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Pastor jailed for backing young immigrants

 
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2:30 P.M. EST December 3, 2010 | NASHVILLE, Tenn. (UMNS)

United Methodist the Rev. Lorenza Andrade Smith is led away for processing after she was arrested on criminal trespass charges. A web-only Photo courtesy of glara@express-news.net.
United Methodist the Rev. Lorenza Andrade Smith is led away for processing after she was arrested on criminal trespass charges. A web-only Photo courtesy of glara@express-news.net.

UPDATE Dec. 7: The Rev. Lorenza Andrade Smith, a United Methodist pastor arrested Nov. 30 after a sit-in, is on a spiritual fast and is determined to remain jailed in solidarity with thousands of young people advocating for the DREAM Act.

United Methodist supporters of the “DREAMers” have organized a Facebook page and are organizing a “rollover fast.” On the Facebook page, called 365 Day Fast in Solidarity With DREAMers, people are encouraged to “relieve Rev. Lorenza Andrade Smith of her fast for a day” by committing to a day when they will fast. The goal is to have someone fasting each day for the following year.

On Dec. 5, Smith “escalated” her fast and will not be accepting food or water, said the Rev. John Feagins, United Methodist campus minister at the University of Texas, San Antonio, and a friend of Smith’s.

Student hunger strikers were welcomed at the “Culto Unido” interfaith worship service held at La Trinidad United Methodist Church Dec. 5 where retired Bishop Joel Martinez is pastor.

Pastors of the San Antonio area Rio Grande Conference churches, parishioners and colleagues from the Southwest Texas Annual (regional) Conference offered support and prayers for Smith and the other hunger strikers.

Vigils are being held nightly outside the Bexar County Adult Detention Center where Smith is jailed.

Smith, pastor of Westlawn United Methodist Church, joined a group of students from the University of Texas at San Antonio as they staged a sit-in at the office of Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchinson, R.-Texas. Their goal was to get the senator to talk to them about why she has decided not to support the legislation that would allow illegal immigrants who entered the U.S. as children to apply for conditional legal status after attending college or serving in the military for two years.

Hutchinson had previously been in favor of the bill. In a statement her office released Nov. 30, Hutchison said she supported giving temporary student visas to those seeking relief under the bill.

The students know the visas will not help them when they graduate and start looking for jobs, said the Rev. John Feagins, United Methodist campus minister at the University of Texas, San Antonio.

Feagins was present at the sit-in and has been working with the students on campus who support the Development, Relief and Education for Alien Minors Act or DREAM Act. He said he introduced Smith to the group.

Before the sit-in at the senator’s office, the group of about 15 students tried fasting for several days and marched 16 miles to the downtown campus to stage a demonstration in a main plaza.

“I am not on a hunger strike, but rather a spiritual fast,” Smith said from the Bexar County Adult Detention Center Dec. 2. “I will break this fast when other clergy and laity join the fast by committing to relieve me of one or more days, to have fasting and prayer for the DREAM Act students going on all year.”

The DREAM Act is a human issue about young adults going to school and working hard in their communities, she said. “These are folks trying to contribute to this society.”

Smith had the opportunity to post bail for her release, but she is intentionally staying in jail until there is a vote in Congress, Feagins said.

United Methodist Bishop James Dorff, Southwest Texas Annual (regional) Conference episcopal leader, visited Smith in jail and spoke to her after she was arrested. He said she had notified him that she was going to participate in the sit-in and that it might lead to arrest.

“As her bishop, I wanted to support her personally, affirm her statement of conscience, affirm her Christian witness,” he said. “I do not condone nor recommend breaking the law and she is aware of that, but I appreciate the depth, compassion and sense of commitment she has to seeking some kind of just immigration reform.”

Retired Bishop Joel Martinez prays for Derek Smith, son of the jailed Rev. Lorenza Andrade Smith (front left) in an interfaith worship service at La Trinidad United Methodist Church. The service was held in support of his mother and other hunger strikers Dec. 5. A UMNS photo by the Rev. John Feagins.
Retired Bishop Joel Martinez prays for Derek Smith, son of the jailed Rev. Lorenza Andrade Smith (front left) in an interfaith worship service at La Trinidad United Methodist Church. The service was held in support of his mother and other hunger strikers Dec. 5. A UMNS photo by the Rev. John Feagins.
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Dorff added Smith has been on the forefront in the conference advocating for various immigration issues.

“I do support the DREAM Act; I think it is a very reasonable and sensible way to assist young people to have an opportunity for citizenship,” Dorff said. He added the bill might need modifications before it will pass.

‘Catch-22 situation’

The United Methodist Board of Church and Society and Phoenix Area Bishop Minerva Carcaño also issued a statement Dec. 1 urging United Methodists to pray and call their senators and representatives to urge them to vote for the DREAM Act.

MARCHA, The United Methodist Church’s Hispanic caucus, issued a statement in support of Smith in her act of civil disobedience.

“We urge our members to pray for her and for all the students and supporters; may their ordeals and sacrifices be a strong witness to Congress and the DREAM Act be approved soon. Furthermore, we request everyone who reads this statement to call their elected officials and urge them to vote in support of the DREAM Act.”

Students on other college campuses have also been demonstrating for the legislation. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., said he would move to force a vote on the bill before the end of the year.

Feagins said he has encountered students caught in this “Catch-22 situation” for a long time.

“I work with these students all the time, and they are indistinguishable from other students. They are U.S.-raised college students who are American in every way except where they were born.

“Lorenza and I are supporting the justice issue behind the legislation. We want our government to find a solution for these young people who our country needs and who need us and who love us and want to live and work here. If we can’t love people who love us, how can we ever love our enemies?”

* Gilbert is a multimedia reporter for the young adult content team.

News media contact: Kathy L. Gilbert, Nashville, Tenn., (615) 742-5470 or newsdesk@umcom.org.

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