DAYTONA BEACH NEWS-JOURNAL June 1, 2007 Prayer vigil held for equitable immigration reform SEVILLE -- Some swam across a cold river in the dark. Some ran 10 hours through the desert. Others rode packed tightly in hot enclosed vans and trucks with no food and little water. And for single women like Anita Ramirez, who was 16 when she made the perilous desert journey, her biggest fear was getting raped. But they made it to a slightly better life in the United States. With their pains and harrowing experiences in mind, 26 men, women and children gathered Thursday at the Prayer Circle of Hope in Seville to pray for immigration reform. With guitar music, prayers and gospel songs, they put their hope in their faith -- that God would touch the hearts of lawmakers to enact immigration laws that would make their presence in the United States acceptable. "Since not all of us have the resources to get in touch with congressmen and politicians, we are hoping that through prayer, we can ask Father God to intercede on our behalf," said Ana Bolanos, president of the Seville women's group, Alianza de Mujeres Activas (Alliance Of Active Women). "We are hoping that the outcome would be something of benefit to them as it will be for us." The bill debated in Washington, D.C., seeks a new system with a path to citizenship for 12 million illegal immigrants, a guest-worker program for noncitizens and tighter borders. The compromise, which leaders of both parties struck almost two weeks ago, has met stiff resistance from both Democrats and Republicans. Liberals tend to oppose the section that would add emphasis on admitting immigrants with education and job skills and less on family reunification. Conservatives tend to dismiss the plan as an amnesty bill. Ramirez, who left her family behind in Guanajuato, Mexico, said she was thinking of them and of the laws that would make it easier to travel to visit them. "I also came to pray for peace among us Mexicans and that God may make the president's heart a little more noble so he can give us better avenues to be here," Ramirez said in Spanish, hugging her 7-year-old daughter and her 3-year-old son. Edda Serrano, an attorney for Central Florida Legal Services, said she would like to see laws catering to immigrants as the "wet feet-dry feet" policy for Cubans. "That law states that any Cuban who sets feet on American soil is eligible to stay," Serrano said. "But we all know that law was passed because the United States is not friendly with (Fidel) Castro." Immigrants gathered at the prayer circle also voiced concern about the high fees they will now have to pay to change their status in this country. They will now have to pay $1,010 for a green card, an additional sum of almost $700. Holding hands, in a closing circle of prayer, Jose Luis Correa of St. John the Baptist Catholic Church in Crescent City, said God will provide a way for immigrants to overcome the hurdles being put in their way. "Under the law of men, everything changes, but under God's law we all have the same privileges," Correa said.
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