Roughly 200 people attended Saturday’s Evensong at St. Philip’s in the Hills Episcopal Church on Saturday afternoon, June 23. They sang, prayed, and heard a spirited sermon by Rev’d Robert Hendrickson, St. Philip’s Rector. Later, seventy-five stayed to discuss family separation and other immigration issues in the Murphy Gallery. There Rev. Leah Sandwell-Weiss presented background material about our nation’s treatment of the strangers among us, and Ana Chavarin, an immigrant from Mexico and a Pima County Interfaith organizer, shared her story.
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According to Rev’d Leah, new draft proposed regulations would impact “public charge” determinations by penalizing legal immigrants and their children if they receive food stamps (SNAP), health care subsidies, or even Earned Income Tax Credits (EITC). Next steps included continuing to resist anti-immigrant policies, promoting voting cascades, and attending the PCIC Accountability Session on September 30, at 3:00 pm at St. Pius X Catholic Church. Candidates for Congress and the State Legislature will be asked about their positions on immigration, health care, education, food security, and other issues.

Read full transcript of Rev. Leah Sandwell-Weiss' presentation HERE.

The Single Parents Ministry of Sacred Heart Parish and Southern Arizona Interfaith hosted an immigration session for the community. The Single Parents Ministry is a new ministry created specifically for single parents with the purpose of addressing some of their issues. This is a pilot program of the Catholic Diocese led by Sr. Leonette Kochan, Director of the Office of Human Life and Dignity.  Members of the church, neighboring schools and the community were invited to attend.
The Diocesan program has been launched in five Tucson parishes.  

At Sacred Heart, Fr. Jim Hobert has worked diligently to identify single parents and understand their needs.  In order to achieve this, SAI and Fr. Jim held a listening session with the mothers and heard about some of the struggles in their daily lives. They face a variety of challenges including a severe lack of health care, immigration advice, job opportunities, and both moral and emotional support. Many of the parents felt that they had not previously been welcome by the church due to their single parent status. 
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In an attempt to address one of these needs, Sacred Heart hosted the immigration session. It was chaired by Rose Morales, a parishioner, and Sr. Leonette.  Immigration lawyer Shiovan Sheridan answered questions and offered free legal advice.  This first step allowed Sacred Heart and the Diocese to tell single parents that they are indeed welcome in the Catholic Church.