Dear Mr. President, let this be the last Mother's Day that a child has to wonder ....

Dear Mr. President,

     Last week I said I'd be writing you each week as part of my weekly 48 hour fast for immigration reform and a stop to the deportations. As I enter the final 6th of this week's fast for immigration reform I offer these reflections. I thought it would get easier each week. It has not. It is taking an increasingly larger amount of mental effort to go without food for two days and keep focused on what is good and right in the world. I cherish that reflection because it invites me to think of what it takes to work day in and out for months and years to have your child returned to your arms after they were sent back to a country they never knew, to stop worrying that an unjust and abusive system of immigration 'control' won't rip away a piece of your family each day and night, to suffer abuses in workplaces, homes and other settings because you cannot risk reporting, to show up with energy and love and engage in justice seeking work because you know it is the only way forward for our species.

     So, yeah it's harder this day but it is this one small piece I can do this day as we continue to press upon our representatives to move the vote forward, continue to raise awareness among our own family and friends and communities of connection, as we continue to write and call our leaders and say 'stop the deportations of people who are important pieces of who we are, together, in this beautiful fabric of humanity and fix our immigration system now.'

     Mr. President, I'm heading off now to lead a sleepover at my Unitarian Universalist Church. There, children and youth will make Mother's Day presents, enjoy playing games and even play hide and seek in the sanctuary. They will have a great time and so will I. In the morning they will greet their mothers with breakfast goodies and then we'll enjoy a Sunday worship service in which we are dedicating children and babies. We'll remind them of how important they are and how wonderful they are, exactly as they are! It will be joyous but on the inside, a slice of me will be weeping. I will weep for the many Mothers who will be in pain.

    Please let this be the last Mother's Day in which children wonder ‘Will my mother be taken today?’ 

Yours on the journey, Rev. Wendy von Zirpolo

Dear Mr. President ~

Dear Mr. President,

I hope this finds you well. You  have brought so much integrity, hope and vision into the White House. Thank you.

I’m writing today with an empty stomach and heavy heart. April 7^th I joined 104 women in the We Belong Together fast and am continuing to fast 48 hours each week. During my fast I am working to raise awareness and act toward the end no child goes to bed worried a knock on door might rip away a parent or send a sibling away. This week I used social media to debunk 24 myths about immigrants and now I am writing to you. I’ll be writing weekly until immigration reform passes and the deportations of non-violent undocumented immigrants stops.

     

Mr. President, I have been to jail twice for this cause because there is a higher law to which we are called. The law of our collective soul, some call God. The law that cherishes all creation's children and insists each of are due respect, safety, justice and love. 

   

 Now, I forgo food because there is a greater sacrifice being paid by children each day. I appreciate your efforts but more must be done. Here in the country we love and share, this is the greatest human rights issue of our time and we are stained.

I recall the autobiography of Anne Moody, an African American woman who grew up in the midst of the battle for civil rights in Mississippi. A story she told mirrors what is happening today in the name of border patrol and protection against immigrants.  She tells of a young man being yanked from a gathering, dragged by police, not resisting arrest but unable to stand because of how he was dragged. He was beaten by officers and taken away, bloodied.  I can tell you first hand that this kind of violence is taking place today and in the name of “immigrant control.’ I have been in its presence in an Arizona jail. And I have born witness to many more stories. This, nearly half a century since the horrific instances of racism were brought to a country finally willing to see, to own and to correct such horrific human rights abuses.

In Anne's accounting, two white men sat watching in a car, unwilling to participate.  Silent. 

Mr. President, the fact that deportations are occurring in record numbers and that immigration reform is stalled feels like silence. Please use your power. Speak so loudly that every child fearing that this day their family will be torn apart hears your voice.

Respectfully yours ~ Rev. Wendy von Zirpolo