On September 10, Saint Xavier University’s Center for Religion and Public Discourse hosted an event titled “Welcoming the Stranger: Perspectives on the Experience of Immigration.” This event featured four panelists who discussed their experiences and opinions on the idea of immigration and what they are doing to help those in need.
Each panelist had a personal story to share, which they shared during their designated time. Introducing the panelists and leading discussion was moderator Fr. Tim Gray, SCJ. Gray is a member of the Priests of the Sacred Heart and actively serves for his religious community in Chicago.
Gray commented on the long history that migration has had. “Migration as a social movement has been part of human history. The people would move to new lands either to feed their families, some move out of adventure, some are forced by starvation or violence,” Gray said.
Marilu Gonzalez was the first to speak. Gonzalez is a member of the Catholic Charities and was named Regional Director of the City Southwest in 2014.
Representing many catholic parishes, her primary duties include reaching out, educating, and informing the largely Latino community of the work and services done by the Catholic Charities.
“I have to see myself in you, and you have to see yourself in me,” said Gonzalez.
Gonzalez believes that this simple yet important concept is central to being able to understanding others while being able to help them. Walking in someone else’s shoes can help to solve many issues regarding immigration.
Another important point was made by Gonzalez when she spoke about welcoming the stranger by trying to understand them and their experiences. The next speaker was Jose Alonso who is a senior attorney with the Illinois Migrant Legal Assistance Project.
Alonso is also a part of LAF (Legal Assistance Foundation). For his job, he represents migrant and seasonal agricultural workers in Illinois, primarily with employment and immigration matters.
Continuing on with the program was Xiaorong Jajah Wu, the Supervising Attorney for the Young Center Chicago office and co-teacher of the legal clinic at the University of Chicago. Wu graduated from the University of Chicago Law School in 2010 and began working as a PILI Fellow at the Young Center.
She also joined the Schiff Hardin team where she practiced in the areas of environmental and general litigation and then devoted her time to cases dealing with child custody and immigration.
The final speaker of the evening was Judge Thomas More Donnelly, an Associate Judge of the Circuit of Chicago assigned to the First Municipal District. Donnelly serves on the Illinois Judicial Ethics Committee and has served as a judge since 2000.
During that time, he has presided over hundreds of jury trials in both criminal and civil matters and shared some of his thoughts and experiences during his presentation. Each presenter brought different views and stories to the audience but each had a similar thought in mind: to welcome the stranger.
In relation to religion and hospitality, Gray mentioned instances from the Bible where people were immigrating to new places. “Even in our faith tradition, the very first book of the Bible, we see three migrations. Abraham moves because God calls him to a new land, his grandsons, Jacob and Esau quarreled and decided that the land was not big enough for the two of them so Esau goes his own way but then famine strikes the land and Jacob and his children are [also] forced to seek refuge in Egypt. Now this is only the first book of the Bible, but it makes us aware that migration is not a modern situation, it’s not a temporary crisis which will soon disappear. The Catholic Church has always taught that a person has the right to immigrate,” said Gray.
Genesis Garcia Fisher, a sophomore Middle School Education major, was in attendance for this panel and shares some of her ideas about the issues and challenges faced with immigration, and why it is important for people to understand these topics.
“I believe it’s important for everyone, not just SXU students, to understand the different issues and challenges that new members of our society face. I don’t think many people understand the complexity of our broken immigration system here in the United States and it’s something that even if one does not agree with, then they need to educate them self with GOOD sources. {….] If anything, remember that those who come to this country are humans and need to be treated as such,” said Garcia Fisher.
Julie Gardner
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