I don’t care about whose fault it is. It’s part of trying to find a solution. So, I’m mostly focused on what can we get done to just have it stop in a humane manner that promotes these different things,” US Rep Tony Gonzales said.
“The way to get rid of the chaos is to acknowledge that our system doesn’t work, that we have a demand for workers and they don’t have a way to come, and also that all of our deterrent-only policies have been extremely inhumane…,” St. Mary’s Clinical Professor of Law and Englehardt Research Fellow Erica B. Schommer, J.D. continued. “ So, what we need is to acknowledge that the way to make it safe is to have a system that reflects the realities of our economy and the realities of the world.”
US Rep Tony Gonzales worked on a bill that provides three main solutions for the problem. “The bill is very simple. It takes work visas from one year to three years. I mean, six months you’re on the job and you’re already worried about getting back. Three years extends that a little bit. The other part of it too is we live in the 21st century.
Why do you have to fill everything out via snail mail and mail it in? Why can’t you go online and fill everything out? And the third thing it does is it allows US employers the ability to basically highlight that these aren’t seasonal jobs,” US Rep Tony Gonzales said.
St. Mary’s students greatly appreciated getting to hear from experts. Junior business management major, Victoria Van Winkle enjoyed the discussion and shared her experience. “The finding Common Ground for the Common Good discussion was an excellent educational resource for me. Not only was I able to meet people, but I was able to gain a better understanding of what immigration is, what is currently going on at the border, and a few things that can be done to help those in need of assistance. In all honesty though, it was an emotional experience at the same time because the speakers provided us with their personal firsthand experience of what and who they have encountered at the border. Hearing some of the stories we were told was difficult to imagine. I left that talk with a stronger foundation of understanding the history of immigration and the events that have taken place at our border between the United States and Mexico. Ultimately, I am glad I was able to attend this event because of everything I was taught. It was an incredible experience,”” Winkle said.
To hear the discussion in its entirety, check out mediaspace.stmarytx.edu for more.
