Church Joins Rally for Immigration Reform at Battery Park

Amid a picturesque backdrop of the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island, Cardinal Dolan and Sen. Charles Schumer led a contingent of comprehensive immigration reform advocates who spoke at Battery Park in Manhattan June 27, urging the U.S. House of Representatives to pass immigration reform in July.

The gathering was held on the first anniversary of the passage of the U.S. Senate’s immigration bill. The sun shone brightly throughout the early afternoon press conference, which included leaders in business, labor, technology and agriculture.

Cardinal Dolan told those assembled he was attending not as a political leader but as a pastor.

“Whether they’re Catholic or not, they’re human beings, made in the image and likeness of God, part of the human family. We love them, we want to make them Americans and they want to be Americans,” the cardinal said in response to a question from CNY regarding the Church’s message to undocumented immigrants, Catholic and non-Catholic alike.

“We’re proud to welcome them, and it’s part of our heritage,” the cardinal continued. “They need to know that the people against this do not speak for the majority of Americans.”

Among other leaders present were Jose Calderon, president of the Hispanic Federation; Vincent Alvarez, president of the New York City AFL-CIO Central Labor Council; Chad Dickerson, CEO of Etsy, an e-commerce website; Ciaran Staunton of the Irish Lobby for Immigration Reform; Eve Cho Guillergan of the Korean American Lawyers Association of Greater New York; Javier Valdes and Nancy Peredo of Make the Road New York, an organization which advocates for Latino and working-class communities, and Kyle Bragg of SEIU, a large labor union.

“One year ago, the Senate, in a large, bipartisan majority, passed immigration reform,” Sen. Schumer said. “We’re still waiting for the House to pass it.”

Acknowledging the Statue of Liberty, Schumer said it symbolizes for Americans and the citizens of the world “the fact that we are a nation of immigrants, which has said to people that America is stronger, because we come from all over the globe.”

“Those who have come here and work their way to becoming Americans do great things for themselves and for their families,” he said. And when they do so, Schumer continued, “they do it for America as well.”

“We are making a plea, on this first anniversary of the passage of the Senate bill, to our House colleagues—Democrat and Republican alike—to come together, bring a bill to the floor of the House.”

President Barack Obama, in remarks on border security and immigration reform June 30 at the White House, said he was informed the previous week that that Republicans will continue to block a vote of immigration reform at least for the remainder of this year.

The president pledged to exercise his executive powers to enact reforms in the absence of action by Congress.