DREAM Act Portal Forum - Latinos plead with Sen. Jeff Sessions asking him to help them and their families

http://blog.al.com/wire/2013/02/sen_...fronted_b.html

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RUSSELLVILLE, Alabama – For years Mayra Rangel had watched Sen. Jeff Sessions on TV or heard him on radio or read what she believed were his harsh words about illegal immigration and though to herself what she might tell him if she ever got the chance.

Wednesday night she got the chance. She was one of maybe 30 Latinos among 70 mostly white north Alabamians who had come to the A.W. Todd Center in this small Franklin County town to eat fried cat fish and hush puppies and listen to Sessions update them on happenings in the nation's capital.

After calling on maybe four or five in the audience for questions, Rangel raised her hand and Sessions pointed at her. Rangel slowly rose, looking a little nervous. Sessions waited. Rangel took a breath and then said this:

"Sir, you may have noticed that there are a number of us here tonight who are Latinos," said Rangel. "Sir, we come wanting to ask you for help for our families that you might help our families who want to find a way to make the immigration system better for us. Our lives are depending on this. We want to keep our families together and we need help," said Rangel, who lives in Blount County.

Rangel's words hung in the air waiting for Sessions to reply. He did.

"Let me ask you, don't you think we should have an immigration system that follows the law?" Sessions asked Rangel. Before she could answer, Sessions said, "I believe the U.S. should have a lawful system of immigration and it should serve the national interest, not special interest, not big business interest, not agricultural interest."

Then Rangel broke in.

"But what about the interest of families?" she said. "Latinos are suffering, sir. We need something to fix immigration. We are asking you to help our families stay together so we can stay a part of our community and our country. America is our country now too."

A woman sitting at a nearby table shouted out to Rangel that she and her family had come to America illegally. Before she could say more, Sessions cut her off.

"I know this is important to a lot of people. It's important to me," said Sessions, who was at the end of a long day visiting towns and cities across north Alabama. "But, I do not think that those who come into the country illegally should get every benefit the nation has to offer just because they are here. I do not feel a moral or legal obligation to allow those who entered illegally to benefit from breaking the law," added Sessions as the 70 or so whites in the audience applauded.

Regal raised her voice over the applause.

"So, you are going to destroy our families?" she said to Sessions.

Sessions shook his head no.

"No, we're going to debate this, struggle through this issue to find answers."

A second woman, Rosa Calderon of Harvest, rose to confront Sessions.

"Senator, I came to America when I was just six year old," Calderon said. "I had no choice. I went to school here. I was raised here. I'm as American as American can be. I love this country as do Latinos across this country. But you are saying because someone made a mistake years ago, a mistake in your eyes but in their eyes it was not a mistake because they were trying to find a better life for their families, you are saying you do not get a second chance?"

Again, Sessions was shaking his head no.

"We need to reestablish the rule of law," said Sessions. "People can't break the law and then demand the rights of citizenship."

Again the non-Latino part of the audience applauded. Sessions raised his hand waving off the applause.

"To our friends, I know this is a tough issue," said Sessions looking directly at the white table cloth covered tables where the Latinos sat. "We need to be compassionate with one another. But, our citizens have been pleading with their government for 20 or 30 years to fix this problem and their government – Democrats and Republicans – have not solved the problem."

Before the dinner got started and before Sessions had arrived, groups supporting an overhaul of the nation's immigration system stood vigil in the bone-chilling cold outside the Todd Center singing songs, holding candles and reading from the Bible.

Members and supporters of the Alabama Coalition for Immigrant Justice organized the protest to call attention to what the group called "Sessions' extreme stance against immigration reform."

Also taking part in the vigil were members of the Alabama Immigration Compact, a group which brings together leaders from diverse backgrounds and politics to promote a bipartisan effort to address the growing consequences of a broken immigration system.

"We hope Sen. Sessions will see we are here tonight because we care about our families and we love this country," said Juanita Mendoza, community leader from Decatur. "We hope the senator will reconsider his views and join with members of Congress to push for immigration reform. If he can't do that, we hope he would step aside and accept that immigration reform will become a reality."

Sessions has been one of Senate's most vocal critics of illegal immigration and has been a leading opponent of comprehensive immigration reform efforts that he sees as leading to amnesty for the estimated 11 million illegal immigrants now in the United States.