MIDDLETOWN – Christians
and Jews gathered for two hours in what was dubbed “God’s
Executive Order Rally,” in support of immigrants.
Organized by Rabbi Marcus Rubenstein of Temple Sinai, clergy and lay members
of the community shared their thoughts and read Bible verses.
The Greater Middletown Interfaith Council and Caring for Our Neighbors
Coalition held the event on Saturday at Ebenezer Pentecostal Church in
Middletown.
Middletown Alderwoman Vanessa Morales-Cid, podium, shares her
thoughts as the other panelists, both clergy and lay persons,
listen
Middletown Alderwoman Vanessa Morales-Cid, 20, said she grew up with
the fear that her immigrant parents might be taken away. And when Donald
Trump was elected president last fall, “I almost cried. I thought
we were better than that.”
Pacheco: “live in harmony”
Concerns about immigrant rights have been heightened since Trump took
office with his efforts to deport immigrants who are in the US by without
documentation.
Maria Christina Martinez, who was Rep. Sean Patrick Maloney’s Middletown
representative for three years, knows the heartache of deportation firsthand.
Several years ago, both parents, Martin and Julia, were detained by immigration
authorities and in 2013, her father was taken into custody again and this
time, deported to Mexico. Her silver lining is that she can talk to him
on the phone as often as they like.
“We are in a very mean-spirited time,” civil rights attorney
Michael Sussman, one of the program participants, told the dozens who
attended.
Rabbi Rubenstein emphasized that the rally was only the beginning of the
local effort to embrace everyone in the community. “People are staying
home; they are afraid to go outside,” he said.
There was a universal call for unity. “We are all part of one human
race,” said Pastor Mother Ruth Anne Garcia of Grace Episcopal Church.
“God made the Heavens and Earth, but God did not make Australia;
or Chile or the Congo or England or France, Spain or Syria, Uganda or
the United States, we did,” she said. “We live in an uncertain
and frightened age.”
Alfredo Pacheco, a member of Nobody Leaves Mid-Hudson, said he would
like persecution to end “so we can live in harmony.”
Newburgh City Councilwoman Karen Mejia, a native of El Salvador, said
the strength of the United States is its diversity. “We are headed
toward the biggest test of our democracy,” she said.
