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Clergy Press for Immigration Reform

About a half-dozen local church officials left a message for Ohio Senator George Voinovich at his downtown Cleveland office, yesterday.
Father Robert Reidy of the westside La Sagrada Familia church carried a plastic grocery bag filled with postcards.

ROBERT REIDY: I've got about 280 here. The people who signed these are in favor of immigration reform and they're calling for these Senators and Congressmen should do everything in their power to make this happen.

Piles of similar postcards are being delivered to all of Northeast Ohio's Congressional delegation. It's part of a nationwide ecumenical effort that backs legislation that would allow illegal immigrants to remain in this country and have a legal route to citizenship.

A recent federal report estimates that there are as many as 11 million undocumented immigrants across the U.S. --- about 95,000 in Ohio. Opponents of liberalized immigration say legalizing those already here is a disservice to the millions waiting in in line who're following immigration rules. Rev. Tracey Lind of Cleveland's Trinity Cathedral says she realizes that Congress is currently pre-occupied with a troubled economy and healthcare reform, but...

TRACEY LIND: ...I rank this as just important as economic issues and healthcare and education, because I think it's part of the fabric of our nation. And it is a part of the economy, and I think we need to not to be the underground economy.

Attempts at immigration reform in 2006 and 2007 failed to gain traction in Congress, and the Obama administration isn't expected to bring the issue up again until later this year.

David C. Barnett was a senior arts & culture reporter for Ideastream Public Media. He retired in October 2022.