MRS > Office of Migration & Refugee Policy
By Dave Crenshaws
www.catholicnews.com
November 2, 2007
TULSA, Okla. (CNS) -- On the night before one of the nation's toughest immigration policies took effect, an estimated 1,500 Catholics gathered for a special Mass dedicated to immigrants at St. Francis Xavier Church in Tulsa.
The Oct. 31 Mass was celebrated by Tulsa Bishop Edward J. Slattery who opposed the bill even before it was passed by the Oklahoma Legislature last spring. The measure was signed into law by Gov. Brad Henry in May; it took effect Nov. 1.
Bishop Slattery spoke in Spanish to the packed and solemn congregation the night before All Saints Day. Loudspeakers broadcasted the Mass and homily to hundreds more who listened outside on a cool October evening.
"I would like everyone here to know that my prayers are with you, with your families, your children and all those whose lives are being undermined as a consequence of those inhuman laws which are taking effect this night," Bishop Slattery said.
The Oklahoma Taxpayer and Citizen Protection Act of 2007 makes it a felony to knowingly harbor or transport an illegal alien and creates specific barriers to hiring illegal immigrants. It requires proof of citizenship to obtain certain government benefits and requires all state agencies and contractors to check the immigration status of all workers after July 1, 2008.
Father David Medina, pastor of St. Francis Xavier Church, has been dealing with fallout from the measure for nearly a year as it made its way through the Legislature. His midtown Tulsa parish -- the largest in Oklahoma -- is 95 percent Hispanic. Since August, 20 percent of the congregation has moved out of Oklahoma.
"At first, I was just trying to heal the confusion caused by the bill. Now that it is law, it is much harder to console the families that are being forced to leave," he told the Eastern Oklahoma Catholic, diocesan newspaper of Tulsa.
Exact numbers are difficult to come by. Some Hispanic Catholics have moved to other states. Others have returned to their homelands, mostly Mexico. Others are still in Oklahoma but are in hiding, uncertain about what will happen if they apply for a job, try to get a drivers license or even visit a doctor or hospital.
Last summer, St. Francis Xavier had around 8,000 parishioners. Father Medina said they now they number somewhere around 6,500, and he knows of at least 50 more families that plan to leave Oklahoma.
"There's a lot of fear. There's a lot of distress. They feel persecuted by this law," said Father Medina, who also serves as director of the Hispanic apostolate overseeing ministries to Hispanic Catholics throughout the 78 parishes in the Tulsa Diocese.
Even though the law is in effect, much about it is uncertain.
Rumors have run rampant. The Tulsa World daily newspaper reported that families without proper immigration documentation were being evicted from apartments. There were unsubstantiated reports in the Hispanic community that individuals who have spoken to the media were being deported.
The Tulsa Police Department and the Tulsa County Sheriff office have expressed concerns about having the time and the manpower to enforce the new law.
Both the Tulsa Diocese and the Archdiocese of Oklahoma City are adamantly opposed to it.
In late October, Archbishop Eusebius J. Beltran of Oklahoma City, priests and more than 1,000 laypeople signed a one-page "pledge of resistance" to the law, calling it "unjust and immoral."
In his homily at the special Mass for immigrants in Tulsa, Bishop Slattery agreed with the pledge.
"As baptized members of Christ we cannot be silent or complicit with those who abuse the God-given dignity of the children of God," he said.
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