Misioneros de la Compasión trabaja en contra de 'ola de sentimiento anti-inmigrante "

Missionaries for Compassion works against 'tide of anti-immigrant sentiment'
SB81 »

Group opposes Utah's new immigration law.

By Sheena Mcfarland
The Salt Lake Tribune
Updated: 06/12/2009 11:23:34 PM MDT


Provo » When Victor Rodriguez was in elementary school, teachers pulled him out of class to test his English proficiency every year, even though he was born in Provo and spoke perfect English.
He often felt separated from his white peers, even though his family, who was from Guatemala, were active members of Utah's predominant religion, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
After he graduated from high school, Rodriguez served an LDS mission in Nicaragua, where he was continually impressed by the kindness and welcoming treatment he received from complete strangers. So, it was all the more jarring when he returned home to a growing anti-immigrant sentiment.
Now 25, Rodriguez is part of a newly formed group of returned LDS missionaries dedicated to reminding fellow Mormons how their sons, daughters or siblings were welcomed, fed and sheltered during their religious stints in Latin America or in stateside immigrant communities.
Missionaries for Compassion Toward Immigrants was formed by Aaron Petterborg, a 26-year-old white Texan who served his mission in Salt Lake City, preaching largely to undocumented immigrants. He was disturbed by many Utahns' treatment of immigrants.
The group has 188 members on Facebook and a core of about 40 members who actively participate in gatherings. They volunteer for service projects and also engage fellow LDS church members in dialogue about the treatment of immigrants.
"We hold antagonism toward immigrants in general and adherence to Gospel principles to be intrinsically conflicted," the group's charter states.
Missionaries for Compassion has drafted a petition asking people to support the rights of all community members, regardless of their legal status. He also plans to have the group work with state legislators in upcoming sessions to change or repeal SB81, Utah's immigration law set to take effect on July 1.
But more important to Petterborg than persuading politicians is changing the mindset of Utah residents.
"Even more powerful than a political change is the change that happens with our communities," he said. "What people think is much more important than what a law says."
Petterborg points to references throughout the Bible and the Book of Mormon that he says teach compassion toward all of God's children. One example is the story of King Benjamin in Mosiah Chapter 4, where the king admonishes his subjects not to turn away anyone in need of help, and not to blame them for their situation. The lesson culminates in the thought, "Are we not all beggars?"
He also highlights former Church President David O. McKay's broad definition of missionary as every church member.
The group references the church's belief that all souls need "saving ordinances" -- sacred acts including baptism and temple ceremonies -- to get into heaven and that undocumented immigrants willing "to deal with their documentation status" should be allowed such ordinances even though they have broken immigration law.
But Ron Mortensen, of the Utah Coalition on Illegal Immigration, calls the group's stance hypocritical.
A returned LDS missionary himself, he stresses the religion's Twelfth Article of Faith, which mandates all Mormons follow the rule of law.
"You can be baptized if you're an illegal alien using stolen documents and someone else's identity and committing perjury on an I-9 form, but they couldn't be baptized for drinking a cup of tea," he said.
"It just seems [Missionaries for Compassion] really are working out of pure compassion and totally out of emotion," Mortensen said. "If they are so concerned about these individuals, are they willing to give them their names, Social Security numbers and dates of birth so they can limit the damage they are doing to other people in order to get jobs?"
But the group's goal is lauded by Latino community activist Michael Clara, an active Mormon who is in the leadership of a Spanish-speaking congregation.
"I applaud this group, but I think it's an indictment of people that we have to have returned missionaries teach us the value of and need for exercising Christian values," Clara said. "I think it's needed to open our eyes to the reality of practicing our religion."
Raquel Zarco Gonzalez, who is from Mexico City and served her LDS mission there before attending Brigham Young University, said she faced some hostility when she first arrived.
"Many people believe that illegal immigrants come to cause trouble, but students who come here to go to the university come here for the same reasons, and some students are legal, some not," Zarco Gonzalez said. "The reasons are not different. I want people to see beyond papers and see the real reasons people are here."
Missionaries for Compassion is quick to explain that it does not in any way represent the LDS Church's official stance, and that members are simply interpreting their religion on their own and living the values they say their church instilled in them.
They aren't asking for the church to adopt an official policy, either.
"We don't need our church leaders to tell us we need to be good people in every aspect of our lives," Petterborg said. "They've already taught us that."
Andrea Rorrer, an assistant professor in the Department of Educational Leadership and Policy Studies at the University of Utah, says more groups need to start recognizing the growing diversity of the state and need to address the needs of individual communities.
"If there's a way to bring together the multiple efforts of such groups without overshadowing what communities of color and communities already supportive of undocumented individuals are doing, we are more likely to get a greater cumulative effect," Rorrer said. "We could make some real headway in addressing the negative or hostile views that we have in the state and in the nation that tend to prevail against immigrants."

Maclovia Perez
801-833-2793
Coordinadora Red de Peruanos en Utah

redperuenutah@gmail.com

Corresponsal Red Democratica del Peru