Woonsocket Priest: Deportation Goes Against God's Will

Responding in support of a national two-day fast protesting deportation's disruption of families, ending in a march from Beneficent Church to Burnside Park in Providence June 27, Hugo Carmona, a priest at All Saints Catholic Church in Woonsocket, said God favors family ties over immigration law.

“God wants human beings to grow within a family, which is the centerpiece of society. Everything that goes against families damages society and goes against the will of God. Deportations go against the will of God because they damage the family,” said Carmona, who was unable to attend the event.

Several  organizations participated in the fast and march, including The We Are All Arizona Coalition and partner organizations Committee of Immigrants in Action, RI Jobs with Justice, Fuerza Laboral, Olneyville Neighborhood Association, American Friends Service Committee, Rhode Island State Council of Churches, English for Action, as well as leaders in the faith community and community members affected by deportation announced Friday their plan to take part in a national two-day fast to end deportation called by the National Day Laborer Organizing Network. 

The coalition called for comprehensive immigration reform that includes all aspiring citizens living in the United States and that protects immigrant workers’ rights.

The March of Children began at 4 p.m. Thursday, June 27, at Beneficent Church in Providence, and was led by a group of children holding a banner that stated “Not 1 More Deportation”.

Christopher Vargas, an 8-year-old boy from Providence, spoke during the event. “I can’t imagine how I would survive if one of my parents was deported. They take me to school, to the doctor. I’m a citizen of this country, and it would be a bad decision for Immigration to tear my family apart. I don’t know what I would do.”

“Our immigration system is broken. Politicians say that enforcement focuses on so-called ‘dangerous criminals,’ but that is not the case. Police detain people everyday- on their way to work, or on the way to drop their kids off at school- for driving without a license. Due to the failed Secure Communities program and the collaboration between police and immigration enforcement, these people end up in deportation proceedings. We need to end this collaboration, because all it does is tear families apart and create fear in our communities.,” said Eduardo Sandoval, coordinator at the Olneyville Neighborhood Association in Providence.

As the march reached the park, religious leaders broke their fast by calling on the Obama administration to hear their prayers.